Singing Stone (Puffin Books) - Softcover

Grade 6-8 A time-fantasy and coming-of-age romance in which orphan Kay seeks her origins and finds her ancestors in a supernatural past. Following anonymous clues and increasingly strong dream-visions, modern-day Kay travels to Ireland and enters the Bronze-Age. She and a De Danaan foundling, Aherne, are charged with finding the lost treasures of the De Danaans. Ultimately, their quest will redeem the ancestors and reconcile warring invaders and settlersmoral concerns that mirror modern ones. Melling's interpretation of Celtic themes is ingenious and inventive, and the device of restoring the De Danaan to their lost status as gods is magically imagined. Despite some plot weaknesses and patches of graceless writing (and Kay's speech made more colloquial than Aherne's to underscore the time-gap), this reads and paces well. Kay's relocation to the present and her budding romance with the young man in the nearby apartment is a satisfying outcome, with time-travel still an option. Ruth M. McConnell, San Antonio Public Library
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