Donna Jo Napoli is the acclaimed and award-winning author of many novels, both fantasies and contemporary stories. She won the Golden Kite Award for Stones in Water in 1997. Her novel Zel was named an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists, a Publishers Weekly Best Book, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon, and a School Library Journal Best Book, and a number of her novels have been selected as ALA Best Books. She is a professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband. Visit her at DonnaJoNapoli.com.
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eBook
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ISBN-13:
9781442483033
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
- Publication date: 12/30/2014
- Sold by: SIMON & SCHUSTER
- Format: eBook
- Pages: 384
- File size: 2 MB
- Age Range: 12 - 18 Years
Available on NOOK devices and apps
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A young girl must learn to survive and find her family against all odds in this heartbreaking companion to Hush from award-winning author Donna Jo Napoli.
Lost at sea when her sister is taken captive on a marauding slave ship, Brigid is far removed from the only life she knew as a princess and the pampered daughter of an Irish king.
Now Brigid has few choices. Alone and abandoned, she disguises herself as a boy and vows to find her innocent sister forced into slavery. Over the course of her search, many years pass and Brigid grows from a child to a woman—and she still does not give up. She lives off the land, meets friend and foe along the way, and gains a reputation as a tough woman, fierce enough to conquer men. It is not fierceness that guides her but the love for her missing sister and the longing for her family to be reunited. She pushes forward on her journey, knowing that her only real power comes from within herself.
Based on the legend of the first female Norse pirate, award-winning author Donna Jo Napoli has crafted a remarkable survival story spanning years and continents—a sweeping tale that will transform readers.
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This adventure-packed companion to Napoli’s Hush takes place in the 10th century, stretching over eight years in the life of fugitive Irish princess Brigid as she experiences four different lives. Kidnapped as an eight-year-old, along with her 15-year-old sister, Melkorka (the heroine of Hush), to be sold into slavery, Brigid literally jumps ship and swims ashore onto a foreign land, which turns out to be Jutland, in Denmark. Over the next eight years she plants herself in two families in different cultures, takes on new names, and leads a band of women pirates across the Baltic Sea, rescuing slaves while in search of her sister. A postscript explains that Napoli blended her fictional character’s story with that of Alfhild, the first known Norse woman pirate. Brigid’s extraordinary strength, bravery, and survival instincts, along with her obsession with rescuing her older sister, sometimes strain credibility, as does the ending, rewarding as it is. Dense with historical detail and overflowing with characters, this ambitious saga will find an audience with sophisticated readers looking to invest in a multifaceted, complex tale. Ages 12–up. (Dec.)
Gr 7 Up—Readers who enjoyed Donna Jo Napoli's Hush (S. & S., 2007) and wondered about the fate of eight-year-old Brigid finally have their answers. The author uses her amazing ability to find the bare bones of an old story and flesh them out into a rich, living tale. This time, it is the story of Alfhild, feared female pirate of 10th-century Norse lore. Brigid survives her plunge into icy waters when escaping the slave ship she and her sister Melkorka were aboard. Upon realizing that Mel did not escape with her, she is determined to find her sister, no matter the long odds. But how to find one beautiful slave girl possibly traded anywhere in Europe? Brigid, or Alfhild as she comes to be called, ponders this question as she learns, grows, and thrives. Over several years, her circumstances change, allowing her to gain new skills as she travels from town to town, family to family, and between social classes. Her sister, her blood family, is the reason Alfhild continues her search, but the many adoptive families she becomes part of strengthen her to continue her quest. Brigid is a fictional character but Alfhild is an actual historical figure—this blending to fit a historical framework produces continued good fortune, which lends the work a folktale feel at times. Napoli seamlessly weaves cultural, mythological, and historical information together, immersing the readers in Norse life.—Lisa Crandall, formerly at the Capital Area District Library, Holt, MI
The origin story of the first Norse female pirate is imagined in this leisurely paced companion to Hush: An Irish Princess Tale (2007).Stolen from her home by Russian slave traders at the age of 8, Irish-born Brigid escapes and finds a home among the Norse, moving from family to family as she searches for her lost sister, Melkorka. "These are good people, but they're not mine. Time passes far too slowly. I need to grow up and leave; I need to find Mel." The opening chapters are exciting and fast-paced as Brigid, now known as Alfhild, fights for her very survival after throwing herself off the slave ship and finding an uneasy home with a Norse family that is suspicious of her background. Then the novel shifts into low gear as Alfhild roams the countryside from one settlement to the next, gathering skills and clues to her sister's whereabouts. It is only in the last quarter of the story, when Alfhild is 15 and commandeering a ship full of formerly enslaved women-turned-pirates that the pace picks up again with thrilling battles and daring rescues. As with all of Napoli's work, the history is meticulously researched and supported with a detailed bibliography. Readers who enjoy the journey more than the destination will find much to appreciate in this rambling saga that is an inspired blend of ancient facts and myth. (glossary, postscript, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 12-16)