  | Bluecrowne : a Greenglass House story (Greenglass House) Author: Milford, Kate | |
| Price: $23.08 | ||
Summary:
In 1810, Lucy Bluecrowne, twelve, is bored living ashore with her stepmother and half brother until two nefarious strangers identify her little brother as the pyrotechnical prodigy they need for their evil plan.
| Illustrator: | Wong, Nicole |
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| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 5.90 Points: 10.0 Quiz: 199515 | Reading Counts Information: Interest Level: 6-8 Reading Level: 5.50 Points: 16.0 Quiz: 76651 | |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (07/15/18)
School Library Journal (06/01/18)
Booklist (+) (08/01/18)
The Hornbook (00/09/18)
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 06/01/2018 Gr 4–7—Cleverly pulling together Milford's earlier works, this prequel to Greenglass House is the origin story of the house itself, and gives fans more insight into the world of Nagspeake. Twelve-year-old Lucy Bluecrowne grew up aboard the Left Handed Fate, living the life of a privateer's daughter. After a serious injury, her father has decided Lucy should live ashore with her stepmother, the beautiful Lady Xiaoming, and her stepbrother, Liao. Her father has even built a house for them atop the highest hill in Nagspeake. Lucy is furious; the sea is in her blood. On the suggestion of Liao, the pair goes to the harbor to see about procuring a barky to fix up to sail on the river. It is no accident that the two children run into roamer Foulk Trigemine and conflagrationeer Ignis Blister. Roamers use science to travel through time and conflagrationeers control fire—it just so happens that Liao has a talent with fireworks, and this is not the first time Foulk has "seen" Lucy. Both Foulk and Ignis are on missions involving the Bluecrowne family. This somewhat complicated amalgamation of story lines is resplendent with time travel, Chinese folklore, nautical explanations, and the history of Nagspeake. VERDICT This is a sophisticated tale filled with masterful world building, time travel, science, and nautical life. Ideal for confident readers looking for a challenge.—Stacy Dillon, LREI, New York - Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 08/01/2018 *Starred Review* Milford returns to Nagspeake yet again in this prequel to The Left-Handed Fate? (2017). It’s 1810, and Lucy is heartbroken: her father has decided she, Liao, and Liao’s mother, Xiaoming, will live on land, in a house he’s built for them in Nagspeake (readers of the Greenglass House stories will recognize the idiosyncratic structure immediately). Meanwhile, two powder merchants have taken a shine to Liao, but they’re not what they seem: they’re not quite of this world, and they’ve been sent to bring Liao, whose preternatural talent with fireworks suggests he isn’t either, to a powerful, cruel man. Milford keeps the plot tight, which gives her vibrant, imaginative scene setting room to run wild, and she uses such lush, painterly language that it’s easy to conjure up images of places, people, and objects. Characters from The Boneshaker? (2010) and Broken Lands? (2012) appear here, and while it’s clear that there’s a wider tale at work, readers won’t need to be familiar with those books to grasp what’s going on, since she keeps such keen focus on Lucy, Liao, and Xiaoming, who has formidable secrets of her own. The engrossing adventure and thoughtful depiction of a blended, multicultural family are draws enough on their own, but the glimpse of Milford’s bewitching world building will leave readers eager to track down her other novels. - Copyright 2018 Booklist.
