From Publishers Weekly
When, in the Ireland of 1847, "a sudden blight . . . reduced the countryside to a pungent mass of black rot and left the people starving," an English dragoon helps Sean O'Brien, 13, and his 10-year-old sister, Annie, to leave their ravaged homeland. Following an eventful sea voyage from Cork to Boston, the youngsters struggle across a rough, new America to find their father in California. With only the family "torc"--an ancestral golden medallion given to them by their dying mother--for protection, the children are dealt life lessons along the way in both the goodness and the inhumanity of man. Sentimental in the best sense of the word, this epic journey gathers momentum as the children draw ever nearer their destination. As the pace pours on, the story loses some of the beauty and lyricism of Morpungo's ( King of the Cloud Forests ; Waiting for Anya ) musical dialogue, and conflicts are resolved a little too conveniently; but the novel remains a colorful, engaging, Dickensian read to its happy and affecting conclusion. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6-- History and wonder combine in this novel that uses the Irish potato famine of 1847 as its core. Readers will come away from it with an understanding of the dreadful conditions in Ireland that prompted so many to find a new life in America. What detracts from the story are the plot contrivances. The novel begins in County Cork where the O'Briens are suffering through the effects of the famine. Three siblings have already died and Sean and Annie's mother's death seems imminent. Their father has gone to America and has promised to send for the family when he reaches California. Rather than starve while waiting for him, the youngsters head to America with only their lucky family heirloom, a golden torc, to protect them. Their adventure begins on the ship crossing the Atlantic. Morpurgo's descriptions of the conditions on board and those they find in Boston and on their cross-country journey are realistic. The precious torc becomes the catalyst for the relationships that develop in their travels. Characters are either good or evil, and each time it seems that Sean and Annie have lost everything, a twist of fate and just the right person come along to move them toward their ultimate goal. The most outrageous turnabout comes at the end when the youngsters finally reach California, find their father, and discover their mother there as well. This book has much to offer as historical fiction, but the plot development is too artificial. Conlon-McKenna's Wildflower Girl (Holiday, 1992) is a more successful choice for fiction dealing with the same theme. --Renee Steinberg, Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
