Japanese Fiction Sale!
 
 

Special Offers see all

Enter to WIN!

Weekly drawing for $100 credit. Subscribe to our Specials newsletter for a chance to win.
Privacy Policy

More at Powell's

Recently Viewed clear list

Original Essays | Yesterday, 12:00pm

Richard Melo: IMG The Outer Sunset

0 comments By Richard Melo

Note: Richard Melo will be presenting his book at Powell's City of Books on Tuesday, June 25, at 7:30 p.m. Her name was "Waterloo Sunset," and she... Continue »
  1. $11.87 Sale Trade Paper add to wish list

    Happy Talk

    Richard Melo 9781935869177
spacer
Ships free on qualified orders.
$16.25
List price: $16.99
New Hardcover
Ships in 1 to 3 days
Add to Wishlist
available for shipping or prepaid pickup only
Available for In-store Pickup
in 7 to 12 days
Qty Store Section
1 Remote Warehouse Children's- General

Tender Morsels

by

Tender Morsels Cover

ISBN13: 9780375848117
ISBN10: 0375848118
Condition:
All Product Details

Only 1 left in stock at $16.25!

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Tender Morsels is a dark and vivid story, set in two worlds and worrying at the border between them. Liga lives modestly in her own personal heaven, a world given to her in exchange for her earthly life. Her two daughters grow up in this soft place, protected from the violence that once harmed their mother. But the real world cannot be denied forever — magicked men and wild bears break down the borders of Liga's refuge. Now, having known Heaven, how will these three women survive in a world where beauty and brutality lie side by side?

From Our Staff:

Fans of fairy-tale retellings will be especially delighted with this dark, rich, and vivid offering from acclaimed Australian novelist Margo Lanagan. Noted for the poetry of her prose and highly imaginative story lines, Ms. Lanagan has once again penned an unforgettable novel.
Recommended by our staff at Powell's City of Books

Review:

"Lanagan creates a rich and complex world, packed with fully realized characters. Her writing is so beautiful that even the most brutal and painful scenes are not graphic or sordid but heartbreaking....This book is one that will stay with the reader for a long time." VOYA

Review:

"By turns horrifying and ribald, witty and wise, this tour de force of a novel almost demands multiple readings to fully appreciate each of its layers. Not to be missed." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"[T]his challenging, unforgettable work explores the ramifications of denying the most essential and often savage aspects of life. It isn't easy, but this book is nevertheless a marvel to read." Booklist

Review:

"Lanagan offers up difficult truths — and complicated, human characters — that are as sobering as they are triumphant." Horn Book Magazine

Synopsis:

Lanagan delivers a dark and vivid story, set in two worlds and worrying at the border between them. How will three women survive in a world where beauty and brutality lie side by side?

Synopsis:

Tender Morsels is a dark and vivid story, set in two worlds and worrying at the border between them. Liga lives modestly in her own personal heaven, a world given to her in exchange for her earthly life. Her two daughters grow up in this soft place, protected from the violence that once harmed their mother. But the real world cannot be denied forever—magicked men and wild bears break down the borders of Ligas refuge. Now, having known Heaven, how will these three women survive in a world where beauty and brutality lie side by side?
back to top

About the Author

Margo Lanagan's story collection, Red Spikes, was a Publishers Weekly Best Book and a Horn Book Fanfare, and Black Juice was a Printz Honor Book. She lives in Sydney, Australia.
back to top

What Our Readers Are Saying

Add a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
KModestow, April 20, 2010 (view all comments by KModestow)
I am astounded that "Tender Morsels" is found in the same department as "The Tale of Despereaux."

I chose this book because I love a bit of magic and the award seal on the cover in my opinion guaranteed a great read. The author is Australian and in Australia it was released as an adult book. In America, it got a young adult classification.

It contained vivid scenes of incest, rape, beastiallity, gang rape, abortion, miscarriage and sodomy. I am a very liberal and de-sensitized individual and I was fairly horrified, although thoroughly entertained, the book is great.

But I beg you to move it out of the young adult section. Between it's placement, the embossed "award" and the well designed cover it looks like a must read for every 13 year old and that absolutely FREAKS me out.

An astounding comparison is to look at the cover as released (as an adult book) in Australia:
www.amazon.co.uk versus the cartoonish and magical cover released in the US!

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(2 of 5 readers found this comment helpful)
report this comment
Sarah Miller, October 28, 2008 (view all comments by Sarah Miller)
Once upon a time, the skeleton of this story was called Snow-White and Rose-Red. Like all fairy tales, it left much unexplained. Too much. Well, Margo Lanagan took those bones and added muscle and guts, bracing the loose joints of the plot with her characters' emotions, motivations, and histories. That's the secret of successful retellings: fleshing out the gaps that relied almost entirely on the readers' willful ignorance or suspension of belief, yet still leaving room for the existence of magic. And Lanagan knows how to handle magic delicately enough to make it believable: Tender Morsels revolves around magical doings, but never degrades enchantment to the level of coincidence. The plot must bend to fit the whims of the magic, and never, ever the reverse. Yet the setting is so rich that it all feels impossibly real.

And the characters -- hoo, the characters. They are vivid, passionate, flawed, sometimes randy (but never gratuitous), and fiercely devoted to their hearts' desires. Desires tangled with magic, though, turn out to have more power than any one of them have bargained for.

It's been almost a week and I am still basking and soaking in this story. It is deep, thick, and heavy, but not in the ways that makes reading tiresome. It isn't a book you finish and set aside -- you surface from it and wait for it to roll off you. (I know, I know -- I'm going all purple and gushy. Plus I've overshot my adjective quota without ever managing to work in "visceral." Crap.)

An about face: I am somewhat loathe to admit this is not a book for everyone. Not by a long shot. The switching points of view, the nature of the abuse Liga weathers, and the spattering of old world Britishy-Irishy dialect each have the potential to deter a number of readers.

However, if you loved the themes of sweetness and brutality in The Giver, the robust characters and setting of The Moorchild, and the emotional tone of Donna Jo Napoli's fairy tale-based novels, I'd lay odds you'll be content to envelop yourself for a few days in Tender Morsels. It is quite possibly THE best reading experience I've had so far this year.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(9 of 12 readers found this comment helpful)
report this comment
View all 2 comments
back to top

Product Details

ISBN:
9780375848117
Author:
Lanagan, Margo
Publisher:
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Subject:
Fantasy
Subject:
Visionary & metaphysical
Subject:
Mothers and daughters
Subject:
Magic
Subject:
Children s-General
Publication Date:
20081031
Binding:
HARDCOVER
Grade Level:
from 9
Language:
English
Pages:
448
Dimensions:
8.52x5.82x1.45 in. 1.22 lbs.
Age Level:
13-17
back to top

Other books you might like

  1. Cherub #01: The Recruit
    Used Mass Market $5.95
  2. The Graveyard Book
    Used Trade Paper $5.50
  3. The Adoration of Jenna Fox
    Used Hardcover $4.95
  4. Whirligig (Laurel Leaf Books) Used Mass Market $3.50
  5. The Runner (Point) Used Mass Market $5.95
  6. Kendra New Trade Paper $8.99
back to top

Related Subjects

Children's » Awards » Michael L. Printz Award Winners
Children's » Featured Titles
Children's » General
Children's » Sale Books
Children's » Science Fiction and Fantasy » General
Young Adult » Fiction » Social Issues » Sexual Abuse
Young Adult » General

Tender Morsels New Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$16.25 In Stock
Product details 448 pages Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers - English 9780375848117 Reviews:
"Review" by , "Lanagan creates a rich and complex world, packed with fully realized characters. Her writing is so beautiful that even the most brutal and painful scenes are not graphic or sordid but heartbreaking....This book is one that will stay with the reader for a long time."
"Review" by , "By turns horrifying and ribald, witty and wise, this tour de force of a novel almost demands multiple readings to fully appreciate each of its layers. Not to be missed."
"Review" by , "[T]his challenging, unforgettable work explores the ramifications of denying the most essential and often savage aspects of life. It isn't easy, but this book is nevertheless a marvel to read."
"Review" by , "Lanagan offers up difficult truths — and complicated, human characters — that are as sobering as they are triumphant."
"Synopsis" by , Lanagan delivers a dark and vivid story, set in two worlds and worrying at the border between them. How will three women survive in a world where beauty and brutality lie side by side?
"Synopsis" by , Tender Morsels is a dark and vivid story, set in two worlds and worrying at the border between them. Liga lives modestly in her own personal heaven, a world given to her in exchange for her earthly life. Her two daughters grow up in this soft place, protected from the violence that once harmed their mother. But the real world cannot be denied forever—magicked men and wild bears break down the borders of Ligas refuge. Now, having known Heaven, how will these three women survive in a world where beauty and brutality lie side by side?
spacer
spacer
  • back to top
Follow us on...




Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.