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Original Essays | September 17, 2013

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    The Urban Bestiary: Encountering the Everyday Wild

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The Snow Child

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The Snow Child Cover

ISBN13: 9780316175678
ISBN10: 0316175676
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart — he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone — but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees. This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.

Review:

"A fluid, absorbing, beautifully executed debut novel; highly recommended." Library Journal (Starred Review)

Review:

"If Willa Cather and Gabriel Garcia Marquez had collaborated on a book, The Snow Child would be it. It is a remarkable accomplishment — a combination of the most delicate, ethereal, fairytale magic and the harsh realities of homesteading in the Alaskan wilderness in 1918. Stunningly conceived, beautifully told, this story has the intricate fragility of a snowflake and the natural honesty of the dirt beneath your feet, the unnerving reality of a dream in the night. It fascinates, it touches the heart. It gallops along even as it takes time to pause at the wonder of life and the world in which we live. And it will stir you up and stay with you for a long, long time." Robert Goolrick, New York Times bestselling author of A Reliable Wife

Review:

"The Snow Child is enchanting from beginning to end. Ivey breathes life into an old tale and makes it as fresh as the season' s first snow. Simply lovely." Keith Donohue, New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen Child
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About the Author

Eowyn LeMay Ivey was raised in Alaska and continues to live there with her husband and two daughters. She received her BA in journalism and minor in creative writing through the honors program at Western Washington University, studied creative nonfiction at the University of Alaska Anchorage graduate program, and worked for nearly 10 years as an award-winning reporter at the Frontiersman newspaper. This is her first novel.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 7 comments:
JoanMaggie, January 9, 2013 (view all comments by JoanMaggie)
This was an especially lovely story. It combines the realism of the tough pioneering lifestyle with the magic of a Russian folktale. The juxtaposition of the two conflicting styles tend to magnify each. The result is stunning. I must confess that this book made me cry--and I loved it!
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Jena, August 12, 2012 (view all comments by Jena)
I'm inclined to love retold fairy tales anyway, but this was such a lovely book. Very impressive. Magical, even.
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McGuffy Ann, August 5, 2012 (view all comments by McGuffy Ann)
This is a beautiful story, reminiscent of a fairy tale. Set in the 1920s, an older Alaskan couple is childless. Jack and Mabel are trying to make a life in the harsh environment. Hard work and isolation is their daily way of life; love and loyalty keeps them going.

During a snowfall, Jack and Mabel playfully create a “snow child”. The next morning, a tiny set of footprints are found in the snow. The snow child is gone.

Thereafter, Jack and Mabel, at different times, each sees a little girl in the woods. A fox seems to always be nearby the girl. They don’t speak of these unusual and unexplained sightings. They fear that speaking of the girl may make her disappear.

When the girl comes to the cabin, she calls herself Faina. Jack and Mabel are entranced by her seemingly surreal existence. They struggle to understand how she can survive in such harsh conditions, the tiny little thing that she is. They also don’t know how she fits into their own lives.

This magical story is beautiful and enchanting. I was captivated. The depiction of homesteading the Alaskan frontier is realistic. The story of Jack, Mabel and Faina is a heartfelt one of love, resilience, hope, and possibilities.

Eowyn Ivey has written a novel that is sure to be a classic. It will remain with you, to be read again and shared with others.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780316175678
Author:
Ivey, Eowyn
Publisher:
Reagan Arthur Books
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Copyright:
2012
Publication Date:
20120231
Binding:
HARDCOVER
Language:
English
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Related Subjects


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Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
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The Snow Child Used Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$11.50 In Stock
Product details pages Reagan Arthur Books - English 9780316175678 Reviews:
"Review" by , "A fluid, absorbing, beautifully executed debut novel; highly recommended."
"Review" by , "If Willa Cather and Gabriel Garcia Marquez had collaborated on a book, The Snow Child would be it. It is a remarkable accomplishment — a combination of the most delicate, ethereal, fairytale magic and the harsh realities of homesteading in the Alaskan wilderness in 1918. Stunningly conceived, beautifully told, this story has the intricate fragility of a snowflake and the natural honesty of the dirt beneath your feet, the unnerving reality of a dream in the night. It fascinates, it touches the heart. It gallops along even as it takes time to pause at the wonder of life and the world in which we live. And it will stir you up and stay with you for a long, long time."
"Review" by , "The Snow Child is enchanting from beginning to end. Ivey breathes life into an old tale and makes it as fresh as the season' s first snow. Simply lovely."
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