Synopses & Reviews
With the memorable characters and plot twists she brings to her best-selling fantasies, Eva Ibbotson has written a hair-raising novel, set in turn-of-the-last-century Brazil.
Maia, an orphan, is sent from England to live with unfamiliar cousins on a rubber plantation in South America. The brave, curious girl and her fierce but kind governess arrive in their new home, each with secret hopes of adventure. These are immediately quashed by the Carters, who hate their adopted land and its inhabitants. They are obsessed with re-creating England in the forest, right down to the watery puddings. It is only through friendship with a mysterious Indian boy (who just might be the heir to a large fortune) and a runaway child actor (who specializes in Little Lord Fauntleroy) that Maia and Miss Minton, her governess, find the excitement they longed for: an unexpected expedition into the heart of the Amazon, in search of a lost tribe and the legendary giant sloth.
Review
"Adventure lovers who enjoyed Avi's The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Orchard, 1990) and Sharon Creech's The Wanderer (HarperCollins, 2000) will devour this one and wish that it would continue." Jean Gaffney, School Library Journal
Review
"Here is the stuff of a great story: An inheritance, bratty twin cousins, an aunt recreating English life while living on the Amazon, and a wonderful boy hiding in the jungle. Ibbotson again shows her storytelling mastery, and Hawkes' old-fashioned pen-and-ink illustrations add to the charm. A great yarn." Dara La Porte, Politics & Prose, Washington, DC
About the Author
Eva Ibbotson, born Maria Charlotte Michelle Wiesner (21 January 1925 - 20 October 2010), was an Austrian-born British novelist, known for her children's books. Some of her novels for adults have been successfully reissued for the young adult market in recent years. For the historical novel Journey to the River Sea (Macmillan, 2001), she won the Smarties Prize in category 9-11 years, garnered unusual commendation as runner up for the Guardian Prize, and made the Carnegie, Whitbread, and Blue Peter shortlists. She was a finalist for the 2010 Guardian Prize at the time of her death. Her last book, The Abominables, was one of eight books on the longlist for the same award in 2012.