The Fire Opal

August 1, 2010

Gr 7 Up-Set on the western Irish coast during the late 16th century, this book is narrated by Maeve O'Tullagh, the daughter of a fisherman whose happy existence is turned upside down when her baby sister dies. Pregnant again, her mother insists that her unborn child is the reincarnation of the one she lost and slips into distraction. A strange lady gives Maeve a talisman to protect her mother. When Mam removes it on the night of the baby's birth, she loses her mind completely. Maeve is convinced that something stole her mother's soul and dedicates herself to protecting her new sister. When the child is four, Ishleen is lost in the same vegetative state. Now 19, Maeve embarks on a journey to discover who has snatched their souls and save them before it's too late, encountering an ancient evil along the way. This novel combines Irish mythology and classic fantasy. Maeve is the perfect "everyman"-observing much but revealing little. While the concept is enthralling, the story is uneven in its execution. The beginning drags until Maeve begins her quest, and then things move almost too quickly. The main characters are well constructed but readers will find it slightly confusing to keep track of which minor characters are important to the story and which are just filler. All in all, this interesting adventure will appeal to dedicated fantasy fans and makes a good additional selection.-Saleena L. Davidson, South Brunswick Public Library, Monmouth Junction, NJ

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2010
Grades 7-10 Fourteen-year-old Maeve OTullagh has become caretaker to her catatonic mother while her father and brothers are away fighting to free Ireland from Queen Elizabeths tyrannical rule. When her younger sister succumbs to the same strange illness that plagues their mother, Maeve becomes desperate to save them. She embarks on a dangerous journey, sailing to the frigid home of the corpse goddess Uria, who harvests ghost souls for food and who has stolen the fire opal that belongs to earth goddess Danu. Retrieving the fire opal will restore the natural order of things, and save her mother and sister from a slow death. McBride wraps a traditional quest in Celtic clothing, with a message that love can be nurturing and healing, or obsessive and unhealthy. The focus on womenfamily members as well as deitiesmay skew the books appeal toward girls, but the engineering complexity of Urias lair, the details of the quest, and the casual violence of a major male character may broaden its reach.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)