The Solstice Cup

May 15, 2009
Grades 5-8 Teens and tweens not ready for the much darker worlds of Holly Blacks Tithe (2002) and Melissa Marrs Wicked Lovely (2007) will be just right for this middle-grade fairy story. Thirteen-year-old twins Mackenzie and Breanne are visiting relatives in Northern Ireland right before the winter solstice. Breanne, who mysteriously crippled her leg five years ago, recklessly walks the countryside alone despite the locals insistence to heed the fairies. Her stubbornness causes the girls to fall into a river that transports them to the Otherworld, a mythical place of dark enchantment. An old mortal woman offers Breanne and Mackenzie shelter, but Breannes disregard gets them enslaved by an evil fairy princess, and if the girlsdont escape in time they will be trapped in the Otherworld forever. This novel is a good introduction into the sinister world of pixies. The imagery (Foxes with hooves skittered between the legs of giant centipedes) is creepy, but not gruesome, and should enchant and engage readers who might have been hesitant to read a fairy story in the first place.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)