Warped

November 15, 2010
Time travel can be a difficult concept to execute well, but first-time author Guibord does a credible job negotiating the pitfalls. Tessa Brody, 17, is inexplicably drawn to a unicorn tapestry her father wins at auction. Whenever she touches it, hallucinations of the past draw her in. Meanwhile, the tapestry's maker, Lila Gerome, is determined to get it back. Centuries ago, she stole seven threads—each a mortal life—from the Norns. Lila needs the tapestry to maintain her immortality, and the Norns want their threads back to set the fabric of the world straight again. At the center of it all is the unicorn, woven of the life-thread of a man named William de Chaucy. An arrogant knight, Will is an unlikely match for a modern girl, but Tessa needs his help to unravel their mutual mystery before Lila can snatch the tapestry. Some may wonder why Scandinavian Fates would determine the destinies of an Anglo-Norman nobleman and an American teenager, but that in no way derails the adventure and romance as Tessa learns to appreciate her man of chivalry. Ages 12–up.

December 15, 2010

Every mythical creature stars in a love story these days. This story's conceit—a unicorn who is actually a hot Cornish noble from 1511 is made human again and popped into contemporary Portland, Maine, when his life thread is pulled from a tapestry—creates a situation in which unicorn romance actually makes sense. When spunky-but-ordinary high-school senior Tessa rescues Will from his tapestry prison, they must face down Gray Lily, the 500-year-old witch who used Will for her immortality, and deal with the Norn, or Fates, who are annoyed at all these meddling humans. The dialogue is clunky, though, and narrative imperative overrides plausibility (peasant-turned-witch Gray Lily wrote a diary in the 1500s, helpfully detailing all her wickedness and magical prowess, and then lost it?). But it doesn't matter because the point is that Tessa and Will belong together, and nothing (Fates, evil, 500-year age difference) can withstand their love. Despite the older age of the characters, this is really for the starry-eyed younger teen who stands, riveted, at the Cloisters or the Cluny longing for a unicorn of her own. (Romantic fantasy. 12-16)

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Starred review from March 1, 2011

Gr 8 Up-The Norn have gone by other names throughout history. Some call the three sisters the Fates; whatever their names, they "eternally spin and weave and cut the threads of human life." This story is woven as cleverly as the tapestry of the Norn, and its threads come together with just as much precision. Tessa Brody's father owns a used bookshop in a quiet little town in Maine, but when he purchases a lot at an auction that includes an ancient text and a small tapestry, the teen's life become entangled in a twisted tale of witchcraft, legend, past lives, and lies. Tessa is a spunky and strong heroine with a sassy best friend, Opal, who adds spice and humor in just the right doses. Just as Tessa begins to realize that there's something special about the tapestry, a handsome young man who was turned into a unicorn 500 years ago and trapped in it falls out of the weaving and onto her bedroom floor. William de Chaucy's introduction to modern marvels is written with such wonder and humor that readers will look on the world and its conveniences with new eyes. This absorbing and mesmerizing read has it all-fantasy, romance, witchcraft, life-threatening situations, detective work, chase scenes, and a smattering of violence. Imaginative and compelling, it's impossible to put down.-Genevieve Gallagher, Charlottesville High School, VA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2011
Grades 7-10 When Tessa pulled the loose thread in the curious tapestry she and her father acquired at an estate sale, she freed Will de Chauncy, who was in thrall to a bitter witch known as Gray Lily. For Will, it is a second chance at life, 500 years after his imprisonment. Gray Lily has the most at stake, though; Will is the key to her eternal youth, and she will stop at nothing to retrieve the tapestry and place Will back in it. What Gray Lily doesnt count on is Tessas ability to literally weave her life irrevocably together with Wills and her need to fix things before her life is destroyed by the three sisters known as the Fates. Debut author Guibord easily shifts the action between de Chauncys 1511 Cornwall village, the timeless and forbidding forest world of the tapestry, and Tessas modern-day Portland, Oregon. Wills enslavement is told in flashbacks, which builds a nice tension around the connections between Tessa and Will and allows the author to reveal details at just the right moments.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)