Beastkeeper

Starred review from December 15, 2014
Thirteen-year-old Sarah is lonely, and it only gets worse after her mother leaves following a late-night argument. Sarah’s distraught father lets the house fall into disarray and soon sends Sarah to stay with her grandparents. To Sarah’s shock, her grandmother lives in a ruined castle deep in the forest, but that’s nothing compared to meeting a talking white raven and discovering that her grandfather has been transformed into a beast, “great and gray, with coarse fur like matted wires, teeth as long as her fingers, eyes like lost planets.” With the help of a slippery boy named Alan, Sarah searches for a way to free her family from the complex web of curses afflicting them all. Blending modern-day problems and ancient magical curses, Hellisen’s (When the Sea Is Rising Red) novel sparkles like a classic fairy tale, even as it plumbs unpleasant truths. Sarah is precocious, independent, and strong-willed, and the story brims with thought-provoking insights and lyrical descriptions for readers to sink into—especially those who, like Sarah, dream of finding magic in the mundane. Ages 12–up. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary & Media.

Starred review from November 15, 2014
A girl untangles family curses that cause desertion and bitterness-and transformation into beasts.Thirteen-year-old Sarah's life has always been unsettled; her parents move their three-person family often, always "sun-chasing" to avoid cold. One night Sarah's mother tells her father that she's leaving. The reasons that Sarah overhears are cryptic, and suddenly her mother's gone. Sarah and Dad manage, barely (he forgets to shop for groceries, so it's just peanut-butter sandwiches), and she's distracted by an improbable teenage boy named Alan she meets in the nearby Not-a-Forest. But Dad's changing. His wrists are hairier, his teeth lengthen, and he eats meat raw. Without explanation, he abruptly drops Sarah off at a damp, moldy castle with grandparents she never knew existed. Her grandfather's a clawed, furred beast that seems to be an amalgam of bear, wolf and lion, and he's caged. As Sarah confronts her family's curses and the curses' obscure terms, Hellisen's narration is thoughtful and lyrical. Figurative prose is memorable yet never flashy: "The words fell out onto the table and flew away like dandelion seeds, never reaching him"; "a fiddlehead of apprehension unfurled in her chest." Sarah's hearing and smell sharpen; she races through forest and snow. "Beauty and the Beast" shimmers faintly underneath this story, but slant; the meanings here are multiple and surprisingly subtle. A wild, unique fairy tale. (Fantasy. 10-14)

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November 1, 2014

Gr 7-10-This tangled tale of jealousy and revenge retells the classic "Beauty and the Beast" story, but with a twist. Thirteen-year-old Sarah lies awake, listening to an argument between her parents; an argument that ends with her mother's departure. Time passes and Sarah's father becomes stranger and stranger, eventually insisting that Sarah go live with grandparents she has never known. Sarah soon learns the story behind her mother's disappearance and the odd history of her estranged family. Sarah's grandmothers are sisters and witches, one by birth and one by fostering. In times past when a handsome prince came knocking, curses began to fly between the sisters, resulting in an unfortunate legacy that has carried down to the current generation: the first time Sarah falls in love, she will transform into a beast. Sarah is determined to end the curse, overcoming the vengeful spirit who started it all, but the price she must pay is almost as painful as the curse itself. With lush, descriptive language and complicated familial relationships, this complex story line challenges readers to pay close attention the the details. Hand this middle grade/YA crossover to tweens and teens who enjoy dark fairy-tale retellings.-Susan Harris, Ridgeway High School, TN

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2014
Grades 6-9 Because her mother craved the warmth of the sun, Sarah and her parents frequently packed up and moved. Lonely and friendless, Sarah always desired some magic in her life. On the day her mother leaves, never to return, odd things begin to happen. Her father's hair grows dark and thick as he becomes beastlike, and Sarah meets an improbable boy named Alan, who disappears as quickly as he appears in the Not-a-Forest near her home. Before Sarah's father transforms completely, he takes her to live with her grandparentswho are not dead, as it turns out. Nanna lives in a cold, dark castle with a white raven that spies on Sarah, while Grandfather is kept in a cage and fed meat scraps. From Alan, Sarah learns about the family curse, and so she wanders deep into the forest, toward the Within, so that she might stop the curse before it destroys her. Despite a slow start, this haunting tale successfully addresses the toll that long-term jealousy and revenge can have on familiesand how love can heal even the deepest rifts.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)