The Amaranth Enchantment
by Julie Berry
List Price:
Our Price: $4.72
You Save: $12.27 (72%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.04 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Julie BerryEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-03-03
ISBN: 1599903342
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Book Reviews of The Amaranth Enchantment
Book Review: A New Kind of Fairy-Tale
Summary: 5 Stars
My 15-year-old daughter, Bailey, recently wrote this review of The Amaranth Enchantment:
By R.Bailey Scott
Original, relatable, humorous, and fantastic do not begin to describe the fresh, yet masterful, prose of Julie Berry, author of The Amaranth Enchantment. The story grabs you within the opening lines:
`Someday, Lucinda," she says,"these jewels will all be yours.
"They smile, kiss me and hurry down the hall warning me to be good for Nurse. Papa so tall and handsome. Mama sparkling and trailing perfume
"They leave for the ball.
"But, they never come back."
When it ends 306 pages later, you will find yourself asking for more.
The Amaranth Enchantment follows the captivating story of fifteen-year-old Lucinda Chapdelaine as she struggles to find herself and replace the sense of family she lost when here parents died.
Sent to live with an evil aunt, Lucinda works as her house servant until one day when a mysterious stranger arrives at her uncle's jewel shop and sets her off on a magical journey full of astonishing twists and turns, temporary disappointments and joy.
The story line is fast-paced and exciting, and the plot unique and intricate, something rarely found in fairy tales. While headed toward a happy-ever-after-ending, the book entertains and amuses with many laugh-out loud moments, while still revealing a depth of understanding about loneliness, home, and discovering one's sense of purpose.
While the focus is on Lucinda's adventures and victories, Berry inserts the character of a predictable prince, for, as she puts it, "What's a fairy-tale without a prince?"
However, Berry deliberately did not let the prince get in the way of developing the female protagonist, Lucinda, who is both strong and independent. "It's not like other fairy tales where the heroine is destitute until the prince comes to save her. Lucinda's victory did not depend on the prince," Berry said.
"I saw Lucinda as having a lot of strength, character, and grit, which she uses to reclaim her home and identity. I hope that upon reading this girls will know that they have the ability to build their own future homes and identities by choosing the life they want to live and pursuing their dreams through education and experience. Love, while wonderful, doesn't have to come along to achieve happiness."
Along with creating a strong and independent character, she wanted to develop a heroine whom adolescent girls could relate to. Berry insists that that Lucinda could be any girl, for she is neither excessively brave nor exceptionally brilliant. "She is a very believable person whom I hope girls can see themselves in," she said.
As Lucinda searches for self and home, Berry breathes life into fantastical settings, people, and creatures. Many female Mormon authors who write for teenagers -- Shannon Hale and Stephanie Meyer, for example - create worlds within best-selling novels, leaving teenage girls hungering for more.
Such electrifying fantasy added great strength and originality to their works. Now, The Amaranth Enchantment takes magical imagery to new heights. She "paints" settings so vividly that readers will find themselves entering her imagined world instantaneously.
Berry said, "my religion has given me perspective of life and love stretching beyond this world to the afterlife and really helped in shaping my creation of Lucinda's world."
"I hope that young people will think of me as someone who produces works that are exciting and fun," she said. But The Amaranth Enchantment , while amusing, also beautifully illustrates and brings insight to complex themes and emotions such as loneliness, home, and identity.
Berry says: "It is my hope that at least one girl will read The Amaranth Enchantment , love it, and be swept away by the fantasy and adventure."
Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic Books
Leon and the Spitting Imageby Allen Kurzweil
Greenwillow Books; Published: 2005-05-10; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $31.47
The Magician's Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia)by C. S. Lewis
HarperCollins; Published: 2005-05-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
The Last Battle (Narnia)by C. S. Lewis
HarperCollins; Published: 2005-05-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.25
Price in other shops:
The Fairies of Nutfolk Woodby Barb Bentler Ullman
Katherine Tegen Books; Published: 2006-05-23; Library Binding; Book
Best price: $14.60
Price in other shops:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factoryby Roald Dahl
HarperFestival; Published: 2002-10-22; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $22.49
Price in other shops:
The Horse and His Boy (Narnia)by C. S. Lewis
HarperFestival; Published: 2002-11-26; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $3.22
Price in other shops:
Open Me...I'm a Dogby Art Spiegelman
HarperCollins Children's Books; Published: 1997-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $271.85
Ella Enchanted (Newbery Honor Book)by Gail Carson Levine
HarperCollins; Published: 1997-04-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.54
Price in other shops:
Only You Can Save Mankind (Johnny Maxwell Trilogy)by Terry Pratchett
HarperCollins; Published: 2006-07-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.62
Price in other shops:
The Graveyard Bookby Neil Gaiman
Harper Collins Publishers; HarperCollins; Published: 2008-09-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.78
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
A Matter of Magicby Patricia Wrede
Orb Books; Published: 2010-06-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.60
Price in other shops:
Violet Eyes (Once Upon a Time (Simon Pulse))by Debbie Viguié
Simon Pulse; Published: 2010-02-23; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.08
Price in other shops:
Tuesdays at the Castleby Jessica Day George
Bloomsbury USA Childrens; Published: 2011-10-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.45
Price in other shops:
The False Princessby Eilis O'Neal
EgmontUSA; Published: 2011-01-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.13
Price in other shops:
Secondhand Charmby Julie Berry
Bloomsbury USA Childrens; Published: 2010-10-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.81
Price in other shops:
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snowby Jessica Day George
Bloomsbury USA Childrens; Published: 2008-01-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.19
Price in other shops:
Entwinedby Heather Dixon
Greenwillow Books; Published: 2011-03-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
Princess of the Midnight Ballby Jessica Day George
Books; Bloomsbury USA Childrens; Published: 2010-04-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.59
Price in other shops:
The Healers Apprenticeby Melanie Dickerson
Zondervan; Published: 2010-10-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.02
Price in other shops:
Princess of Glassby Jessica Day George
Bloomsbury USA Childrens; Published: 2011-06-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.06
Price in other shops: