Zel by Donna Jo Napoli Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Zel
Book Review: Zel
Summary: 5 Stars
I really enjoyed this book. Although it got off to a slow start, it got much better. It was a little advanced, and I would never dream of reccomending it to them now,maybe in a few years though.It was hard to get into but, when you get into it is captivating.
Then in the end it's a little hard to understand.My overall rating of this book would be a 5.
Book Review: Zel
Summary: 4 Stars
Zel
Donna Jo Napoli
Tay Corti
Book Review
English 10
July 27, 2006
Zel is a wonder filled book by Donna Jo Napoli, the author of The Magic Circle, and The Prince of the Pond: Otherwise known as De Fawg Pin, and other great children's books. Zel is the remake of the ever-popular fairy tale, Rapunzel, set in the 1500's. But this version is for all ages. It is a story of love and lust between mother and daughter, and girl and man. Poor 15-year-old Zel addresses the feeling of being lost, and losing something dear, including one's sanity. Being betrayed and being able to persevere through it all, pain and hurt, love and happiness is a major key in this story. The book takes its readers through all the suffering in which Zel has to endure.
Zel is at first a young, thirteen year old little girl, so innocent, with love for everyone in the world. Zel has a natural gift though; animals trust her and listen to her, and she seems to understand their feelings. Her mother also has a gift, an unholy gift. Mother controls plants with a power that demons gave her. When mother asks Zel if she would like to talk with these animals Zel wishes to so badly, but she in the end realizes that she already has the gift of understanding animals, so why control them? There is something very special about Zel, her golden braids, dark eyes, laughter, voice, her boldness, her beauty, and her spirit; these are the things with which Konrad falls in love.
Konrad is a count who has a beautiful mare named Meta, whom Zel falls in love with. He has hair that falls over his eyes, tall, manly, and with a heart of gold. He falls in love with Zel the first time he meets her in the smithy, as she calms his horse, tames his beast. After he fetches her a goose egg he starts a two-year search for her. Konrad is in love.
Mother is the narrator of the story; she is a witch with the power to control plants. Somehow this power she received is related to how she gets Zel. The demons want her to take the power, for then she may have a child. Mother grows beautiful plants and much rapunzel in her back yard, and when her neighbor steals the lettuce for his pregnant wife she catches him, and forces him to give her the child when it is born, and in return, he may take the lettuce. Zel is the child whom Mother gets. She loves her and raises her, but she must convince Zel to choose her over ever one else. Mother loses her sanity in this plight, locking her daughter up, and lying to her.
The things that work for this story are the language and the detail of the characters. The details are beautiful and the language is poetic. The lines flow, such as in the line, "Dear Mother, I've known passion. And I will never give it up (Zel, Page 197)" or the ever romantic line, " I touch the world. I have no powers anymore. I feel as though with a lover's heart (Page 227)." The things that did not work for the story were all of the sub plots. Many things were happening and after a wile it was a bit of a challenge to remember all that was said, or other wise the plot was completely lost.
I would have to rate this book a four out of five, it was a great book, and beautifully written. I would recommend this book to children from ages nine to age forty-five.
Book Review: Zel-one of the best books I've read
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a Rapunzel story and is beatifully wriiten. I did think it was a bit much for anyone who is younger than a 7th grader becuase there is a part where Zel and Konrard meet for the first time in two years and... Although they are husband and wife it is a little much even for kids my age. So if you do read it you might want to skip over a few parts. It also gets a little disturbing when she is in the tower. But except for a few parts this book is wonderful. I was surprised how the book changes from making you so happy you could scream to making you want to cry. When I finished this book I got shivers. This book leaves you awestruck, at least it did to me.Book Review: a great book
Summary: 5 Stars
i loveed this book. it is a retelling of rapunzel for teens. since i'm assuming that you know the story of rapunzel, i don't really need to explain anything. this is a very romantic book, and it has a wonderful ending. 5 stars!!Book Review: a ticked eleven year old
Summary: 5 Stars
Excuse me, but almost every view here of Napoli's works implies that her novels are not for people under 13, or that younger people wouldnt understand it. Unfortunatley, that isnt the case at all.Perhaps an average eleven-year-old, say, might not be the best person to lay all this heavy stuff on, but I would like to remind you that these novels change you. I have read Zel, the Magic Circle, and many others of these books and I am surely not the same person who opened Sirena's cover for the first time.