REVIEW: OUT OF OZ BY GREGORY MAGUIRE

Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire
Available in stores now

As you could tell by my previous post I was super beyond excited by this book, and once again a huge THANK YOU to HarperCollins for sending it to me.

The book opens with an update, of sorts, on Dorothy with her Auntie Em and Uncle in the city.  Her Aunt and Uncle keep making reference to her time in Oz as a delusion, and they are doing every thing they can to help her to "forget" her time there.

Then it jumps to my absolute favourite part of the entire book... Glinda is under house arrest and my god that woman is funny.  I was reading the first 1/3 of this book in total glee, and inhaling every word with absolute happiness.  Glinda is a hysterical character, and even if you have not read any of the books, if you saw the musical "Wicked" you will know what I mean.  She is desperately trying to cling on to any respectable hoity toitiness she can muster, and she is not having any luck.  Her "capture" General Cherrystone provides some sexual tension which is always an added bonus.  Among Glinda's household minions is Rain.  She is the grandaughter of Elphaba, and daughter of Liir and Candle, but she does not know it yet.  Meanwhile, Glinda uncovers a mysterious and rather large tome known as the Grimmerie.  This book is not unlike The Clock of the Time Dragon in that it seems to be alive and have its own mind, so to speak.  Glinda cannot seem to get the book to reveal anything handy, until Rain gets ahold of it.  Suddenly it comes alive in her hands and they are able to read only one spell out of the book, which comes in handy a little later.

Oz is in a state of major conflict, and as Glinda's world is further and further shrunken down until she is only able to live in her bedroom, there comes a visitor.  The Clock of the Time Dragon rolls into town and she arranges a performance for the troops where the dragon and its cast mates put on a play that is more prophecy than performance.

As the prophecy fortold, Glinda and Rain are able to stave off a massive attack by the military and Rain is able to make a run for it , Grimmerie in hand, with the odd ball bunch traveling with The Clock.  The Cowardly Lion, Brr with his human wife, and the cranky Mr. Boss, etc.

Even as I was reading the Glinda section I worried that she would disappear and no longer be the person from whom the story is told.  And sadly that is exactly what happened.  Once Glinda was gone the book took a turn for the worse and there was no climbing back.  Suddenly I was on a lonely road with a bunch of extremely dull people, animals and creatures yammering on an on and nothing ever happened.

This is where I put the book down, I'm sorry to say.  I will not be doing a giveaway of this book as I think that for me to giveaway a book I have to be super excited about it.

It's always difficult when you are sent a review copy of a book and then you really do not like what you read in it.

I am a huge fan of Maguire's books and always will be, but so far this ranks as one of my least favourites of his.

RATING:  2/5

HYPERVENTILATING OVER HERE!!!!!!

OH....MY....GOD.........

SO, a little while ago I opened an email from HarperCollins (who I LOVE... and officially want to marry, but I'll get to that in a minute)...that said they were offering review copies of this.....

Yes, it is the LAST book in the Gregory Maguire Oz series!!!!  Okay, plug your ears...

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

For those of you that have not heard of Gregory Maguire and all of his total awesomeness, you can read my ravings of his first in the series here... and then I read and reviewed the second one (Son of a Witch) and you can read all about that here... and then there was the third one.   Let me just say, it was the weirdest of the three, and by weird I mean DISTURBING.  And I really did not like it at all, okay, I liked it AT FIRST, but then the last 1/2 was just way to out there for me.  In fact I disliked it so much that I did not even bother to write a review about it, apparently.  But I have loved all of Maguire's other books.  The only one I have not read it Lost, mainly because I am a big fat giant chicken and it is super duper scary and creepy.

I went to see Wicked the musical and loved it.  I felt it was a completely true adaptation of the book, which is a feat in and of itself let me tell you!  And even if you had NOT read the book, I've been told people loved it just as much.

ANYway... now on to the latest offering by Gregory Maguire.. AKA- GENIUS.  A couple of weeks ago I was sent an email asking me if I would like to review a copy of Out of Oz, and I had to send some stats about my blog, which was almost like math, so that was kind of sucky.  BUT, today... and BY COURIER I might add, IT CAME!!!!   And it is so beautiful I can't stop staring at it.

See, here's the thing.  When you've had a book blog for awhile, and if you have awesome followers who stick around (have I told you lately how much I love you?) you get sent books.  Sometimes a lot of books.  And btw, I'M NOT COMPLAINING!  I feel very fortunate to be a blog that people like to send books to.  I get mostly unsolicited books, but sometimes that works out just dandy because then I find absolute gems like Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices trilogy (I'm reading ARC Clockwork Prince as we speak!), and the Leviathan trilogy.  But sometimes there are books that for whatever reason I just don't like or can't get into, and they kind of pile up all around me like giant guilt bombs waiting to go off.  So, to get an offer like this one, an offer of a book that I really really really want to read, AND that I would have asked for for Christmas sent to me for review is just so friggen awesome.  It is released on November 1st, and it is a huge book, about 1/3 thicker than the other 3 so I am going to hopefully get it read by that date.

NOW HERE'S WHERE IT'S ABOUT YOU!

Once my review is up and posted, HarperCollins Publishers has generously offered to do a GIVEAWAY OF A COPY OF THE BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thaaaaaat's right, you my lovely wonderful readers are going to have a chance at winning a copy of this gorgeous book!

So, STAY TUNED....

Meanwhile, here is the book trailer for Out of Oz, which is very well done...



Have an awesome night!

SUNDAY SALON AND CHRISTMAS BOOTY

Well, hello all!  I must say that after taking a break from blogging for over a week, I feel TOTALLY refreshed and raring to go for the new year.  I really didn't do much internet stuff at all over the holidays, and it was just wonderful.  But now I am back and realize how much I truly enjoy reading all of your blogs, interacting with all of you (or as many as I can.. how Bermudaonion does it I have no idea!  She remains the QUEEN of COMMENTING for sure!)  and writing on Book Blab here. 

My reading over the holidays consisted of Pope Joan, and I was just itching to see what my hubby and girls picked out for me for Christmas and was SUPER excited with their choices, PLUS my parents, er I mean "Santa" gave me a gift card to Chapters.  SWOON!  So, here is what was given and purchased in all their bookish glory:

Aren't they BEAUTIFUL?..........excuse me, I feel a little light headed.....

I know you can see from the pic what the books are, but here is the run down anyway:

GRACELING by Kristin Cashore

There has been much ballyhoo about this book in the bloggy world, and thus I have wanted to read it for a veeeerrrry long time.  Okay, for a few months, but whatever.  It always feels like a long time when one is waiting to read a juicy little number.  And get a load of the premise, here is the blurb from Amazon.ca

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight shes a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the kings thug. When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Pos friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Graceor about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone. With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.

Sounds like a gooder, am I right?

Next on the roster is:

WOLF HALL by Hilary Mantel

There has been a lot of talk about this one as well, and it is apparently a very very good historical fiction and the first page has me immediately hooked, which is (most of the time) a good sign.

Here's the blurb on that one (courtesy of Amazon.ca):

England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor. Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man with a delicate and deadly expertise in manipulating people and events. Ruthless in pursuit of his own interests, he is as ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages.

From one of our finest living writers, Wolf Hall is that very rare thing: a truly great English novel, one that explores the intersection of individual psychology and wider politics. With a vast array of characters, and richly overflowing with incident, it peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society, moulding itself with great passion and suffering and courage.

I have one thing to say about that blurb:  Yu...mmy.

Next is A LION AMONG MEN by Gregory Maguire
This is the next in the trilogy for his Oz series.  I started this one over the holidays and it proves to be as weird and groovy as the last two.  I only JUST started it, though, and as is the way with most of his books it takes a good chunk of the book to get me really hooked, so I'll keep you posted.  Basically this is the life story of the Cowardly lion of the Wizard of Oz story. 

And on to:  PIRATE LATITUDES by Michael Crichton

I have to preface this by saying that I have never in my life... ever... read anything by Michael Crichton.  Yes, I have seen the Jurassic movies, and that's about it.  But there is something about Pirates, and the sea.  I just LOVE to read about them!  In fact, if any of you reading this right now have any recommendations for any sea faring type books set in the piraty type era I would be much appreciated.  For example one of my all time favourite books I discovered last spring by total fluke was John Boyne's Mutiny on the Bounty. 

ANYway, I don't know much about this one other than this manuscript was found among his belongings after his death, and from what I have heard about it, it's pretty good. 

Here is the blurb from Amazon.ca: 
The Caribbean, 1665. A remote colony of the English crown, the island of Jamaica holds out against the vast supremacy of the Spanish empire. Devoid of London's luxuries, Port Royal, its capital, is a cutthroat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses. In this steamy climate, life can end swiftly by dysentery--or dagger. But for a daring soul like Captain Charles Hunter, this wild outpost in the New World can also lead to great fortune, if he abides by the island's code. In the name of His Majesty King Charles II of England, gold in Spanish hands is gold for the taking and the law of the land rests with those ruthless enough to make it.



Word in port is that the Spanish galleon El Trinidad, fresh from New Spain, is awaiting repairs in nearby Matanceros. Heavily fortified, the impregnable Spanish harbor is guarded by the bloodthirsty Cazalla, a favorite commander of King Philip IV. With the Jamaican governor's backing, Hunter assembles a crew of ruffians to infiltrate the enemy island and commandeer the galleon and its fortune in Spanish gold. The raid is as perilous as the bloodiest tales of Matanceros legend, and Hunter will lose more than one man before he makes it onto the island's shores, where dense jungle and the firepower of Spanish infantry stand between him and the treasure.

With the help of his cunning band, Hunter hijacks El Trinidad and escapes the deadly clutches of Cazalla, leaving plenty of carnage in his wake. But the danger--and adventure--are only just beginning. . .


And last but by no means least is the brand spankin' new cookbook by Ree Drummond from Pioneer Woman who I have loved since she launched her little wee blog two and a half years ago.  This wee blog grew to the mammoth it is today (and I know you bloggers reading this will appreciate this stat) which has an AVERAGE OF 33 MILLION HITS EVERY SINGLE MONTH.  Thaaaaaat's right.  She is the little blogger that could.  What started out as blog like we all have, to share her thoughts and a few recipes with a few family members, exploded into the juggernaut that it is today from her post on how to cook a steak.  But it wasn't just that, the appeal about Ree is she is just like us, her blog is written in the funniest best voice E-V-E-R, and you will find yourself reading every little scrap she has on there, just because she is so damn charming and funny.  Her cookbook is just like her blog, very charming and cute.  I have only one small bone to pick with it though, I in no shape or form needed a recipe for egg in the hole.  I just don't need to read how to cut a hole in a piece a bread and fry an egg in said hole.  Don't need that.  And I also don't need a recipe on how to mash potatoes.  I mean puh- leeeze.  Otherwise it is pretty good.  But all of her recipes are available on her site FOR FREE, so in hind site I guess I didn't really need the book, but I am totally happy my hubby bought it for me.  It is beautiful, and I look at it every night in bed and dream about all of the yummy things I'm going to make with it. 

So, that was my Christmas booty!  Not to mention my ACTUAL booty has grown about a size and a half due to the holidays, but I'm not going to cry about it.  I'm totally not.  Really. 

We were at the library today and I aquired a copy of "Shiver" by Maggie Stiefvater  (how much do I love that woman's last name? Go 'head, ask me.)  which I have been in line to get for ages so I'll be reading that along with "Lament" (and OH MY GOD I literally JUST discovered as I opened another page to google the author of this one to type in here, and it is MAGGIE STIEFVATER!  I had no idea!  Okay, she may just be my new favourite YA author.  I'm just sayin'.)  by Maggie Stiefvater.

What was YOUR holiday booty???

WISHLIST WEDNESDAY

Is a weekly meme hosted by Book Chick City.  It gives us all a chance to post about books we are wishing for!

Like many of my fellow bibliophiles I have an ever growing wishlist, and an actual wishlist that is in my hubby's iPhone as we speak! Here are some  of the highlights:

Barbara Kinsolver's The Lucana

I have always been a HUGE fan of Barbara Kingsolver.  I read The Poisonwood Bible and LOVED it, and my other one which I actually loved even more was The Bean Trees. 

The reviews for this have been all over the place, but I'll take my chances! 

Here's the blurb from HarperCollins:
In her most accomplished novel, Barbara Kingsolver takes us on an epic journey from the Mexico City of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to the America of Pearl Harbor, FDR, and J. Edgar Hoover. The Lacuna is a poignant story of a man pulled between two nations as they invent their modern identities.


Born in the United States, reared in a series of provisional households in Mexico—from a coastal island jungle to 1930s Mexico City—Harrison Shepherd finds precarious shelter but no sense of home on his thrilling odyssey. Life is whatever he learns from housekeepers who put him to work in the kitchen, errands he runs in the streets, and one fateful day, by mixing plaster for famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. He discovers a passion for Aztec history and meets the exotic, imperious artist Frida Kahlo, who will become his lifelong friend. When he goes to work for Lev Trotsky, an exiled political leader fighting for his life, Shepherd inadvertently casts his lot with art and revolution, newspaper headlines and howling gossip, and a risk of terrible violence.


Meanwhile, to the north, the United States will soon be caught up in the internationalist goodwill of World War II. There in the land of his birth, Shepherd believes he might remake himself in America's hopeful image and claim a voice of his own. He finds support from an unlikely kindred soul, his stenographer, Mrs. Brown, who will be far more valuable to her employer than he could ever know. Through darkening years, political winds continue to toss him between north and south in a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach—the lacuna—between truth and public presumption.

With deeply compelling characters, a vivid sense of place, and a clear grasp of how history and public opinion can shape a life, Barbara Kingsolver has created an unforgettable portrait of the artist—and of art itself. The Lacuna is a rich and daring work of literature, establishing its author as one of the most provocative and important of her time.

AND: 

PIONEER WOMAN COOKS by Ree Drummond   

I wish I could verbalize HOW EXCITED I AM ABOUT THIS BOOK!!!!  I found her blog (back when it was a blog and not the amazing empire that the charming Ree has created!) about 3 years ago, and have watched it grow from a blog to an INCREDIBLE funny, informative, generous, and yummy site.  You MUST MUST MUST check it out.  Click here.  I'll wait.   She was recently featured on the Bonnie Hunt show, and as is her way she shared every step of the way with her readers.  She is A-W-E-S-O-M-E.   I make her super yummy Pecan Caramel Apple pie all of the time, and can't WAIT to get my hands on this book.  Her photography is amazing too.  
 
Okay, enough raving.   
 

The other one I am wishing for is A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire.  It's the third in the Oz series and I just loved the first two, so I am dying to read the last one. 
 
Here's the blurb from HarperCollins for this one:
Since Wicked was first published in 1995, millions of readers have discovered Gregory Maguire's fantastically encyclopedic Oz, a world filled with characters both familiar and new, darkly conceived and daringly reimagined. In the much-anticipated third volume of the Wicked Years, we return to Oz, seen now through the eyes of the Cowardly Lion—the once tiny cub defended by Elphaba in Wicked.



While civil war looms in Oz, a tetchy oracle named Yackle prepares for death. Before her final hour, an enigmatic figure known as Brrr—the Cowardly Lion—arrives searching for information about Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West. As payment, Yackle, who hovered on the sidelines of Elphaba's life, demands some answers of her own.

Brrr surrenders his story to the ailing maunt: Abandoned as a cub, his earliest memories are gluey hazes, and his path from infancy in the Great Gillikin Forest is no Yellow Brick Road. Seeking to redress an early mistake, he trudges through a swamp of ghosts, becomes implicated in a massacre of trolls, and falls in love with a forbidding Cat princess. In the wake of laws that oppress talking Animals, he avoids a jail sentence by agreeing to serve as a lackey to the war-mongering Emperor of Oz.


A Lion Among Men chronicles a battle of wits hastened by the Emerald City's approaching armies. What does the Lion know of the whereabouts of the Witch's boy, Liir? What can Yackle reveal about the auguries of the Clock of the Time Dragon? And what of the Grimmerie, the magic book that vanished as quickly as Elphaba? Is destiny ever arbitrary? Can those tarnished by infamy escape their sobriquets—cowardly, wicked, brainless, criminally earnest—to claim their own histories, to live honorably within their own skins before they're skinned alive?

At once a portrait of a would-be survivor and a panoramic glimpse of a world gone shrill with war fever, Gregory Maguire's new novel is written with the sympathy and power that have made his books contemporary classics.

REVIEW: SON OF A WITCH by GREGORY MAGUIRE

Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire

I have literally JUST finished this book about a minute and a half ago, and my overall impression is.. wow.  Now I wouldn't say it's "wow" as in "this is the best book I've ever read in my life", but I would say it as, once again, Maguire has managed to take us into the bizarro world of Oz and make us sort of like being there.  The Oz of Maguires stories is kind of like the movie "Brazil", if you get my meaning.  Everything is a bit twisted, and weird, and just slightly disturbing.  But all of the weirdly twisted disturbing-ness of this world is very subtle, and compelling.

 One of the reasons I love Maguire's work so much is his use of words.  His words are so wild and unusual I have no idea where he gets them from!  Even his character names are bizarre:  Oatsie Manglehand, Trism, Iskaanary, Chyde, etc.  And not just his names of characters, even names of places are weirdly cool like The Kells, and The Dissappointments.  I love the names of the "maunts" which, you can infer by context only, are nuns -  Sister Apothicaire, and Sister Doctor.  These two in particular provide some much appreciated comic relief in their shinannegans.  Also, there are animals and then there are Animals.  The Animals are intelligent talking creatures, where as the animals are just the ordinary non-talking-thinking types.   I will warn you, though, Gregory Maguire's work such as this is not for everybody!  It is challenging at times in his use of language, and not exactly "happy" or "light" reading.  I happen to love his use of weird words that, quite frankly, at times I have no idea what the heck he is referring to until later in the paragraph or chapter.  But his style is so unique, I feel like it must be appreciated!  But that's just ME. 
 
Here is an example of what I mean:  (the set up:  in search for his beloved childhood friend Nor, Liir is taken down to the Southstairs district below the streets of Oz)

They found the set of steps leading farther down.  Chyde asked for directions once or twice, and sent Jibbidee scampering to check the marks on buildings.  "This'll be it, I guess,"  he said.  "It's an Animal district, so you'll forgive the stench.  Hygiene isn't their strong suit, as you know." 

The air was so cold, though, with a wind whipping in from above that the smell seemed negligible.  At any rate, Liir was too excited to care.  He found himslef bobbing up and down, and once he nearly grabbed Chyde's hand to squeeze it.  So what that Shell was a bounder, that Lady Glinda was a glamorous airhead!  They've done something good; he'd gotten here.  He'd find her, his only peer and friendmate, his half-sister if that version of history was true-- the girl who befriended mice, and shared her gingerbread, and who had giggled at bedtime, even when threatened by spanking.  He would liberate Nor, and then--- and then----

I have sat down to read this book a half dozen times.  I just couldn't get past the opening images.  But had made this "deal" with myself that I wouldn't buy a book for a whole year (cough, cough) I decided it was time to read through the hundreds of books I already owned and this one was one of them.  So, with my new found ferver in tact I plowed ahead. 

The story begins with Oatsie Manglehand and her collegues on the road in a stage coach of sorts.  They come accross several bodies on the side of the road.  These happen to be maunts whose faces have been scraped.  (See what I mean?)  So, finally getting past this part after 4 years I was delighted to find that I was actually enjoying the story!  Oatsie and her band find another unfortunate laying on the side of the road and when they go to retrieve the badly beaten and bloody body they find him still breathing.  Barely.  They decide to take him to their overnight rest stop which just happens to be the Mauntery. 

At the time nobody knows who this unconscious stranger is, and he is left in the care of a young Quadling female named "Candle" who plays an instrument near him called a "domingon".   This is how we find out that the stranger is in fact Liir, the Wicked Witch of the West's "son" ( I use quotes here as we as readers and even Liir himself are not sure if he is in fact her son) from the first story, and the music penetrates his sleeping mind and transports us into his past and how he came to be lying on the side of the road. 

I really came to adore Liir.  His character is not unlike Elphaba (the wicked witch) in that I ended up having a lot of empathy for the guy.  He is extremely loyal, has his morals intact, and draped against the backdrop of  of the sometimes despicable creatures we encounter in Maguires novels, he comes off as almost a saint at times!  And standing witness to his struggles is very endearing.  He is just trying to figure out who he is, and how everyone assumes he is the witches son and assumes he has some of her powers.  In his inability to help the She-Elephant/Human we can see that he feels he has failed her and all of Oz, just by virtue of not knowing where he truly came from.  And last but not least, reading passages of his times with Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tinman and the Cowardly Lion and their talk of the Wizard, makes me think about the movie and the original book and wonder, "Yeah!  What IS the deal with the wizard hiding behind that curtain! What a scam artist!" 

As I said before, Son of a Witch is not for everybody, and some people (like Wicked) will either love it or hate it.  I for one loved it.  And it will go on my shelf of favourite books in my office.  I cannot WAIT to read the next one in the trilogy, "A Lion Among Men".  For those of you that have already read Son of a Witch  or end up reading it, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on the book!

RATING  4/5

TEASER TUESDAY

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from…that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given.
• Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser this Tuesday is from  "Son of a Witch" by Gregory Maguire. 

"Oh, Toto!"  Shrieked Dorothy suddenly.  "Where's Toto?"

"He's wandered off to do his business," said the Lion. "Just between you and me, it's about time he learned to be private about it.  I know you dote on him, but there is a limit." 

Now THAT'S funny. 

REVIEW OF WICKED by Gregory Maguire

WICKED by Gregory Maguire

Wicked is one of those books that stays with you for a long time. To be fair, I read this book a few years ago, but it is still one of my all time favs and I love sharing it with people who may have not given it a try yet.

The thing with Gregory Maguire is that he loves to take fairytales or fables and highlight a character that is not traditionally the "hero" of the story. In this case, this is the story of the "Wicked Witch of the West" and how she came to be so "wicked". Believe it or not you will learn to love and even feel empathy for Elphaba the wicked witch, and understand why she was such a twisted and disturbed individual. You will also get to know Dorothy, and her travel companions in a totally new way, as well as a whole host of wild and weird creatures that inhabit the world of Oz. And a strange place it is. At times you feel slightly disturbed and unsettled while reading, and other times you laugh out loud. As in this, my favourite scene from the whole entire novel.

The set-up: Elphaba was born not only green but with an enormous set of razor sharp teeth to which she would set upon innocent bystanders from time to time. Concerned that she was creating an anti-social child, her mother Melena and Nanny decide to put Elphaba in a playgroup of sorts. And here is what happens:

(page 51)

"No throwing, Elphie dear," called Nanny.

"I'm only saying what I hear. They say at night that Quadlings fall asleep and their souls climb out through their mouths and go abroad."

"Stupid people say a lot of stupid things," Melena was curt and too loud. "I have never seen his soul climb out of his mouth while he was sleeping, and I've had plenty of opportu-"

"Darling, no rocks," shrilled Nanny. "None of the other children have rocks."

"Now they do," observed Gawnette.

"He is the most sensitive person I've ever met," said Melena.

"Sensitive isn't much use to a fishwife," said Gawnette. "How about to a minister and a minister's wife?"

"Now there's blood, how vexing," said Nanny. "Children, let Elphie up so I can wipe that cut. And I didn't bring a rag, Gawnette?"

"Bleeding is good for them, makes them less hungry," said Gawnette.

"I rate sensitive a good sight higher than stupid," said Melena, seething.

"No biting," said Gawnette to one of the little boys, and then, seeing Elphaba open her mouth to retaliate, raised herself to her feet, bad hip or no, and screamed,"no biting, for the love of mercy!"

"Aren't children divine?" said Nanny.

The world that Gregory Maguire paints is vivid, unique and not at all like you probably have envisioned Oz. But you will never forget it, mark my words. I loved this book. Probably because it was so fresh and new and different. The words that Maquire uses are astonishing as are the names of his characters. I have the second book now "Son of a Witch", which I am now reading and will review when I'm done. There is also a third in the trilogy called "A Lion Among Men" which follows the cowardly lions story.

4.5/5