Comments on: Jane Yolen’s Alta books

By: The Literary Horizon: Sister Light, Sister Dark, Spellwright « The Literary Omnivore

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 12:02:58 +0000

[…] to its age, the only book blogger review I’ve managed to find is Jenny’s reread of the series, where she praises the world building and how Yolen spices things up with folk tales and inaccurate […]

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:09:20 +0000

In reply to darla d. I remember finding The Devil's Arithmetic really upsetting, but mostly I liked the books I read by her. My sister and I wrote her a letter after we read the Alta books - it was one of maybe two letters I wrote to authors when I was young, and she wrote back promptly and told us all kinds of nice things. So I feel kindly towards Jane Yolen.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:04:55 +0000

In reply to Jeane. I just hate it when you reread a beloved book and find it doesn't live up to your memory. Hopefully you won't have to swear off Yolen forever. :)

By: darla d

darla d — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:18:11 +0000

I read these quite a few years ago, and I have vague memories of the plot (most of which came back as I read your post). I do remember enjoying them, though, and I’m glad your reread was a positive one. It’s always such a disappointment when childhood books don’t hold up years later. Yolen is pretty dependable, though!

By: Jeane

Jeane — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:49:26 +0000

Ah! I’m so glad to read this review because I just wrote one about a Yolen book that totally let me down, and it made me feel awful. I always saw this series on the shelf when I was younger and never picked it up. Now you’ve convinced me to try her again… though maybe not today.