HOPE'S GIFT - Hardcover

Brighton, Catherine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 038524598X ISBN 13: 9780385245982

Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 1988

Hope, considered to be the "slow one" of three children in a family of traveling actors in sixteenth-century Europe, discovers that she has a gift for healing the sick--a gift that is not for sale, despite her sister's plans.

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From School Library Journal:

Grade 1-3 Hope, the youngest and ``slowest'' of three siblings in a Medieval traveling show, finds that when she holds an injured parakeet, it can fly, so she uses her healing power to cure the invalid daughter of a lord. Her sister Mercy has negotiated for Hope to be paid, with the understanding that they will be locked up if she fails. Hope heals the girl, taking no money, and the children hide overnight, afraid of the lord coming after them. The story is confusing, choppily told, and ultimately puzzling. Characters are not defined, other than in the contrast of Mercy's mercenary nature with Hope's saintliness. Even in the watercolor illustrations, which glow with rich color, the characters lack individuality. They all wear vacant, sleepy expressions, whether the text states that they panicked, were ``cold with fear,'' or were ``in awe.'' Hope's gift cannot heal the problems with this picture book. David Gale, ``School Library Journal''
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

Mercy, her brother Samson and her sister Hope are part of a family of actors traveling across Europe. Hope is the slow one in the troupe, always forgetting her lines and always the last to finish eating or dressing. Then the siblings watch as, with a touch, Hope heals an injured bird. Mercy trades on her sister's gift by promising a lord's son that Hope will cure his crippled sister. The agreed-upon gold sovereign is forgotten, however, when Hope miraculously heals the girl. The children are too afraid and awe-stricken to worry about payment, and run away; soon the little band of actors is on the road again. The healer's powers, seen through a child's eye, is innocently revealingHope evidently is more of an angel than a magic-maker. Brighton's watercolors provide the real enchantment of the tale, with her brilliant patterns and intricate representations of 16th century life; each illustration ornately frames the action. Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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