Read Sept 25, 2013
Juv Chapter Book: medieval setting, light fantasy. (Similar to GRRM's The Ice Dragon)
Aaron is mute, and his mother has always been there
to help and shelter him at their isolated house by the sea. But now
he's 12, and mother thinks he's old enough to stay home for a night and a
morning while she makes the quarterly trip to the nearest village to
sell her weaving and buy supplies.
A freak snowstorm hits, and Aaron waits at home for
an extra night before venturing out to find her. He's lost quickly, and
discovers the Half-Moon-Inn. The devious and thieving proprietress
takes his clothes and shoes to prevent his escape, and beats him into
submission to work for her. The tension rachets up as his every
attempt to escape (many of them plucky or quite bright ideas) is
thwarted by the proprietress, or by fate itself. Finally, fate
intervenes again, and the baddies get what's coming to them through no
fault of our protagonist, and mom appears at the end to fetch him safely
home again.
Very good story for beginning readers, good plotting
and quick storytelling. Frightening, but never too intense. Excellent
for giving to confident young readers, or for bedtime/daily reading.
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