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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A young girl must learn to survive and find her family against all odds in this heartbreaking companion to Hush from award-winning author Donna Jo Napoli.
Lost at sea when her sister is taken captive on a marauding slave ship, Brigid is far removed from the only life she knew as a princess and the pampered daughter of an Irish king.
Now Brigid has few choices. Alone and abandoned, she disguises herself as a boy and vows to find her innocent sister forced into slavery. Over the course of her search, many years pass and Brigid grows from a child to a woman—and she still does not give up. She lives off the land, meets friend and foe along the way, and gains a reputation as a tough woman, fierce enough to conquer men. It is not fierceness that guides her but the love for her missing sister and the longing for her family to be reunited. She pushes forward on her journey, knowing that her only real power comes from within herself.
Based on the legend of the first female Norse pirate, award-winning author Donna Jo Napoli has crafted a remarkable survival story spanning years and continents—a sweeping tale that will transform readers.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This adventure-packed companion to Napoli's Hush takes place in the 10th century, stretching over eight years in the life of fugitive Irish princess Brigid as she experiences four different lives. Kidnapped as an eight-year-old, along with her 15-year-old sister, Melkorka (the heroine of Hush), to be sold into slavery, Brigid literally jumps ship and swims ashore onto a foreign land, which turns out to be Jutland, in Denmark. Over the next eight years she plants herself in two families in different cultures, takes on new names, and leads a band of women pirates across the Baltic Sea, rescuing slaves while in search of her sister. A postscript explains that Napoli blended her fictional character's story with that of Alfhild, the first known Norse woman pirate. Brigid's extraordinary strength, bravery, and survival instincts, along with her obsession with rescuing her older sister, sometimes strain credibility, as does the ending, rewarding as it is. Dense with historical detail and overflowing with characters, this ambitious saga will find an audience with sophisticated readers looking to invest in a multifaceted, complex tale. Ages 12 up.
