Lexi
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
THE FIRST THING I remember is waking up in the woods. I didn’t know where I was, or how I got there. I didn’t know my own name. All I knew was that the little silver key hung round my neck had always been there.
This is how Lexi’s story begins. She is taken into a shelter where there are clean clothes, warm food, and, most importantly, a woman who remembers her. Safe from the wars and the dangers of the street, Lexi begins to rebuild her identity with the small pieces of the past she can fit together. Then the silver key around her neck unlocks the secrets of a life she never knew she had.
This is Lexi’s story. This is how she finds her way home.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"What if you were born, at say, seven, ten or eleven years old, fully formed? That's what happened to me," says the eponymous narrator at the start of this odd novel. Lexi explains that she has woken up in the forest with no memory of the past and hopes to uncover her true identity. As Matthews did in Fish, she conceives of a beguiling premise and captures a child's perceptions of a harsh world. However, the meshing of different genres fantasy, allegory and stark realism proves confusing. Lexi finds friendship and security at a shelter run by compassionate women, but doesn't know what to make of the tales residents tell about the dangers lurking outside the walls. Their stories of magical embattled forces, the Scarlet Prince ("the top bad guy of all time") and guardian "warrior angels" read like distractions unrelated to Lexi's dilemma. Although conflicts (and social ills) are neatly resolved in the end, readers, like Lexi, are left to wonder how far they should suspend their disbelief. Ages 10 up.
