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Cynthia Voigt

Autor(a) de Dicey's Song

56+ Works 16,930 Membros 293 Críticas 38 Favorited

About the Author

Cynthia Voigt was born on February 25, 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts. She received a bachelor's degree from Smith College, did graduate work at St. Michael's College, and later received a teacher's certification from Christian Brothers College. After college, she worked for an advertising agency. mostrar mais Before becoming a full-time author, she was a secretary and a high school English teacher. Her first book, Homecoming, was published in 1981. Her children's books address such issues at child abuse and racism, topics that are not often talked about in books designed for children. She is the author of numerous books including the Bad Girls series, the Tillerman Cycle series, and the Kingdom series. She won the Notable Children's Trade Book in the field of social studies for Homecoming, the Newbery Medal, ALA in 1983 for Dicey's Song, and the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1984 for The Callender Papers. In 1995, she received the MAE Award. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos

Séries

Obras por Cynthia Voigt

Dicey's Song (1982) 2,788 exemplares
Homecoming (1981) 2,775 exemplares
A Solitary Blue (1983) 1,456 exemplares
Jackaroo (1985) 1,058 exemplares
Izzy, Willy-Nilly (1986) 853 exemplares
The Runner (1985) 755 exemplares
Seventeen Against the Dealer (1991) 668 exemplares
On Fortune's Wheel (1990) 661 exemplares
Come a Stranger (1986) 652 exemplares
Sons from Afar (1991) 591 exemplares
The Callender Papers (1983) 488 exemplares
Elske (1999) 385 exemplares
The Wings of a Falcon (1993) 380 exemplares
The Book of Lost Things (2013) 319 exemplares
Young Fredle (2011) 286 exemplares
Building Blocks (1984) 270 exemplares
Bad Girls (1996) 264 exemplares
Tree By Leaf (1988) 257 exemplares
The Vandemark Mummy (1991) 248 exemplares
When She Hollers (1994) 213 exemplares
Tell Me If the Lovers Are Losers (1982) 193 exemplares
Bad, Badder, Baddest (1997) 158 exemplares
Orfe (1992) 152 exemplares
David and Jonathan (1992) 139 exemplares
Angus and Sadie (2005) 130 exemplares
Bad Girls in Love (2002) 102 exemplares
It's Not Easy Being Bad (2000) 92 exemplares
The Book of Secrets (2014) 88 exemplares
The Rosie Stories (2003) 74 exemplares
The Book of Kings (2015) 73 exemplares
Teddy & Co. (2016) 39 exemplares
Glass Mountain (1991) 35 exemplares
Homecoming, Part 1 (1981) 32 exemplares
Toaff's Way (2018) 30 exemplares
Dicey's Song/Homecoming (2001) 30 exemplares
Little Bird (2020) 26 exemplares
Homecoming, Part 2 (1981) 23 exemplares
By Any Name (2017) 16 exemplares
From Bad to Worse (1998) 15 exemplares
Stories About Rosie (1986) 12 exemplares
VOGLIO TORNARE A CASA (1999) 8 exemplares
Jackaroo/On Fortune's Wheel (2001) 5 exemplares
Homecoming [1996 TV Movie] (1996) — Writer — 5 exemplares
Le pesti (1998) 2 exemplares
Les Enfants Tillerman, tome 2 (1999) 2 exemplares
The Black Bear 1 exemplar

Associated Works

What You Wish For: A Book for Darfur (2011) — Contribuidor — 70 exemplares

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Membros

Discussions

Críticas

I knew this would be a hard read just from the blurb, and I was not wrong. I felt this was a very accurate portrayal of an abuse victim, and the nebulous ending really gave the sense of no closure that many abuse victims sadly end up with.
 
Assinalado
LaurenThemself | 6 outras críticas | Feb 20, 2024 |
 
Assinalado
BooksInMirror | 12 outras críticas | Feb 19, 2024 |
I just finished reading Tuck Everlasting, which had this recurring wheel imagery and it reminded me of a book I completely loved when I was twelve or so (I was reminded of it just because of the wheel thing--not because they're similar books). So I type in "wheel" and "fortune" and up it popped, this Cynthia Voigt book. It's not the same cover as the one I had, but I know it's the same book because I remember having a pretend boyfriend named Orien. He was dreamy. I think I can even remember the last line of this book, which is pretty ridiculous considering I read it once and that was like 15 years ago.

I'm putting it on my Twilight-alternative shelf because I remember it giving my young girl heart major pangs.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
LibrarianDest | 8 outras críticas | Jan 3, 2024 |
To be clear, Elske is the fourth book in Cynthia Voigt's loosely tied together series called The Kingdom. The other three (Jackaroo, Wings of a Falcon and On Fortune's Wheel) are all set in the Kingdom that Beriel hails from, while Elske is set in Trastad, a small country to the north of The Kingdom. You don't need prior knowledge of the other books, except perhaps to understand the truth behind the 'legends' that Beriel mentions. The legend of Jackaroo for instance is covered in depth in the book of the same name, while some of Beriel's ancestors are covered in On Fortune's Wheel.

This can be a little dark at times with some of the subject matter. Elske's people, the Volkaric (Wolfers) are a barbaric, primitive people who live to eat, plunder and worship their leader the Volkking. The only place a woman has is to satisfy their needs--whatever they happen to be. Her grandmother however was from the South and was resigned to her fate, Elske was her joy and treasure. When she was chosen as the Death Maiden, to be a sacrifice for the Volkking's Death, something snapped. Idle no longer she schemed to save Elske and in doing so get the revenge she should have sought years ago.

And thus does our story start. Mirkele (Elske's grandmother) is preparing Elske to run away, and Elske (barely thirteen years old) stoically faces her newfound freedom. By chance she happens upon Tavyan and his sons as they traveled home and by chance she became Beriel's handmaiden. Two exiled souls in a city that alternately reviled them and tormented them. Beriel's story is also a sad, dark tale we don't learn for many chapters, but suffice to say they both needed each other greatly.

I love this book, I have ever since reading it in college that idle tuesday afternoon. It's a very different fantasy from what I was used to at the time (there's no magic or monsters), but captivated me with its thoughtful plotting and pace. At its core Elske is about two girls who were cut off from everyone and everything they understood, who band together to grant their hearts' desires. This isn't a fast book or flashy book, its not horrifically violent or filled with drama. Like many of Voigt's other books its a character study.

The book itself covers roughly three years altogether (with an epilogue discussing the after effects), charting the progress of Elske as she learns to adapt to her new life and Beriel as she plots to take back her throne. Beriel isn't an easy person to get along with--she's short tempered, vindictive and can be very cruel. A lot of her ire turns on Elske herself--you always hurt the one you love most right?--but Elske is the perfect target almost. Raised by people far more cruel and heartless then Beriel, she stoically takes what Beriel lashes out at her and then carefully helps her pick up the pieces.

This is dramatic storytelling at its best in my opinion--proving that sometimes the one with the quietest voice is the one with the most to say.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
lexilewords | 7 outras críticas | Dec 28, 2023 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
56
Also by
1
Membros
16,930
Popularidade
#1,318
Avaliação
3.9
Críticas
293
ISBN
647
Línguas
11
Marcado como favorito
38

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