I would like to begin by stating that I am crushing on the cover of this book. It's GORGEOUS. To be honest, when it was unpacked from our book order in February, I picked it up to read just because it was beautiful. Judge me for my shallowness if you must, but I'm just stating the facts. If you don't believe in the power of a good book cover, you're lying to yourself and everyone around you.
Here's the first piece of good news: Walk on Earth a Stranger was selected as one of the Tome Society's It List Books for 2016-2017. What's Tome Society & the It List? Please let my dear friends who created Tome Society explain it best themselves: "The goal for the Tome It Lists is to provide students with a list of recently published, well-written, engaging novels they and the adults in their lives can trust to be awesome reads without worrying about excessive strong language and descriptive sexual scenes. At Tome Society we believe in intellectual freedom and strive to protect it, but we also recognize a need for a student book award list that promotes high quality, clean books. The It List is meant to be another option in a large group of student book award lists. We want to give students the choice to read new, clean, encouraging books. We believe students should be encouraged through well-written, fun-to-read literature to rise above discouraging situations and cycles of destructive behavior; to make a difference in the world around them; and to look beyond themselves and reflect on how their personal decisions will impact present and future generations." So, if you're a parent and you're looking for clean reads for your students, then look no further than the It Lists! Now, let's get back to the task at hand--reviewing Walk on Earth a Stranger. Awesome cover? CHECK. Awesome story line? DOUBLE CHECK. Rae Carson introduces us to book one of the Gold Seer Trilogy by beginning the story in Dahlonega (hooray for North Georgia) just after the Gold Rush there that made a lot of people rich and instilled gold fever in the hearts of others. Lee Westfall, the main character, is a young woman with a big secret during this time of adventure, discovery, hopes, dreams, and greed: she can sense GOLD anywhere in the world around her. If someone is wearing a gold watch nearby, she can sense it. Is there a large vein of gold in a riverbed she's close to? She can barely function because the pull from the gold is so great. You can only imagine what Lee could do with her power during the Gold Rush, especially when gold is discovered in California in 1848. She could make a lot of money for someone else and she could provide for her family, but she and her family know that they have to keep her power a secret because other people would do anything to have Lee use her ability to help them get rich. Other people would even commit murder to get to Lee. When Lee's entire world is turned upside down, she flees for California, dodging thieves, sickness, wild animals, and other hardships of a westward bound wagon train all while trying to keep herself alive and her ability a secret. This combination of historic fiction and fantasy will keep you interested from beginning to end and you'll find yourself living and breathing right along with the Old West's pioneers. Book two of the Gold Seer Trilogy, Like a River Glorious, will be released on September 27, 2016. We will be ready when it's time to pre-order!
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August 2018
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