Ophelia and the marvelous boy

Review by New York Times Review

IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME in children's literature: Beloved parents die, and their sons and daughters have to come to terms with their loss. In Karen Foxlee's "Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy," this premise is explored in an original and fantastical manner, as Foxlee ("The Anatomy of Wings," "The Midnight Dress") deftly borrows and transforms elements from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen." The story opens with a short prelude, set in the deep past, in which a cold, calculating queen persuades her husband the king to lock away his faithful companion, the "Marvelous Boy" of the title. Centuries pass, as they do in fairy tales, and it is now three days before Christmas Eve. Eleven-year-old Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard and her sister, Alice, have accompanied their father, an expert on swords, to a strange, unnamed city where it always snows. Mr. Whittard has taken a temporary job assisting the icy and glitteringly perfect Miss Kaminski, curator of a vast, chilly museum, in organizing "Battle: The Greatest Exhibition of Swords in the History of the World," a show scheduled to open on Dec. 24. Mr. Whittard hopes some time in a new place will help his daughters recover from the death of their mother, a fantasy writer who "had believed in almost everything, ... in vampires with satin cloaks and shape-shifters that slid through keyholes. She believed in the ghosts of children who terrorized schools and strange creatures who sucked the thoughts from their victims' brains. She loved crumbling castles and dark towers and secret doors." As Ophelia explores the museum on her first day there, she could be a character in one of her mother's books. She comes unexpectedly upon a locked room, looks through the keyhole, and sees the eye of a boy staring back at her. Held prisoner for the past 300 years, he asks for her help. There's a problem, though. Ophelia, unlike her mother, doesn't believe in magic. "The trouble with magic," Foxlee writes, "was that it was messy and dangerous and filled with longing. There were too many moments that made your heart stop and ache and start again." Reluctantly, Ophelia finds the courage to search the museum for three keys and a magical sword, encountering huge wolves, the melancholy ghosts of kidnapped girls and extremely hungry Misery Birds. She also watches in horror as Alice, enchanted by Miss Kaminski's gifts and promises, comes perilously close to renouncing her family and ending her life in the Snow Queen's soul-extracting machine. Throughout it all, Ophelia is guided by her mother's voice, encouraging her onward. As one might expect, the story culminates in a struggle between good and evil as Ophelia and her father battle Miss Kaminski in a sword fight. Ophelia hears her mother telling her, "Love is on your side," which gives her the strength to vanquish the Snow Queen. EVERYONE LOVES A VILLAINESS (think of Cruella de Vil in "The 101 Dalmations"), and young readers will relish the depiction of a modern-day snow queen in the guise of the beautiful, evil Miss Kaminski. But their allegiance will be with Ophelia, a plucky heroine who changes from a hardheaded rationalist who believes only in facts to a girl who learns to trust her emotional, imaginative side. Her grief-stricken father, too, will find a cathartic release for his frozen feelings by book's end. It is a satisfying story, although the writing is a bit uneven, a mix of very fine, lyrical, imaginative passages and flatter, less inspired scenes. At times, the dialogue feels a little clichéd and predictable, failing to match the emotional and dramatic intensity of the moment, especially in the grand finale of the sword fight. Still, the novel has a heartening message: It's possible for family members to recover from a terrible loss and reconnect with one another. In the end, Ophelia is able to accomplish the difficult tasks that any fairy-tale heroine must and to discover strengths within herself that she did not know were there. 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Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [February 23, 2014]

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Review by Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Ophelia is a grieving 11-year-old who only believes in things that science can explain. Following her beloved mother's death, her father takes a job at an enormous museum in a city where it constantly snows. There Ophelia discovers the imprisoned Marvelous Boy, who discloses to her that in three days the Snow Queen will discharge her wretchedness upon mankind. He further reveals that he must save the world before that happens and that only Ophelia can help him. As the boy tells his story, Ophelia accepts the challenges required to release him from his three-hundred-year captivity. She faces magical snow leopards, child ghosts, a Spanish conquistador, and a monstrous misery bird none of which, like the boy, can be scientifically explained. Nevertheless, Ophelia learns there are truths she never dreamed of and that courage is less about bravery than about the decision to help people in need. Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, this clever story-within-a-story reads easily yet offers deep lessons about trust, responsibility, and friendship.--Fredriksen, Jeanne Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In Foxlee's take on "The Snow Queen," 11-year-old Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard, who is still grieving her mother's death, travels to an unnamed snowy city where her father has taken a job at a strange museum. There, Ophelia meets a boy in a locked room. The Marvelous Boy has been a prisoner of the Snow Queen for years, and he asks Ophelia to help him save the world. Narrator Entwistle shines in this entertaining audio edition. With an accented voice, steady pacing, and a crisp delivery, Entwistle ably captures the magic and fun of Foxlee's tale. The voices Entwistle lends Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy are spot-on, while she also produces a host of distinct and appropriate voices for the book's other characters. Ages 8-12. A Knopf hardcover. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 3-6-While wandering a remote wing of the museum where her father has recently been employed, Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard finds a boy locked behind a door. He informs her that he has been imprisoned by the Snow Queen for hundreds of years and enlists her help to free him and prevent the end of the world. Skeptical, she nevertheless agrees and faces numerous challenges on her way to freeing the boy, ultimately facing down a villainess who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. In this imaginative retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Foxlee has crafted a story-within-a-story that mixes elements of the traditional tale with that of a family recovering from loss. Although the plot is a bit predictable at times and the dialogue a bit forced, the overall quality of the tale is elevated tremendously in the audio performance, thanks to the talented Jayne Entwistle. Her lilting delivery takes on a musical quality and effortlessly draws the audience into the adventure; the rhythm is mesmerizing and complements this modern-day fairy tale perfectly. Recommended for fans of folk tales and good storytelling.-Audrey Sumser, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Mayfield, OH (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Horn Book Review

Exploring the museum where her father is a guest curator, Ophelia discovers a small room in which, looking through a cleverly hidden keyhole, she spies the bright eye of a boy. He tells her that he's a prisoner of the Snow Queen, who, Ophelia discovers, is none other than Miss Kaminski, the museum's head curator. To defeat her, someone must find the boy's missing sword--and that someone is clearly Ophelia. Despite her conviction that "anything is possible if you have a plan," she learns that to succeed she must repress her scientific reasoning and use her heart. This is a fable of psychic healing, in which grieving Ophelia, mourning her mother only three months dead, must battle the Queen's sword (named the Great Sorrow) armed only with her powers as "defender of goodness and happiness and hope." The fable's moral and allegorical elements are thus readily apparent, but Foxlee's deftness with characterization and setting also makes this a satisfying fantasy. There's many a children's novel set in a museum, but Foxlee's is noteworthy for its creative abundance of exhibits (including sewing baskets and teaspoons, "A Millennium of Religious Hats," "Culture of the Cossacks," "History of Silhouettes," and many more). deirdre f. baker (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Eleven-year-old Ophelia faces her fears to help a nameless boy imprisoned in a surreal museum by the evil Snow Queen in this contemporary fairy tale. An asthmatic girl who believes in science and eschews fantasy, Ophelia's curious but admittedly not very brave. Grieving her mother's recent death, Ophelia arrives in a snowy "foreign city" with her father and sister. While her curator father organizes an exhibition of swords, Ophelia wanders the vast museum until she discovers "The Marvelous Boy," trapped by the Snow Queen for three centuries in a hidden room. A spell preventing the Snow Queen from killing the boy expires in three days, when he will die and the world will freeze unless Ophelia can free him, locate his magical sword and identify the "One Other" to defeat the Snow Queen. Though she's unsure she believes the boy's fantastical story, Ophelia gradually heeds an inner voice urging her to follow her heart. Alternating between Ophelia's bizarre quest to save the boy and the retelling of his story, the intense plot moves Ophelia beyond grief to fulfill what she realizes is her destiny. Armed with her inhaler, practical Ophelia proves a formidable heroine in a frozen landscape. A well-wrought, poignant and original reworking of Andersen's "The Snow Queen." (Fantasy. 8-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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In which Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard discovers a boy in a locked room and is consequently asked to save the world Ophelia did not consider herself brave. She wasn't like Lucy Coutts, the head girl in her grade, who once rescued a baby in a runaway stroller and was on the front page of all the papers. Lucy Coutts had heavy brown hair and pink cheeks, and she called Ophelia Scrap, which made everyone laugh, even Ophelia, to show she didn't mind. Ophelia didn't consider herself brave, but she was very curious. She was exactly the kind of girl who couldn't walk past a golden keyhole without looking inside. The keyhole was in a foreign city where it always snowed. It was on the third floor of the museum, in the 303rd room. Ophelia wasn't at all sure how she got there, only that she let her feet take her wherever they wanted to go. Her father had taken a job at the museum. He had become, at the eleventh hour, the curator of Battle: The Greatest Exhibition of Swords in the History of the World. The previous curator had left without warning. In three days, Ophelia's father was to prepare hundreds of swords to be exhibited on Christmas Eve. He also hoped that a week in a foreign city would be just the medicine for his daughters. They could explore and ice-skate while he worked. And they would have a white Christmas away from their home, which had grown so quiet. He was very busy, though, far too busy to spend much time with them. He told Ophelia she must stay close to her older sister, Alice. But Alice was not interested in seeing any of the attractions. She wanted to go nowhere and do nothing. She wanted to sit all day with her headphones, playing gloomy music and thinking gloomy thoughts. She'd been like that ever since their mother died, which was exactly three months, seven days, and nine hours ago. "I'll take you ice-skating later," Alice said, but in a very halfhearted way. So, all morning Ophelia had walked alone. She had been upstairs and down. She had climbed in and out of elevators that rattled and creaked between the floors. There were grand galleries filled with priceless treasures and glittering halls filled with dazzling relics. There were precious paintings by the old masters and glorious statues and huge urns, and the ceilings danced with painted angels. Ophelia tried, as hard as she could, to be interested in all these things. She leaned her head to one side and nodded approvingly. She looked up interesting facts in the rather useless guide. She tried to stifle all her yawns. But fortunately, these glimmering places also led to murky corridors. And these murky corridors also led to dimly lit rooms. And these rooms contained smaller, stranger collections. And it was these places that made Ophelia's heart beat faster. She found a lonely room filled with teaspoons. Which led to a room containing only telephones. Which led to a shadowy arcade of mirrors. She passed through an exhibition of stuffed and preserved elephants. She tiptoed through a quiet pavilion filled with the threadbare taxidermied bodies of wolves. She squeezed through the crowd in the Gallery of Time and saw the famous Wintertide Clock. It ticked so loudly that people had to stick their fingers in their ears. She ran down a long, dim hallway filled with melancholy paintings of girls. It was very cold. Windows were left open to stinging sparks of sleet and snow. The wind whistled and moaned through the galleries and down the stairwells. It made the cobwebs on the chandeliers dance. Even with a map it was a very confusing place. Signs pointed in the wrong directions, and no one bothered about fixing them. The sign for Porcelains 1700-1850 AD led to Costumes and Culture of the Renaissance. The sign for Costumes and Culture of the Renaissance led to Bronze Age Artifacts. The sign for Bronze Age Artifacts led to an imposing red, locked door. There was no point in asking the guards. The guards sat in corners and knitted or dozed. Sometimes, they snarled and yelled like banshees for no good reason, and other times, they let children climb on the glass cabinets, using the brass handles for footholds. Sometimes, they came rushing at people who just happened to stand too long in one place, and other times, they smiled huge toothless smiles and offered old fruit from their large black handbags. The museum in the city where it always snowed was the type of place where a person could very easily get lost. Miss Kaminski, the museum curator, had said so herself. Miss Kaminski was dazzlingly beautiful. Her blond hair was tied in an elegant chignon, and she was surrounded by a cloud of heavenly perfume. She had smiled at Ophelia and Alice before placing a perfectly manicured hand on their father's arm. "It is advisable that they do not wander alone," Miss Kaminski said. "The museum is very big, and several girls have become lost and never been found." But Ophelia didn't feel afraid. It was much better on her own. It was a relief to be out of the workroom, where her father had begun work as soon as they arrived in the city. He was unpacking swords and polishing swords and cataloging swords endlessly. Her father knew everything there was to know about swords. His card read: MALCOLM WHITTARD LEADING INTERNATIONAL EXPERT ON SWORDS "I have a very tight deadline, Ophelia. Christmas Eve!" he said whenever Ophelia tried to talk to him. "I'm sure there are more than enough things here to keep you and Alice occupied." If ever you have the chance to visit this museum, the keyhole to room 303 is quite close to a much-celebrated sea monster mosaic floor. It is marked on the maps by an octopus symbol. That first morning, Ophelia spent some time walking on the mosaic waves and the mosaic foam. She traveled the length of all eight glittering tentacles, observed the people falling back from the monster's mouth. She bent over and looked directly into its eye. It was the sort of thing her mother would have loved. Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard wished more than anything that her mother were alive. Near the sea monster mosaic floor, she noticed a gallery with a red rope hung across its entrance. Ophelia slipped under the rope and went inside. It was a small exhibition of broken stone angels. There was no guard in the room, so she touched some wings, even though she knew she shouldn't have. It was very quiet and very still. All she could hear were her own footsteps and her own breathing. It had a peculiar, empty smell. No one had been that way for a very long time. In the corner of the room there was a very normal-looking gray door. Above the door were the small silver numbers 302. Ophelia opened it. The room behind the ordinary gray door was also almost normal. The floor was checkerboard. The tall windows, with tatty velvet curtains pulled back, gave a view of the city. The sky also was gray. Excerpted from Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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