Spin the Dawn

Elizabeth Lim

Book - 2019

Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she'll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There's just one catch- Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia's task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

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Young Adult Area YOUNG ADULT FICTION/Lim Elizabet Due Dec 26, 2024
Subjects
Genres
Fantasy fiction
Published
New York Random House Children's Books 2019.
Language
English
Main Author
Elizabeth Lim (-)
Physical Description
400 pages
ISBN
9780593118443
9780525646990
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Seamstress Maia Tamarin has always dreamed of being a renowned tailor, but after the war took two of her brothers and returned the third without the use of his legs, she is struggling to cope with her new reality. When a messenger arrives on behalf of the emperor demanding her ailing father compete for the position of imperial tailor or send his most skilled son in his stead Maia accepts the invitation herself in disguise. After besting her competitors in several rounds of Project Runway-style challenges, Maia's final task is one many have died endeavoring: she is to create three dresses, made from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of the stars. With the help of a pair of magic scissors and Edan, the emperor's beguiling enchanter, Maia travels the kingdom gathering the mythic materials, battling demons, and evading mercenaries. Beautifully written with a can't-wait-for-the-sequel ending, this breathtaking and fast-paced Silk-road inspired fantasy from the author of Mulan-retelling Reflection (2018) is sure to enchant readers beginning to end.--Eleanor Roth Copyright 2019 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 7 Up--When a royal messenger comes calling, Maia Tamarin uproots her life as a seamstress to take her father's place at the Summer Palace. Posing as her brother, Maia competes for the title of imperial tailor, amid schemes, lies, and one very persistent court enchanter, Edan. Her final test as a tailor launches her on a journey across the kingdom to create three legendary dresses out of the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. However, completing this task means testing the limits of body, mind, and soul--something Maia may not be ready for. This immersive Chinese-inspired fantasy is a great debut novel. Maia's country of A'landi is rich with detail, from its Five Winters War to its expansive Great Spice Road. The quick-moving plot at the beginning of the novel gives way to a more intricate and refined story line later on. Though the delightful romance between Maia and Edan comes across initially as forced, it's given room to develop as they traverse the kingdom for Maia's final tailor task. Maia is a powerful figure, though, as with many, it's through trust in herself that she discovers just how influential she can become. VERDICT An addictive magical adventure that's a strong purchase for library shelves.--Emily Walker, Lisle Library District, IL

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

Part Project Runway set during the Silk Road era, part epic adventure.In her first original novel, Lim introduces Maia Tamarin, a young woman struggling to support her family through her needlework. Maia dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in A'landiif only she were not a girl. When an opportunity arises and her father is summoned to the Summer Palace, Maia takes his place, masquerading as her brother, though she risks death if discovered. Once there she finds herself competing against master tailors while dealing with a surly bride stalling the wedding plans by posing impossible challenges as well as the Lord Enchanter, who takes a particular interest in "Master Tamarin's" work. The second half of the story then morphs into a quest that will test her body, mind, and soul. The author uses Maia's masquerade to call out issues with female beauty standards and gendered behavioral expectations: Much is made of her freckles, and her brother's crash course on how to act like a boy includes key points such as direct eye contact and displays of anger and arrogance. However, the follow-through on these elements could have been further developed. With strong storytelling and characterization and a pleasing romance, this will have broad appeal. Given the overall setting and physical descriptions, all characters are assumed East Asian. With a satisfying conclusion, readers will be eager for the next installment in Maia's story. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

I had three brothers once. Finlei was the oldest--the brave one. Nothing frightened him, not spiders or needles or a flogging from Baba's cane. He was the quickest of us four children, fast enough to catch a fly with only his thumb and a thimble. But along with his dauntlessness came a craving for adventure. He despised having to work in our shop, having to spend the sun's precious light sewing dresses and mending shirts. And he was careless with the needle, his fingers constantly bandaged from pricks and his work marred with uneven stitches. Stitches I would unpick and redo to save him from Baba's lectures. Finlei didn't have the patience to become a tailor like Baba. Sendo had patience, but not for sewing. My second brother was the poet in the family, and the only weaving he loved was of words, especially about the sea. He would tell stories about the beautiful garments Baba could sew, with such exquisite detail all the ladies in town clamored to buy them--only to find they didn't exist. As punishment, Baba made him sit on the pier behind our shop, unraveling thread from silkworm cocoons. Often I stole out to sit with him, to listen to his tales of what lay beyond that never-ending horizon of water. "What color is the ocean?" Sendo would ask me. "Blue, silly. What else?" "How will you be the best tailor in A'landi if you don't know your colors?" Sendo shook his head and pointed at the water. "Look again. Look into the depths of it." "Sapphire," I said, studying the ocean's gentle crests and troughs. The water sparkled. "Sapphire, like the stones Lady Tainak wears around her neck. But there's a hint of green . . . jade green. And the foam curls up like pearls." Sendo smiled. "That's better." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and hugged me close. "One day, we'll sail the seas, you and I. And you'll see the blue in all the world." Because of Sendo, blue was my favorite color. It painted the white of my walls when I opened my window each morning and saw the sea glittering in the sunlight. Sapphire or cerulean. Azure. Indigo. Sendo trained my eyes to see the variations in color, to appreciate the dullest brown to the brightest pink. How light could bend something into a thousand possibilities. Sendo's heart was for the sea, not for becoming a tailor like Baba. Keton was my third brother, and the closest to me in age. His songs and jokes made everyone laugh, no matter what mood we were in. He always got in trouble for dyeing our silks green instead of purple, for carelessly stepping on newly pressed dresses with dirty sandals, for forgetting to water the mulberry trees, and for never spinning yarn fine enough for Baba to knit into a sweater. Money slipped through his fingers like water. But Baba loved him best--even though Keton didn't have the discipline to become a tailor. Then there was me--Maia. The obedient daughter. My earliest memories were of sitting contentedly with Mama as she worked the spinning wheel, listening to Finlei, Sendo, and Keton playing outside while Baba taught me to roll Mama's thread so it wouldn't tangle. My heart was for becoming a tailor: I learned to thread needles before I could walk, to make a line of perfect stitches before I could talk. I loved my needlework and was happy learning Baba's trade instead of going out with my brothers. Besides, when Finlei taught me to spar and shoot arrows, I always missed the target. Even though I soaked up Sendo's fairy tales and ghost stories, I could never tell one of my own. And I always fell for Keton's pranks, no matter how often my older brothers warned me of them. Baba proudly told me I was born with a needle in one hand, a pair of scissors in the other. That if I hadn't been born a girl, I might have become the greatest tailor in A'landi, sought after by merchants from one coast of the continent to the other. "A tailor's worth is not measured by his fame, but by the happiness he brings," Mama said, seeing how disappointed Baba's words made me. "You will hold the seams of our family together, Maia. No other tailor in the world can do that." I remembered beaming at her. Back then, all I wanted was for my family to be happy and whole like this--always. But then Mama died, and everything changed. We had been living in Gangsun, a key city along the Great Spice Road, and our shop occupied an entire half block. Baba was a well-respected tailor, known throughout southern A'landi for his skill at dressmaking. But ill times fell upon us, my mother's death opening the first crack in Baba's strong will. He began to drink heavily--a way to drown his sorrows, he said. That didn't last long--in his grief, Baba's health deteriorated until he was unable to stomach any sort of spirits. He returned to his work at the shop, but he was never quite the same. Customers noticed the decline in quality of Baba's sewing and mentioned it to my brothers. Finlei and Sendo never told him; they didn't have the heart. But a few years before the Five Winters' War, when I was ten, Finlei convinced Baba to leave Gangsun and move into a shophouse in Port Kamalan, a small coastal town along the fringes of the Road. The fresh sea air would be good for Baba, he insisted. Our new home occupied the corner of Yanamer and Tongsa Streets, across from a shop that made hand-pulled noodles so long you could get full on just one, and a bakery that sold the best steamed buns and milk bread in the world--at least it tasted that way to my brothers and me when we were hungry, which we often were. But what I loved most was the beautiful view of the ocean. Sometimes while I watched the waves roll along the piers, I secretly prayed that the sea would mend Baba's broken heart--the way it was slowly healing mine. Business was best in the summers and winters, when all the caravans traveling east and west on the Great Spice Road stopped in Port Kamalan to enjoy our temperate weather. My father's little shop depended on a steady supply of indigo, saffron, ocher--colors for our dyes. It was a small town, so we not only tailored garments but also sold fabrics and threads. It had been a long time since Baba had crafted a gown worthy of a great lady, and when the war began, there was little business to be had anyway. Excerpted from Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim 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.