Amber and Clay
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Amber and Clay by Laura Schlitz
A People Magazine Best Book of the Summer The Newbery Medal-winning author of Good Masters Sweet Ladies gives readers a virtuoso performance in verse in this profoundly original epic pitched just right for fans of poetry, history, mythology, and fantasy. Welcome to ancient Greece as only genius storyteller Laura Amy Schlitz can conjure it. In a warlike land of wind and sunlight, ringed by a restless sea, live Rhaskos and Melisto, spiritual twins with little in common beyond the violent and mysterious forces that dictate their lives. A Thracian slave in a Greek household, Rhaskos is as common as clay, a stable boy worth less than a donkey, much less a horse. Wrenched from his mother at a tender age, he nurtures in secret, aided by Socrates, his passions for art and philosophy. Melisto is a spoiled aristocrat, a girl as precious as amber but willful and wild. She'll marry and be tamed--the curse of all highborn girls--but risk her life for a season first to serve Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Bound by destiny, Melisto and Rhaskos--Amber and Clay--never meet in the flesh. By the time they do, one of them is a ghost. But the thin line between life and death is just one boundary their unlikely friendship crosses. It takes an army of snarky gods and fearsome goddesses, slaves and masters, mothers and philosophers to help shape their story into a gorgeously distilled, symphonic tour de force. Blending verse, prose, and illustrated archaeological artifacts, this is a tale that vividly transcends time, an indelible reminder of the power of language to illuminate the over- and underworlds of human history.
LAURA AMY SCHLITZ has spent most of her life working as a librarian and professional storyteller. She has also been a playwright, a costumer, and an actress, and her plays for young people have been produced in
professional theaters all over the country. She says, When I began researching Schliemann's life, I found that he was even more remarkable than I had previously suspected. What a story! Shipwrecks and poverty and wealth and strokes of fantastic life and a Great Love and buried
treasure . . . and it was all true. Then I read more, and discovered that some of it wasn't true. My romantic hero was a mythmaker and a liar. At that point, I was really hooked, because I've always been attracted to people who survive by their imagination.
ROBERT BYRD is currently teaching children's book illustration at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He is the author-illustrator of many books for children, including LEONARDO, BEAUTIFUL DREAMER,
winner of the Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction; FINN MACCOUL AND HIS FEARLESS WIFE; and most recently, THE HERO AND THE MINOTAUR: THE FANTASTIC ADVENTURES OF THESEUS. He says, I did not want to make Herr Schliemann too serious; I tried to show a sense of humor, adventure, curiosity, courage, and even pomposity. I was particularly conscious of showing a variety of settings that would give the
reader the full scope of his exotic travels.
professional theaters all over the country. She says, When I began researching Schliemann's life, I found that he was even more remarkable than I had previously suspected. What a story! Shipwrecks and poverty and wealth and strokes of fantastic life and a Great Love and buried
treasure . . . and it was all true. Then I read more, and discovered that some of it wasn't true. My romantic hero was a mythmaker and a liar. At that point, I was really hooked, because I've always been attracted to people who survive by their imagination.
ROBERT BYRD is currently teaching children's book illustration at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He is the author-illustrator of many books for children, including LEONARDO, BEAUTIFUL DREAMER,
winner of the Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction; FINN MACCOUL AND HIS FEARLESS WIFE; and most recently, THE HERO AND THE MINOTAUR: THE FANTASTIC ADVENTURES OF THESEUS. He says, I did not want to make Herr Schliemann too serious; I tried to show a sense of humor, adventure, curiosity, courage, and even pomposity. I was particularly conscious of showing a variety of settings that would give the
reader the full scope of his exotic travels.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781536201222 |
| ISBN 10 | 1536201227 |
| Title | Amber and Clay |
| Author | Laura Schlitz |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Candlewick Press,U.S. |
| Year published | 2021-03-09 |
| Number of pages | 544 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |