From: Rob Reid <reid>
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 12:05:49 -0600

I highly recommend Lirael by Garth Nix, the sequel to Sabriel. Sabriel moves to the background in this story. We meet Lirael,a fascinating character who learns of her special talents as the story progresses. She soon meets up with Sabriel's son who is unable to train as Sabriel's successor. I don't want to give too much of the story away, but I think you'll be drawn into it. Lots of action.

What especially tickled me was Lirael's assignment as a librarian. The magical community, in which she lives, has a different type of library as you can tell from the following line: "There were also very special or dangerous items that had to be fetched in person or even by large parties of armed librarians." (p 63)

There is also the rare line of praise on our profession that was fun to discover:
"Lirael left in a daze of happiness. She had survived the ordeal. She had been accepted. She was going to be a librarian!" (p 59)

Too bad Sabriel's son offers this lunkhead observation: "She wasn't all that confidant or outgoing, for a start. Perhaps it was because she was a librarian." (p 439)

Rob Reid Youth Services/Special Needs Coordinator Indianhead Federated Library System 1538 Truax Blvd, Eau Claire, WI 54703 715?9P82, ext. 14 reid at ifls.lib.wi.us
Received on Wed 21 Nov 2001 12:05:49 PM CST