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14th out of 36 books
—
15 voters
Snow in Summer
by
Jane Yolen
With her black hair, red lips, and lily-white skin, Summer is as beautiful as her father's garden. And her life in the mountains of West Virginia seems like a fairy tale; her parents sing and dance with her, Cousin Nancy dotes on her, and she is about to get a new baby brother. But when the baby dies soon after he's born, taking Summer's mama with him, Summer's fairy-tale...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
November 10th 2011
by Philomel
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As Mark Twain was to the birth of American folklore, so Jane Yolen is to the next generation of Americana. Yolen is able to take classic Old World folk tales, clothe them in distinctly American cultures, mores, and histories, and present a story which gives a nod to its European roots while remaining uniquely American.
Snow in Summer is no different. At its heart, you will find the traditional Snow White fairy tale: evil stepmother/wicked witch, potions and poisons, magic mirror, the hunter, even...more
Snow in Summer is no different. At its heart, you will find the traditional Snow White fairy tale: evil stepmother/wicked witch, potions and poisons, magic mirror, the hunter, even...more
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Okay first...the cover is amazing. It's what made me decide to read the book in the first place (that and knowledge of Jane Yolen's writing) and know, looking at it after finishing the book...there are so many little pieces from the story tied in.
Snow in Summer is a beautiful little girl, but, as often happens to such little girls, tragdey has struck. Her mama, in the process of giving birth to her new baby brother, has died, along with the baby. Summer is sad, obviously, but her sorrow is noth...more
Snow in Summer is a beautiful little girl, but, as often happens to such little girls, tragdey has struck. Her mama, in the process of giving birth to her new baby brother, has died, along with the baby. Summer is sad, obviously, but her sorrow is noth...more
Originally posted on my blog: http://libraryladyhylary.blogspot.com ! Check it out for more reviews!
Snow-in-Summer Morton’s life changed forever at age seven when her mother died in childbirth, leaving her alone and her father, Lemuel, with a broken heart. Cousin Nancy, the widow of Summer’s father’s favorite cousin who was recently killed in World War II, helps to care for Summer after her father slips into a deep, dark grief unable to cope with the death of his beloved wife. One day, four year...more
Snow-in-Summer Morton’s life changed forever at age seven when her mother died in childbirth, leaving her alone and her father, Lemuel, with a broken heart. Cousin Nancy, the widow of Summer’s father’s favorite cousin who was recently killed in World War II, helps to care for Summer after her father slips into a deep, dark grief unable to cope with the death of his beloved wife. One day, four year...more
A very different re-telling of Snow White. One of the weird things about it is Summer (the Snow White character) loves to read fairy tales - one of which is Snow White.... so it's a little odd that the main character, who has read the story of snow white doesn't recognize that same story unfolding again with her.
It was an okay book but it was mostly just something for me to read - I was kind of bored with it. Luckily it was an easy light read.
Questions not answered:
What "power" does the caul h...more
It was an okay book but it was mostly just something for me to read - I was kind of bored with it. Luckily it was an easy light read.
Questions not answered:
What "power" does the caul h...more
This modern retelling of Snow White was a great mix of old and new. We start out with the girl, Snow-in-Summer Morton (yes, that's her real name). She is at her mother's and baby brother's funeral. Cousin Nancy is acting like her real parent, because her Papa is too absorbed in his grief to pay any attention to his only daughter. Throughout the book we watch her grow, from her being seven years old to her being thirteen (until the last chapter in which she's nineteen). She learns that things ar...more
I picked this up from the children's section of the library the other day because I love fairy tale retellings, and the cover is nice. However, it was one of those where the whole way through I kept waiting for it to get better and felt like I'd wasted my time when I was done. It was just too dark for me. The stepmother was creepy--really EVIL and we had to hear too much about it (I think it'd be disturbing for kids). The "___ Remembers" chapters were fine for characters who were still alive at...more
No one is ever going to fight me on the fact that Jane Yolen is just a really, really solid writer. I don’t need to debate this with you. So when I give this kind of a mediocre type of review, you will understand that it’s not the writing, it’s just that I’m nit-picky and couldn’t quite wrap my brain around this fairy-tale retelling.
Initially I was all “Hot damn! Snow White retold in Depression-era Appalachia, where she wears her own caul in a bag around her neck for protection, and where the wi...more
Initially I was all “Hot damn! Snow White retold in Depression-era Appalachia, where she wears her own caul in a bag around her neck for protection, and where the wi...more
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Snow in Summer is a 1940ish West Virginian retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The same lost, beautiful girl being raised by a high-maintenance witchy Stepmama and a befuddled, comotose Papa.
Summer's mother died when she was very young. Her father was grief-ridden for many years until a strange woman, Constanza Reina Maria Barganza, came down from the mountain and starting weaving her strange magic over the little family. Papa was besot, cousin Nancy, Summer's godmother, and the towns...more
Summer's mother died when she was very young. Her father was grief-ridden for many years until a strange woman, Constanza Reina Maria Barganza, came down from the mountain and starting weaving her strange magic over the little family. Papa was besot, cousin Nancy, Summer's godmother, and the towns...more
Snow in Summer's life is out of a fairy tale. With her loving parents, beautiful home land, and charming good looks she could rival many princesses. But that all changes when her mother dies. Her father becomes distanct; in the same room, but a million miles away. Her only comfort is Cousin Nancy. As Summer and her Cousin Nancy try to pick up the pieces of there shattered lives a new dark figure is introduced. Step-mama. Without a warning her father is bewitched and Summer recieves a witch for a...more
Snow in Summer: Fairest of Them All is a variation on Snow White set in the late 1940’s in the hills of West Virginia. Snow in Summer, our Snow White analogue, is a farmer’s daughter instead of a princess. She reads books and fairy tales, including Snow White, and often compares herself to characters in the books. She is called “Summer” by her godmother who is warm and loving and “Snow” by her Stepmama who is cold, demanding, and abusive. The dwarves are German brothers, although their late moth...more
It's the well-known tale of Snow White set in America's Appalachia. Yolen takes readers on an adventure in West Virginia where folks make a living by hunting and gardening. She shares the story of the Lem Morton family who reside in deep mourning. The daughter, Snow in Summer, wants to be free and return to the time where Papa interacted with who love him. All too soon, a beguiling woman enters the scene and becomes Stepmama. Papa falls under Stepmama's spell and Summer turns to Snow. Summer's l...more
Readers are thrust into Appalachia with Snow in Summer, or Summer for short. She is dealing with the loss of her mother, and in a way her father as well. His love for Summer is not as strong as that for his now deceased wife, and Summer is left to her own devices.
While keeping the house going, she is kept company by Cousin Nancy until Stepmama arrives. Papa has quickly fallen under her spell, but there is something about Stepmama that does not seem to ring true. But Summer is young and unwise, s...more
While keeping the house going, she is kept company by Cousin Nancy until Stepmama arrives. Papa has quickly fallen under her spell, but there is something about Stepmama that does not seem to ring true. But Summer is young and unwise, s...more
I found Snow in Summer to be a quick and compelling read. It's a retelling of Snow White set in the Appalachian mountains in the late 40s and very early 50s. If you're looking for a dark, creepy horror read this one gets it just right. Snow White just is a dark story. Snow in Summer, our heroine, gradually realizes just how EVIL her new stepmother is. True, she's almost always, always been hesitant to trust her and genuinely love her. But she did try in the beginning, after all, she wanted to be...more
Yolen has a deft hand for taking fairy tales and ironing out the ebullience -- hope hip-hops off; the shine has got to be tarnished, updated. It's as if she's always got a stain, thick as treacle and smelling of tar, hidden under the rug - - and it's bound to seep through and colour whatever the pattern is on the rug itself.
Anyhow, something similar occurs in her Snow in Summer, a technically tight, imaginative and even beguiling retelling of Snow White. Beguiling in that it binds the attention...more
Anyhow, something similar occurs in her Snow in Summer, a technically tight, imaginative and even beguiling retelling of Snow White. Beguiling in that it binds the attention...more
I wish I could give this book one more star. I love Jane Yolen's novel The Devil's Arithmetic, so when I saw this one I had to read it. An author I enjoy, plus a fairy tale retelling. Win-win, right?
However, there were aspects that I disliked. First was the foreshadowing at the end of every single chapter. I got it the first time. You can't trust the stepmother, bad things are going to happen, etc. I felt like it was dragged out beyond belief as well. Two-thirds of the novel is set-up. I though...more
However, there were aspects that I disliked. First was the foreshadowing at the end of every single chapter. I got it the first time. You can't trust the stepmother, bad things are going to happen, etc. I felt like it was dragged out beyond belief as well. Two-thirds of the novel is set-up. I though...more
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I started this book more than a week ago... it's not a big book. But it's not been easy for me to get through. Not because it's a hard topic... but it's boring. Incredibly, intensely, amazingly boring. I'm 100+ pages in and the only thing that has really happened is that Snow in Summer's (yeah... that's her name!) dad got married. In 100 pages. That's it. There wasn't even a build up to that. I'll probably finish this book... but so far I'm not enjoying it at all!
Update: Have you ever known some...more
Update: Have you ever known some...more
First off, the cover: WOW. It is beautiful, gorgeous, amazing. The artist obviously read the book. Huge props for the cover.
This book was a really unique twist on the story of Snow White: set in 1940's Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains, "Summer" has to fight against her evil stepmother. There are the classic elements of a magic mirror, 7 little men, and more...but lots of new things too. There was also a creepy, horror-type feel throughout most of the book.
I felt the story was wrapped up WA...more
This book was a really unique twist on the story of Snow White: set in 1940's Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains, "Summer" has to fight against her evil stepmother. There are the classic elements of a magic mirror, 7 little men, and more...but lots of new things too. There was also a creepy, horror-type feel throughout most of the book.
I felt the story was wrapped up WA...more
Other than the few elements of fantasy, it is also a good historical fiction about life in rural West Virginia. The story develops slowly, but that is because the author made it ten times longer than the version of the fairy tale that most of us have read. This allows for more development of the characters, as well as the side plots, ranging from the social life in the community to the controversial church in the hills, based on a real religious movement in the South.
I still think that naming a...more
I still think that naming a...more
Full review here: http://zodiacbookreviews.blogspot.com...
Snow in Summer takes place in West Virginia's Appalachian Mountains during the 1940's. Jane Yolen re-tells the fairy tale of Snow White in a more modern time that we're familiar with.
Summer's life was like a fairy tale until the day her mother and baby brother died and her father retreated into himself from heartache. Then Summer's father starts visiting her mother's grave every night after dinner and she hopes it's a sign that her father...more
Snow in Summer takes place in West Virginia's Appalachian Mountains during the 1940's. Jane Yolen re-tells the fairy tale of Snow White in a more modern time that we're familiar with.
Summer's life was like a fairy tale until the day her mother and baby brother died and her father retreated into himself from heartache. Then Summer's father starts visiting her mother's grave every night after dinner and she hopes it's a sign that her father...more
Snow in Summer is a dark Snow Wite tale that takes place in West Virginia's Appalachian Mountains during the 1940's.
I found this book to be a good read. I read it out loud to my 8 year old daughter and she loved it, which is what was so great about the book. However, from my perspective, the first 2/3rds of the book is over developed with the last third feeling rushed. I felt that too much time was spent on developing the father-daughter and stepmother-daughter relationships (or lack thereof) a...more
I found this book to be a good read. I read it out loud to my 8 year old daughter and she loved it, which is what was so great about the book. However, from my perspective, the first 2/3rds of the book is over developed with the last third feeling rushed. I felt that too much time was spent on developing the father-daughter and stepmother-daughter relationships (or lack thereof) a...more
I’ve always wanted to read a Jane Yolen novel (I KNOW) so when I came across Snow in Summer, a retelling of Snow White, I thought it would be a perfect place to start.
The story is set in a small town in West Virginia in the 40s and it follows the story of Snow in Summer, a child who is 7 years old when her mother dies. After her death, Summer’s father, Lemuel, is grief-stricken: he barely acknowledges Summer’s existence and spends most of his nights at his wife’s graveside, fading away little by...more
The story is set in a small town in West Virginia in the 40s and it follows the story of Snow in Summer, a child who is 7 years old when her mother dies. After her death, Summer’s father, Lemuel, is grief-stricken: he barely acknowledges Summer’s existence and spends most of his nights at his wife’s graveside, fading away little by...more
There are so many tired retellings of fairy tales that to stand out an author has to do something extraordinary, but even an author of Yolen's standing can't really pull this off. I found this new book to be a little dull, perhaps because the story is predictable no matter how the details are altered. The tale is split into three voices, Summer, her stepmother, and Summer's godmother Cousin Nancy. The voices switch without much fanfare so the reader must be sure to pay attention to the chapter h...more
I picked this up because I saw it on the "Stories about Princess & Fairy Tales" display at a Barnes and Nobles. Since I adore fairy tale retellings, I decided to pick it up and give it a try. However this one did not live up to the alluring beauty that the cover entices one with.
To be fair, I did not read the full book - I only got to page 19. It's possible I may go back and pick it up again sometime in the future to get through the whole thing, but it wasn't capturing my interest and I have...more
To be fair, I did not read the full book - I only got to page 19. It's possible I may go back and pick it up again sometime in the future to get through the whole thing, but it wasn't capturing my interest and I have...more
I love retellings of fairy tales, and Jane Yolen is particularly good at it. Snow in Summer takes place in Appalachia in the 1940s. Summer is grieving the loss of her mother who died in childbirth along with the new baby. Her father takes it even harder and becomes a mere shell of his former self. Her father's cousin Nancy becomes caretaker for Summer and Lem until a new woman appears in their lives. And so begin the common elements of the traditional fairy tale, with wicked step-mother, magic m...more
http://www.rantingdragon.com/snow-in-...
Jane Yolen’s latest novel, Snow in Summer, is a wonderful addition to her series of reinvented fairy tales. Like her earlier Briar Rose, this is a dark retelling of a Grimm fairy tale—in this case, Snow White instead of Sleeping Beauty. It follows a girl named Snow in Summer, who tells the tale of her childhood in retrospect as she grows up in the mountains of West Virginia. It was published in November of 2011 by Philomel.
To clear a few things up
Over and...more
Jane Yolen’s latest novel, Snow in Summer, is a wonderful addition to her series of reinvented fairy tales. Like her earlier Briar Rose, this is a dark retelling of a Grimm fairy tale—in this case, Snow White instead of Sleeping Beauty. It follows a girl named Snow in Summer, who tells the tale of her childhood in retrospect as she grows up in the mountains of West Virginia. It was published in November of 2011 by Philomel.
To clear a few things up
Over and...more
I really wanted to like this book. It had an interesting perspective and a lot of potential but it just didn't work for me. The beginning was repetitive and dull and could have been summarized in one chapter. By page 45 I almost gave up. I liked the stepmama character but the "magic" could have been fleshed out and explained in more detail. There were a few plot holes that didn't make sense to me and explanations that never panned out. The changes of narrative perspective were somewhat confusing...more
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Snow in Summer is Snow White set in the West Virginia mountains the years during and after World War II. Her father isn’t a king, but a farmer with rich bottom land, who can grow anything until his wife dies, and who over-grieves his wife’s death and falls under the sway of a magic user. Summer, though very young when her mother dies, takes care of her father, even does the farming for him, and then her Stepmother. Summer doesn’t leave her Stepmother, but when she takes her to a snake-handling c...more
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I know Jane Yolen is a masterful storyteller, and I suppose the book is well enough written, but I just didn't enjoy it at all. (And I generally like fairy tale retellings; I love the "Once Upon a Time" series and Robin McKinley's "Beauty" is one of my favourite books ever.) This story, however, is a strange mashup of Snow White and the gritty, daily life of post WWII rural Virginia that doesn't really work. Worst of all, it is just plain grim. There is little in the way of redemptive qualities,...more
Snow in Summer, (which is actually the poor girl's name) begins with the burial site of her mother and stillborn brother. Her father is distraught, and any happiness Snow may have had is over with her widowed father going into a five year depression. Every evening, Daddy goes to his wife's grave site and one evening comes back with an enchanting wife with a bewitched husband.
Snow's step-mama is a little off but unconcerning. That is until Snow in Summer gets "The Curse" and after becoming a woma...more
Snow's step-mama is a little off but unconcerning. That is until Snow in Summer gets "The Curse" and after becoming a woma...more
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Yolen was born at Beth Israel Hospital, the first child of Isabel Berlin and Will Hyatt Yolen. She and her family moved to California when she was young but returned to New York a few years later. After her younger brother was born, her father joined the army and served on the European front during WWII. Yolen spent her childhood taking piano lessons, ballet dancing and writing a neighborhood news...more
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“Aren't hidden doors the most alluring? The old stories point that out surely. Even the greatest heroes and heroines fall under the spell of a locked door.”
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