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51st out of 146 books
—
412 voters
Parched
by
Melanie Crowder (Goodreads Author)
A mesmerizing debut about a girl, a boy, and a dog struggling to survive in a parched and barren land.
Sarel is a girl with secrets. She knows which tree roots reach down deep to pools of precious water. But now she must learn how to keep herself and her dogs alive. Nandi is the leader of those dogs. She knows they can’t last long without water—and she knows, too, that a bo...more
Sarel is a girl with secrets. She knows which tree roots reach down deep to pools of precious water. But now she must learn how to keep herself and her dogs alive. Nandi is the leader of those dogs. She knows they can’t last long without water—and she knows, too, that a bo...more
Hardcover, 144 pages
Expected publication:
June 4th 2013
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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This debut novel takes place in a land with no water told in 3 alternating voices. Sarel is a girl who witnesses the murder of her parents and must find a way to survive with her family's dogs. Nandi is the head dog who protects Sarel and the other dogs. Musa is a boy with a gift of being able to find water where none is visible. He hears the "water song". Melanie Crowder has written a beautiful book about survival and courage! I was lucky enough to read the ARC. It is written for ages 10-14 and...more
Parched is one of those books that is sure to end up on award nominee short lists and the rolls of editor's favorites. In short, it's the story of a girl and a boy fighting to stay alive in a drought-ridden land. But it's so much more than that, despite its spare length. Author Melanie Crowder deliberately keeps details of the land hidden--is it Africa? Is it the present day, or some apocalyptic future? In the end, it doesn't matter, because this is a story of the friendship between Sarel and Mu...more
Somewhere between 4 and 5 stars. Really loved this story of a realistic dystopia where water is scarce; brave girl, Sarel; her pack of heroic Ridgebacks; and enslaved savant-dowser boy, Musa. Short, tight, moving, poetic and very nicely done.
Touched by magic-realism, this is an eloquent story of children living under harrowing circumstances. Set in southern Africa in the near future when water is scarce and civil society has disintegrated, resilient orphan Sarel and her loyal dogs and young boy, Masa, with his mystical abilities, cope with tremendous losses. This spare, sometimes brutal, but always beautifully written novel, features invented language, multiple perspectives, and the redemptive power of memory.
Using multiple narrators, Melanie Crowder's, Parched tells the story of two children who struggle to find water, forge a friendship, and survive in a land stricken by extreme drought. As the writer of the curriculum guide for this book (available at melaniecrowder.net) , I can tell you that this a novel full of lyrical writing, fully rounded characters, and an edge-of-your-seat plot. There are plenty of opportunities for readers to make connections and think critically about water, relationships...more
A compelling debut novel that titillatingly straddles a line between fantasy and reality and should prompt mmany questions and much discussion.
Aug 20, 2012
Eden
marked it as to-read
ZOMG. ZOMG. ZOMG. EVERYTHING I COULD WANT IN A MIDDLE-GRADE. OMG.
Amazing story! Such strong, admirable characters! Crowder's writing draws the reader into the story's world.
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Melanie Crowder graduated in 2011 with an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is the author of PARCHED, a forthcoming middle grade novel (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013).
A West Coast girl at heart, Melanie now lives and writes in the beautiful (if dry) state of Colorado.
More about Melanie Crowder...
A West Coast girl at heart, Melanie now lives and writes in the beautiful (if dry) state of Colorado.
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