Afternoon of the elves
Record details
- ISBN: 0698118065
-
Physical Description:
print
122 p. ; 20 cm. - Publisher: New York : Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 1999, c1989.
Content descriptions
General Note: | "A PaperStar book." |
Summary, etc.: | As Hillary works in the miniature village, allegedly built by elves, in Sara-Kate's backyard, she becomes more and more curious about Sara-Kate's real life inside her big, gloomy house with her mysterious, silent mother. |
Awards Note: | Newbery Honor Book, 1990. Nutmeg Award Nominee, [Intermediate], 1995. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Friendship Fiction Mentally ill Fiction |
Available copies
- 3 of 3 copies available at Bibliomation.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 3 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hagaman Memorial Library - East Haven | J PB LISLE (Text) | 31953001753279 | Juvenile Paperback | Available | - |
Tolland Public Library | J LIS (Text) | 34051134501751 | Juvenile Fiction | Available | - |
Union Free Public Library | JFIC LIS (Text) | 34913000059471 | Juvenile Fiction | Available | - |
School Library Journal Review
Afternoon of the Elves
School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Gr 4-6-- A fascinating portrayal of a manipulative yet touching friendship. Nine-year-old Hillary lives in comfortable suburbia with her parents. In the house behind lives tough, independent Sara-Kate. Her father's gone, her sick mother hides, she dresses like an urchin, and is despised and mocked at school. However, Hillary stumbles on Sara-Kate's secret; she tends a tiny village in her weed-filled back yard, a village where she says elves live. Hillary is fascinated, and in helping her neighbor maintain the village, gradually becomes closer to Sara-Kate despite her school friends' disdain and parental disapproval. She starts not only to believe in elves, but also to wonder if Sara-Kate is not one herself. The ambiguous clues as to whether Sara-Kate is really an elf or just a disturbed child are so well wrought that readers will be as uncertain as Hillary. The children's emotions and behavior are believable and authentic, depicted clearly without over-explaining, especially Hillary's inner conflict. Lisle captures the subtlety of childhood feelings and perceptions, while maintaining a language and style accessible to average readers. Hillary grows from a bland follower to someone who knows that it is she, ultimately, who must make up her mind, despite the opinions of those around her, and perhaps become a little like all that was good in Sara-Kate herself. --Annette Curtis Klause, Montgomery County Department of Public Libraries, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly Review
Afternoon of the Elves
Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
``Enchanting,'' said PW of this Newbery Honor-winning fantasy featuring elves that appear to best friends Sara-Kate and Hillary. Ages 9-13. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
The Horn Book Review
Afternoon of the Elves
The Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
With great skill and sympathy, the author brings two young girls, outcast Sara-Kate and conventional Hillary, to life as they explore an elves' village in Sara-Kate's back yard. Review, p. 622. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Afternoon of the Elves
Kirkus Reviews
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
From the author of The Great Dimpole Oak (1987), a story about an unusual friendship between two imaginative girls--well-cared for Hillary, 9, and Sara-Kate, 11, who is secretly tending her mentally-ill mother. No one at school likes Sara-Kate, whose backyard adjoins Hillary's, until Sara-Kate invites Hillary to look at an ""elf village"" of sticks, stones, and leaves in her yard. Thereafter, Hillary is loyal to Sara-Kate, despite her odd clothes and the Cream-of-Wheat she takes to school for lunch; she doesn't even mind being excluded from Sara-Kate's house: Hillary is fascinated by Sara-Kate's vivid stories, half believing that Sara-Kate herself is an elf. Eventually, however, Hillary blunders into Sara-Kate's cold, almost bare house and finds that she alone is caring for her emotionally disturbed mother, with little money or food. Though Sara-Kate weaves an elaborate tissue of lies as explanation, the deception is over when Hillary's mother discovers the truth: the mother is institutionalized. Sara-Kate is sent to relatives, leaving Hillary to resolve her confusion and grief at the sudden parting and the end of her imaginative dream. In clear language sparkling with fresh images, Lisle tells her tale as compellingly as Hillary is drawn into Sara-Kate's fantasies. A remarkable, perceptive book to share aloud or savor alone. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.