When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. (author’s note, acknowledgements, topics for discussion)Ĭhainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.Įvery four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Readers will root for the protagonist as hard as he roots for his Yankees. He narrates his own story, careening among fear, anger, bewilderment, and hope.
Marty is thoroughly endearing he is resourceful, knows his weaknesses, endearingly dislikes studying for his bar mitzvah, and is a kind, caring friend. Speaking through Marty’s parents, Ruby demonstrates the escalating terrors endured by people caught up in the destructive McCarthy era, stopping just short of a dispiriting harangue. She is able to provide evidence to the contrary and is dismissed from the hearings, but the Rosenbergs can’t be saved. The FBI threatens his mom with deportation, claiming she isn’t a citizen. Could they lose their parents like the Rosenberg children? Friends turn away, Marty is thrown off his baseball team, his friend Connor’s father forces them apart, and his mom and Amy Lynn’s dad are suspended and later fired from their positions. His friend Amy Lynn is in the same situation. The FBI watches day and night, their mail and trash are searched, and their home is bugged. Marty’s professor parents have refused to sign loyalty oaths and are suspected of being Communists planning to overthrow the government.
Marty tries to overcome his fears by withdrawing into his love for the Yankees, listening to the games, quoting statistics, and writing memos, never sent, to his hero, Mickey Mantle.Īnd there is much to fear in 1953 during the months leading up to the imminent execution of accused spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
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