Saturday, May 14, 2011

Of Two Minds

Bibliographic information: 
Matas, Carol and Nodelman, Perry.  Of Two Minds.  Scholastic, Inc, 1995, p. 200.

Brief plot description:
Princess Lenora dreams about other worlds.  Prince Coren is to marry Lenora; he’s agreed to the marriage because her people cannot read minds.  On the day of their wedding, an image appears in the pool; Lenora jumps in and Coren is pulled in.  They discover their powers are gone and cannot leave this new place. One night, Lenora dreams of Coren warning her about this new place; she then sees four small people and awakens soon after.  Lenora is thrown into a jail, and she remembers someone telling her that Hevak, the leader of the city, is not to be trusted.  Lenora and Coren gain their powers back.  They destroy Hevak, and Lenora faints; when Lenora awakes, she is home.  Coren tells her that, with the help of their parents, they made it home. In the end, Lenora decides not to imagine other worlds, and Coren and Leona decide to wait before marrying.

Brief review:
I would use this book as an individual read for students in sixth through eighth grade.  I believe that boys and girls will both enjoy this book because they could relate to one of the two characters.  I liked this book because it shows how two different people can be drawn to each other and how they each play a role in getting back to their home.  I think that the main idea is that being different is okay and that imagination can sometimes be bad.  I think that the book could be used when talking about imagination or unexpected things happening. 

Genre label:
Modern Fantasy

Reading level/interest level:
6th- 8th grade

Similar materials in style content, theme or characters:
The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine and Ben Mikaelsen
Out of Time by Caroline B. Cooney
The King’s Shadow by Elizabeth Alder

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