City of Cannibals [Hardcover]

Ricki Thompson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2010

It's 1536, and Dell lives on an isolated hillside with her bitter auntie and drunken father. Father has warned Dell never to venture past her mother's grave to the City of Cannibals. But unanswered questions plague Dell. Why did her parents leave the court of Henry VIII? Was her mother's death really an accident? And what about the mysterious Brown Boy who leaves sacks of supplies for her family? Dell risks traveling to the City of Cannibals. Once inside London, she is not eaten alive but is confronted with a different horror - the Oath of Allegiance. If she and the Brown Boy don't sign, they could be executed. Dell has good reason not to sign. But who can defy King Henry VIII and live?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up—The backdrop is the spring of 1536 during Henry VIII's break with the Roman Catholic Church. Dell, 16, is the daughter of a former court puppeteer and lives in isolation in the countryside with him, her aunt, and her younger brother. Cruelly treated by her father, Dell leaves home in search of "the Brown Boy," as she has dubbed the novice monk who regularly brings supplies to the family. While in London, she learns the truth about her mother's death, discovers her own skills as a puppeteer, and finds and falls in love with the Brown Boy, Ronaldo. Dell is a sympathetic protagonist and readers will root for her throughout the novel and appreciate the hopeful (though ambivalent) ending. Thompson is to be commended for not shirking from the crudeness, vulgarity, and filth of early-16th-century London. However, as the setting and time period are initially unclear, readers may put the book aside in confusion without making it to the second chapter, in which Thompson offers a glimmering of the novel's background. Overall, though, this is a promising debut that historical fiction fans will enjoy if they know in advance where and when the story takes place.—Leah J. Sparks, formerly at Bowie Public Library, MD
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From Booklist

It’s England in 1536, the time of King Henry VIII’s break from the Catholic Church, but the fact that this is unclear for so long is the book’s best asset. Sixteen-year-old Dell lives in a cave on a country hill with her family (some of whom are dwarves) where she passes the time chatting with her hand puppet, Bartholomew. Her father’s increasing violence compels her to escape to the city. Though it’s a foul, dirty place filled with pestilence, poverty, offal, and chamber-pot spillings, Dell finds none of the cannibals her father had warned her about. Instead, she falls in love with a young man pledged to be a Carthusian monk. Dell’s limited point of view gives the story the delirious spin of speculative fiction until her involvement with a carpenter who opposes the king aligns the plot along a recognizable Johnny Tremain trajectory. Thompson’s England is authentically vulgar, and her grasp of period slang—as well as Dell’s burgeoning sexual desires—is expert. Packed with rich metaphor, this is a challenging but rewarding read. Grades 9-12. --Daniel Kraus

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 15 and up
  
• Hardcover: 269 pages
• Publisher: Front Street Press; 1 edition (February 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590786238
• ISBN-13: 978-1590786239
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,601,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an adventurous tale of the coming of age, February 11, 2010

By 

Lisa S. Bircher (Columbiana, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: City of Cannibals (Hardcover)

This book tells the story of a 16-year-old peasant girl named Dell. The story is set in England in 1536, a tumultuous time during the reign of King Henry VIII. This is a historic time where the King takes over the church and demands that all priests, monks and nuns take an oath of allegiance to him as the self-proclaimed head of church and state.

Dell runs away from home at this time and wanders into the city (London) that her father has told her is the "City of Cannibals." She has great fear that she will be killed and eaten by the denizens of the city. However, she is drawn into the city in search of the boy who has always supplied her family with important sustaining gifts, personally delivered in a sack each month. In her search for the boy, Ronaldo who she knows is promised to be a monk, she experiences many adventures.

This story is an important coming of age tale in a time much different from our contemporary society. I enjoyed reading the different situations that Dell finds herself involved with and how she responds to these circumstances. She is a strong female character who thinks well on her feet and makes responsible decisions. This story is also a love story of Dell's pursuit of Ronaldo. The author presents the mind of a teenage girl perfectly and appropriately captures her motivation in all she does. This is a story that allows the reader to see the trials of a teen in the past and that the spirit of youth is really the same today as it was then.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A young girl's journey, March 29, 2010

By 

Robert J. Stumpf "bjs" (missouri) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: City of Cannibals (Hardcover)

This is a well crafted, creative, story rich in metaphors of a young girl's adventure into an historical time that our history books can only hint at bringing alive. This historical fictional account of Dell does add life to history with all its emotions and puts the reader into a different time and place. It is evident the author has taken time to research her work and also taken much effort to edit her writing so that the descriptive words and phrases add that much more to the detail of the story. It is somewhat refreshing to view history and capture the daily essence of living through a young girl's eyes. Recommended for all ages and all genders but especially for young women.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent historical fiction for youth readers, March 11, 2010

By 

Lisa (Minneapolis) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: City of Cannibals (Hardcover)

The story is compelling, about a girl making her way through dangerous times in 1600s London. A colorful cast of supporting characters surround her. The fishmonger's daughter, a priest-in-training and a kindly woodworker help her. Cromwell and his henchmen haunt her. Her skills as a puppeteer enliven the story and delight the reader. The writing is full of fun vocabulary from the times, both unique and intriguing. It's a fun read with a historical soul.