A Fistful Of Sky [Paperback]

Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2004

Gypsum LaZelle waited twenty years for her magical abilities to manifest themselves-and now she isn't ready for them at all.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The LaZelle family of southern California has a secret: they can do magic. Real magic. As a teenager, a LaZelle undergoes "the Transition"--a severe illness that will either kill him or leave him with magical powers. If he's lucky, he gains a talent like shape-changing or wish-granting. If he's unlucky, he never experiences Transition. If he's especially unlucky, he undergoes Transition late, which increases his chances of dying. And if he survives, he will bear the burden of a dark, dangerous magic: the ability to cast only curses. And curse he must, for when a LaZelle doesn't use his magic, it kills him.

In Nina Kiriki Hoffman's A Fistful of Sky, Gypsum LaZelle is unique among her brothers and sisters: she has not undergone Transition. She resigns herself to a mundane, magic-bereft existence as a college student. Then one weekend, when her family leaves her home alone, she becomes gravely ill... --Cynthia Ward --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Stoker winner Hoffman attains a new level of maturity and complexity with this coming-of-age contemporary fantasy. Unlike her charismatic, beautiful mother and her four remarkable siblings, Gypsum, the middle daughter of the magical LaZelle family of Southern California, is a misfit who hasn't "transitioned" during adolescence into her special gifts and powers. Instead, she takes after her perfectly normal father. Intelligent, resourceful and caring, Gyp deals with her lack of magic by growing into a self-effacing, low-profile but still greatly beloved member of the family. Then suddenly at age 20, Gyp attains her gift, the "unkind" power of curses. Gyp's struggles to deal with her newfound dark power are emotional, frightening and hilarious. By the story's end we've had to confront, just as the LaZelles do, that even members of the most wonderful, loving, close-knit families in the world can innocently inflict considerable damage on each other. While making the story both humorous and enlightening, Hoffman never allows the reader to forget this is also a scary situation for her group of exceptionally well-developed characters. The lyrical writing flows at a perfect pace and is as engaging as the characters. With its themes of family, magic, love and healing, the novel may appeal more to women and adolescents than men, while its ending may be a bit too touchy-feely New Age for some. But the sense of wonder, lack of cynicism and sheer craft compare to vintage Ray Bradbury.awards.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ace (May 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441011772
• ISBN-13: 978-0441011773
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,304,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't Put it Down!, January 29, 2005

By 

P. Roeder "Somewhat eccentric bibliophile" (Kentucky, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Fistful of Sky (A LaZelle Family Novel) (Hardcover)

This is one of the most imaginative books I have come across in a long time, and I had trouble putting it down! It's one of those gems that engross you, and you will think of it long after you've finished it.

Gypsum LaZelle, the middle child in a family of talented witches, has resigned herself to being normal. Having not undergone transition, she never acquired the powers that her siblings and mother have. So she was surprised, to say the least, when at twenty years old, she underwent her own transition and gained her own power. Her surprise was greater still when, instead of having a positive power like the rest of her family, she had a negative power-the power of curses.

Waking up each morning with power literally spilling out of her, Gypsum HAD to utilize her curses, but more often than not, things went awry. With a perfectionist mother, every failure was blown out of proportion and criticized. Luckily, with the love and support of the rest of her family, Gyp starts to learn how she can use her power for good rather than evil.

Sometimes dangerous, sometimes funny, and always entertaining, Gyp's magical attempts will fascinate the reader. What's great about the main character is that she's not perfect: overweight, naive and a bit squeamish, she is a wholly lovable, believable character. Hoffman did a marvelous job crafting Gyp's emotions, and the characters are extremely endearing. If this is any indication of the writer's talents, I'm going to go out and buy all her works.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You don't always get what you want, February 25, 2006

By 

SoniaK (Dracut, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Fistful Of Sky (Paperback)

And sometimes, when you do, it turns out you may not want it after all. At least that's what Gypsum LaZelle discovers when, after having convinced herself she'd never receive her magical powers like the rest of her family did, she actually does receive them, only they're not exactly what she expected.

This is the story of Gypsum LaZelle, the "black sheep" of her magical family. Unlike the rest of the LaZelle's, Gypsum didn't go through her transition to receive her powers. She's accepted her fate as a non-magical member of her family and of society, even if it means that she won't quite measure up to the rest of her siblings, especially in her very magical mother's eyes. It isn't until she becomes sick, and something suddenly changes in her, that Gypsum realizes she may not be all that different. But then again...maybe she is.

This is a wonderful coming of age story about a young girl struggling with her identity. Take away the magic portion of the story, and it would still be a great story about finding your place, fitting in, being comfortable with who you trully are, whether or not it is who you always expected to be. Throw the magic element back into it, and it is a colorful, vivid, creative and imaginative tale. Hoffman does a wonderful job creating characters that are both realistic and full of fantasy. They are people the reader can identify with, and yet be mesmerized by.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to reading more by the author.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read, but not the best...., November 9, 2004

By 

R. Kyle (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Fistful of Sky (A LaZelle Family Novel) (Hardcover)

In this quirky coming of age tale, late bloomer Gypsum LaZelle is the last of her brothers and sisters to gain her magical powers. Unfortunately, the power she gains is an 'unkind power' in the family parlance. She is 'gifted' with the power to curse and apparently is quite strong in this gift.

It's instructional to see how Gypsum learns to take a negative and turn it into a positive. She develops teamwork skills by filtering her powers through another sib Flint, who seems to get his magic wrong more often than not and ends up giving them both a self-confidence boost. In a Jungian twist, she also reconciles herself with her Shadow by working with 'curse child' Altria to find a way to deal with the power she has in a controlled manner. By trusting the Shadow, she is also trusting herself and the two can form a mutualiztic bond.

The book is very well done, but it loses its mark as an adult novel and in my opinion may be too high level for a young adult. Still, I would seek out Hoffman's other work and give it a try.