Megan (Sunfire) [Paperback]

Vivian Schurfranz (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc. (June 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590414682
• ISBN-13: 978-0590414685
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,251,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not one of my favorites., April 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Megan (Sunfire) (Paperback)

After reading the rest of the Sunfire books, I expected this one to be as good or better than the others. However, I was dissapointed by this book. It was set in 1867 Alaska. NOTHING HAPPENED IN THIS BOOK THAT WAS EXCITING! The author kept writing over and over again about Megan trying to decide who she loved. There was too much on that topic and not enough historical details. This book was a dissapointment. Even when Megan was kidnapped by fur traders (Which was about the only exciting thing that happened), she escaped too quickly and easily.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "I Ask For One Dance...", October 8, 2006

By 

R. M. Fisher "Raye" (New Zealand = Middle Earth!) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Megan (Sunfire) (Paperback)

Series review:

The Sunfire Romances are an interesting specimen of books, especially if read from a feminist point of view. There are several rules in place for the construction of a Sunfire book: the protagonist is a young woman, who celebrates her sixteenth birthday near the beginning of the book. She lives in a turbulent period of time in American history (examples include the World Wars, the American Civil War, the Salem Witch Hunts, etc) and during the course of the story is approached by two handsome and appealing suitors, forming complicated love-triangles. At the end of the story she has reached maturity and found happiness in the arms of the man best suited to her.

These books sound older than they actually are; they were in fact published for the first time in the 1980's, well after the feminist revolution. Therefore it is refreshing to find that these young girls' stories are not solely defined by their quest to find `true love'; often the social conditions and hardships of life take centre stage as the protagonist struggles against moral decisions and the backdrop of the historical crisis going on around her. And although the stories *do* usually end with a kiss, it is always the young heroine's decision as to which beau she will eventually spend her life with. As such, the Sunfire romances are a delicate blend of feminism and femininity: the girls are all domesticated and beautiful; and yet are never reduced to mere prizes to be won by the most worthy suitor.

Book Review:

"Megan" is set in 1867, and the title character is the daughter of an Irish-American politician who has come to oversee the new trading conditions between America and Alaska (newly bought from the Russians). Nervous about her new home, it takes a while for Megan to adapt to this new world of ice and snow, especially with the hostile attitudes of the Native Americans against American immigration. Though she gradually makes friends and grows to love her new home, Megan finds herself in the midst of a love triangle between the handsome, cocky and generous Adam Logan (the son of Sitka's largest Trade Emporium) and Ivan Zolotov, a poor fisherman she helps tutor in English. Unlike other Sunfire Romances "Megan" is reasonably suspenseful in the drawing out of Megan's choice. Though it's obvious in hindsight and to an older reader, as a young tween I was stumped as to who Megan would eventually pick (even during Megan's kidnapping ordeal which makes up the climax of the book, she comforts herself by imagining *both* her suitors with her).

Megan O'Brien is a nice enough character, a little insipid at times (and sweet to the point of eye-rolling) but with enough spunk to feel humiliated and indignant when her suitors come to blows over who has `ownership' of her. Ultimately her choice in love is a little problematic - I don't want to give to much away, but there are significant social differences between Megan and her eventual love that would have been of considerable concern in the 1800's, but Schurfranz does not only sweep such problems under the rug; she never mentions them at all!

Though a little forgettable, and no where near the best Sunfire Romance on offer, "Megan" encapsulates what young girl readers love about these books, and delivers on its premise.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Disapointed..., March 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Megan (Sunfire) (Paperback)

This book was a big let down. Megan must decide between a stuck up store worker and a friendly fisherman. During the whole book I was rooting for the same guy and it took her FOREVER to go to him. Nothing happened. This book was well written but it is not one of my favorites.