The Silver Bowl [Hardcover]

Diane Stanley (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 26, 2011 | Age Range: 8 and up | Lexile Measure: 700L (What's this?)

Unwanted at home, Molly goes to work for the king of Westria as a humble scullery maid. She arrives at the castle with no education, no manners, and a very disturbing secret: She sees visions, and those visions always come true.

One day, while she's working in the king's great hall, young Prince Alaric passes by. Molly finds him unbearably handsome—but also unbearably rude. But what does it really matter? She'll probably never see him again.

In time Molly is promoted to polishing silver and is given a priceless royal treasure to work on: the king's great ceremonial hand basin. But there's something odd about it. The silver warms to her touch, a voice commands her to watch and listen, and then the visions appear. They tell the story of a dreaded curse that has stalked the royal family for years. There have already been deaths; soon there will be more.

As tragedy after tragedy strikes the royal family, Molly can't help but wonder: Will the beautiful Alaric be next? Together with her friends Tobias and Winifred, Molly must protect the prince and destroy the curse. Could a less likely champion be found to save the kingdom of Westria?

Editorial Reviews

Review

“An accomplished storyteller, Stanley uses her singular gifts to craft a remarkable historical fantasy. Combining carefully chosen details of setting with a richly realized fantasy premise, Stanley succeeds in creating a believable world large enough to accommodate not only menace and evil but also loyalty, enduring friendship, and love.” (Booklist (starred review) )

“Veteran Stanley concocts a delicious blend of familiar fairy-tale motifs and intriguing, well-rounded characters to create an engaging fantasy. A most worthy and enjoyable entry in the ‘feisty female’ fantasy genre.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review) )

“Adventure, magic, subtle romance, betrayal, and monstrous curses take this book far beyond the typical scullery-maid-makes-good tale.” (School Library Journal (starred review) )

“A versatile and inventive raconteur, Stanley (Bella at Midnight) nimbly weaves intrigue and fantasy into this richly layered story set in medieval times.” (Publishers Weekly )

“[T]he pacing is masterful, with new information and character development doled out in exactly the right doses, intercut with thrilling escapes and clever plots...a satisfying yarn of loyalty rewarded and mutual understanding gained.” (Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books )

Praise for Saving Sky:“The main characters are well rendered and likable, and, in her portrayal of the earth-centered, nurturing Brightman family, Stanley succeeds in delivering the message that hope trumps fear.” (School Library Journal )

Praise for Saving Sky:“This page-turner skillfully captures the irrational fear of a public under siege while giving kids a modern-day, almost-just-like-them female hero who champions hope. Inspiring.” (Kirkus Reviews )

Praise for Bella at Midnight:“Once begun, it will be hard to put down.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review) )

Praise for Bella at Midnight:“More than a reworking of the familiar, this is a 21st-century fairy-tale, throughly enjoyable in its own right.” (School Library Journal (starred review) )

Praise for Bella at Midnight:Stanley subtly twists strands of the Cinderella story until it’s something quite new and fine.“ (Booklist (starred review) )

Praise for Bella at Midnight:“Fans of fairy tale retellings will enjoy the fanciful twists in familiar territory, and long remember this engaging heroine, destined for a happily-ever-after life.” (Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) )

About the Author

Diane Stanley is the author andillustrator of beloved books for youngreaders, including The Silver Bowl, whichreceived three starred reviews; Saving Sky,winner of the Arab American Museum'sArab American Award and a Bank StreetCollege of Education Best Book of the Year;Bella at Midnight, a School Library JournalBest Book of the Year and an ALA BooklistEditors' Choice; The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy; The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine; and A Time Apart. Well knownas the author and illustrator of award-winningpicture-book biographies, she isthe recipient of the Orbis Pictus Awardfor Outstanding Nonfiction for Childrenand the Washington Post-Children's BookGuild Nonfiction Award for the body ofher work.

Ms. Stanley has also written andillustrated numerous picture books, includingthree creatively reimagined fairy tales: The Giant and the Beanstalk, Goldie and the Three Bears, and Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter.She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (April 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061575437
• ISBN-13: 978-0061575433
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #452,887 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Diane Stanley is the author and illustrator of more than fifty books for children, noted especially for her series of picture book biographies. SHAKA: KING OF THE ZULUS was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book; LEONARDO DA VINCI received the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction from the National Council for Teachers of English. Ten of her books have been honored as "Notable Books" by the American Library Association and she has twice received both the Boston Globe/Hornbook Award and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators' Golden Kite Award. She is the recipient of the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for Nonfiction for the body of her work.

She lives in Santa Fe, NM. Visit her website at dianestanley.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Silver Story May 7, 2011

By K. Coombs VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

There's a touch of Upstairs, Downstairs in this book about a roughly raised poor girl who is sent to the king's castle to work as a scullery maid when she is only seven. Little by little, she learns to get along with the castle staff and do a good job. Her one encounter with royalty tells her that princes are snobs. But she rolls up her sleeves and gets back to scrubbing the pots, encouraged in her endeavors by her friend Tobias, the donkey boy. In time Molly is promoted to silver polisher, and her life path seems plain. She ignores the fact that she once saw a vision of the future, telling herself she imagined it.

Except--it turns out the royal family has been cursed, and the irrepressible Molly learns she has a strange connection to the events of the cursing. But first the king and his sons suffer greatly, until the entire castle worries what might happen next. And Molly starts seeing more visions in the great silver bowl she has been assigned to polish by Thomas, the keeper of the castle's silver. Molly had believed what she was told as a child, that her mother was crazy, but was she really just a witch? And is Molly a witch, too?

When things get bad for Prince Alaric, Molly and Tobias take a series of huge risks to protect him. I like the way their cleverness and practicality makes them perfectly capable of handling a horrible situation. Under pressure, Molly and her friend's qualities shine like polished silver.

Part mystery, part fairy tale, part reconciliation of class differences, The Silver Bowl is altogether satisfying as the pieces come together. Molly uses her visions from the bowl to help solve the mystery, though she has difficulty figuring out who the true villain might be, to her great peril. Fortunately, Tobias is there to help, and even Alaric begins to contribute usefully and a bit more humbly to their plans. Stanley builds suspense as Alaric becomes the last royal standing and his common-born friends turn out to be the only ones capable of saving his throne from his greedy cousins and the shadowy figure of the curse-maker.

Here's an excerpt from a scene early in the book, when Tobias takes Molly upstairs in the castle:

"'We must be silent as ghosts, Molly. And if one of them should come into the room, look down in a very respectful manner, and do not meet their eyes, for they don't wish to be reminded we are about.'

'Why? If I had a castle full of servants, I'd be glad to be reminded of it.'

'Well, they are not. We are as common as lice to them, and just as interesting.'"

Diane Stanley's message about valuing those who seem to have less social value doesn't distract from the sweep of her storytelling in this well-written fantasy. I recommend it to fans of books like Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted, Shannon Hale's Princess Academy, and Jessica Day George's Princess of the Midnight Ball.

Note for Worried Parents: The Silver Bowl is being marketed for teens (YA), perhaps because of a handful of grisly deaths and some peril, along with the eventual ages of the protagonists, but it reads as upper middle grade (MG) to me.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Adventures! January 28, 2012

By Chloe

Format:Hardcover

I wish I had had books like this to read when I was a girl. Molly is not a perfect person but is decidedly one to aspire to. The plot was worthy of such a character. Not once did I feel the hand of the parent/educator censors. The feel of the times was compellingly created. I wanted to accompany Molly through every minute.

Like other reviewers here mention, the suggested age range for the book seems a bit contrived by the above mentioned censors. There is more and vivid violence in an average evening of prime time TV, and what is in the text is well supported by the plot which would suffer without it. If only we were as honest and responsible about the violence we tolerate in our time as Ms. Stanley is with this really fine read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally terrific fantasy of castles and kingdoms July 23, 2011

By M. Knapp

Format:Hardcover

Cast out of her overcrowded home, in a place not unlike England a few hundred years ago, Molly finds a place in the kitchen at Dethmere Castle, where her sassy tongue and street smarts keep her in and out of trouble. She makes friends with hard-working Tobias, thought to be stupid but actually just observant and phlegmatic, and discovers a gift for foreseeing the future.

Both the plot and the writing of this book are first rate. Suggest to 'tweens and young teens who are fans of writers such as Shannon Hale and Gail Levine. I predict that those who cheer on beleaguered underdogs, and love ye olde stories like Alchemy and Meggy Swan, The Coven's Daughter, Catherine, Called Birdy and Crispin and the Cross of Lead will take this book to heart as well.