Mira, Mirror (Hardcover)

~ Mette Harrison (Author) "MIRROR, MIRROR, on the wall..." (more)
Key Phrases: marsh witch, Merchant Minitz, Duke Fensky, Miss Talia (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 7-10. Mira, apprenticed to a witch, bonds with another beautiful young apprentice whom she thinks of as a sister. But the girl uses Mira to make herself beautiful, eventually turning Mira into a mirror made of wood and glass. One day, Mira's sister doesn't return, leaving Mira hanging alone on a wall for a hundred years. Harrison's story, which tucks in pieces of Snow White and Beauty and the Beast, is fresh in premise but convoluted in execution. Mira is found by a young peasant, Ivana, whom Mira intends to use to reform herself. She magically switches Ivana's face with that of the daughter of a merchant and, in the process, changes their lives and her own in ways more profound than cosmetic. This switch of identities may cause confusion for some readers as characters are addressed by their original names but act as one another. Perhaps overly ambitious, this is nonetheless richly written, and Harrison's points about what really matters and the real meaning of sisterhood ring true. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Grips you from the first page all the way to the surprising conclusion." -- Holly Black, author of The Spiderwick Chronicles

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile (September 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670059234
• ISBN-13: 978-0670059232
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,482,523 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deep fantasy for kids AND adults, February 15, 2005

By	Orson Scott Card (Greensboro, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mira, Mirror is one of those rare things - an imaginative fantasy that is also a deep novel about the human spirit.

Our family read it aloud together on a car trip, and our 24-year-old daughter loved it as much as our ten-year-old. And we parents loved it, if possible, even more.

It's not for the faint of heart - Harrison pulls no punches. People do some bad things. But they also learn hard lessons, and things don't go at all as you might expect.

In fact, even though it's about the magic mirror, it's only slightly about the Snow White story. Its range is far broader than that. This is a classic; you don't want to miss it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for both young adult and adult readers of fantasy, April 18, 2005

By	Bill's Best Books "www.alan-ya.org" (Illinois) - See all my reviews

Mira is a witch and so is her adopted sister, an ambitious young woman who steals life from other creatures and uses the magic to make herself more beautiful. Her thirst for more beauty is never quenched, even when she transforms Mira into the magic mirror. Using the mirror to keep herself beautiful and young, the sister becomes the witch queen. But when the queen falls, Mira is stranded in mirror form until a runaway peasant girl saves her. The peasant girl is taken in by a merchant and his daughter. Using her magic, Mira transforms the peasant girl into the merchant's daughter-and vice versa. Each girl assumes the other's role, seeing their lives from a different point of view. In a series of events, the girls and the mirror learn the meaning of trust and friendship. (M/H) Perfect for both young adult and adult readers of fantasy, MIRA, MIRROR is a gripping read with strong characters, the story of a woman who can show everyone a reflection but struggles to see herself for the person she truly is.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Breath into A Great Story!, January 18, 2005

By	Cecil Castellucci "seaskull" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This incredibly creative and wonderful book had me hooked from the moment I realized it was told from the mirror's point of view. It's a great imaginitve reinvention of Snow White that explores servitude, friendship and freedom with a dash of good old girl action and adventure. I was continually surprised and delighted by the twists and turns that Ms. Harrison took while reading this book. For any lover of fantasy, fractured fairy tales and great writing, this is a must read! Bravo!