Friday, August 14, 2009

MC Spotlight #14: The Black Canary by Jane Louise Curry

YA Fresh MC Spotlight #14 is...

The Black Canary

Twelve-year-old biracial James has grown up in a musical family. Not only are both of his parents musicians, but his four grandparents are as well. Everyone assumes that James will pursue music, yet he would rather become a newspaper reporter...or an astronomer...or a cook...anything that will let him leave music behind and be his own self.

Everything changes when, on a family visit to London, James discovers a portal that leads to London in the year 1600, then finds himself unable to return to the point in time he had left behind. James is forced to join the Children of the Chapel Royal, a group that performs for the queen of England, and the musical talents he denied are now put to the test and pushed to their limits. In this alternate world James comes to realize that he cannot survive and get back to the twenty-first century without recognizing, understanding, and making the most of his musical gifts.

Jane Louise Curry brings Elizabethan London to life in this remarkable story about music, family, and finding one's place in the world.

Check out an excerpt here.

Jane Louise Curry has written more than thirty books for children, her most recent novel being The Egyptian Box. Ms. Curry lives in Lose Angeles, California, and spends a part of each year in London, England. For more information go to www.janelouisecurry.com and www.theblackcanary.com.

1 fresh comments:

TinaFerraro said...

This sounds interesting on a number of levels...have to check this out!