Amber and Clay

March 19, 2021

Gr 5 Up-Two children from vastly different backgrounds-one common as clay, artistic and bright; the other precious as amber, wild, and forceful-share stories of hardship and hope, life and death in this historical fantasy told as a Greek tragedy. Born a slave and considered a barbarian by the dominant culture, redheaded Rhaskos is taught to follow orders and never think for himself. Brown-skinned Melisto is born into an affluent Athenian household, but is abused and berated by a mother who wanted a son (or at least an obedient daughter). As the children grow so do their stories, until eventually the two become entangled through the work of the gods and Rhaskos's long-lost mother. Told from multiple perspectives, mostly in verse with some prose sections, Schlitz's latest novel is a beautifully crafted, complex masterpiece that unfortunately may be a tough sell for the intended audience. While the god Hermes acts as chorus, providing irreverent interludes as well as much-needed context, he cannot compensate for an often wide gap in the lived experiences of characters-at one point, Melisto's mother describes her pregnancy and labor-and that of the reader. VERDICT This is a thoroughly researched, epic tale, but one that may have limited appeal. Share with readers who enjoyed other works by Schlitz or Finding Wonders by Jeannine Atkins, or for whom Katherine Marsh's Jepp, Who Defied the Stars is perhaps too mature.-Kaitlin Frick, Darien Lib., CT

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2021
Curation, historical fiction, performance piece -- Schlitz (Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!, rev. 11/07) brings a bundle of learning, artifice, and intentionality to this highly stylized tale of ancient Greece. With the god Hermes as sometimes-narrator ("No. Don't put down the book...If the lines look like poetry, relax. This book is shorter than it looks"), the plot revolves around Rhaskos, an enslaved boy, and Melisto, an aristocratically born Greek girl -- "a wild girl, chosen by Artemis." For structure, Schlitz curates eighteen "exhibits" -- fragments of inscriptions, pottery, and sculpture. As in a museum display or textbook, each has its explanatory note. Each also initiates a section of the story. We follow Rhaskos from his childhood collecting dung to his work as slave to upper-class Menon, when he first encounters Sokrates. We watch as Melisto survives maternal abuse to become one of Artemis's acolytes, her life ending in an ecstatic, tragic dance, when the two narrative threads -- one in verse, one in prose -- entwine. Schlitz deploys many voices; Hermes, Rhaskos, Hephaistos, Artemis, Sokrates, and more have their declamations, strophes, and antistrophes, characteristic of a Greek chorus and fitting for oral performance. Scraps of philosophy find a place, as does much information on pronunciation, etymology, the gods, and relevant cultural practice. Ambitious and original, this is stuffed with food for thought, often sparkling with wit and appropriate strangeness. Deirdre F. Baker

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from January 1, 2021
An artistic enslaved boy, "common as clay," and a free-spirited girl, "precious as amber," become "linked together by the gods" in this drama of ancient Greece. After his mother, Thratta, is sold, neglected, red-haired Rhaskos, 5, works in the stables of a wealthy household in Thessaly. Eventually sold to a potter in Athens, Rhaskos learns the trade, expands his drawing skills, and becomes friends with the philosopher Sokrates, who urges him to be his "own master." Raised in a privileged Athens home, wild, brown-skinned Melisto is actively spurned by her mother and prefers her nurse, Thratta. After being sent away to serve the goddess Artemis, 10-year-old Melisto is killed by lightning and Thratta places a binding spell on her ghost, compelling her to find Rhaskos and set him free, thus pulling their stories together. Borrowing elements from classical Greek drama, the tale unfolds primarily in verse through alternating voices, including those of manipulative gods and goddesses as well as real and fictional secondary characters whose varied perspectives add vitality and momentum. Lyrically descriptive, surprisingly contemporary in feel, and laced with allusions to Greek mythology, history, and epic stories, the narrative offers a realistically diverse, colorful portrait of an ancient Greece in which slavery and warfare were prevalent. Black-and-white illustrations of archaeological artifacts add insight and depth to this meticulously researched story. A rich, complex, deftly crafted tale of friendship, creativity, and being true to oneself. (cast of characters, author's notes, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 10-14)

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Starred review from March 1, 2021
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* At the start of Newbery Medalist Schlitz's latest ambitious offering, Greek god Hermes tells, in irreverent verse, a legend in which every person was once two people stuck together. The story to come, he says, is about a boy and girl who "weren't alike, but they fit together." In ancient Thessaly, watchful Rhaskos is born into slavery, to a Thracian woman taken from her home. When Rhaskos is still a child, his mother is sold to a wealthy man in Athens, whose headstrong daughter, Melisto, needs a firm hand. As Melisto's wildness catches the attention of the goddess Artemis and leads to a series of fateful choices, Rhaskos suffers a mercurial master and becomes enamored with horses and learning to replicate their form in clay. Though they aren't destined to meet--at least not while they're both alive--Rhaskos and Melisto are inextricably bound together by fate. Schlitz anchors this astonishing work of historical fiction in Greek tradition: ancient gods and philosophers narrate (Sokrates appears throughout); she makes use of epic verse and literary devices from Greek plays (described in the extensive back matter); references to Homer are threaded through the text. She offers context for modern readers, elaborating on ancient Greece as a slave society, while Iredale's black-and-white illustrations offer glimpses of artifacts. Like its two central figures, this luminous creation is far more than the sum of its parts.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2021
Curation, historical fiction, performance piece -- Schlitz (Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!, rev. 11/07) brings a bundle of learning, artifice, and intentionality to this highly stylized tale of ancient Greece. With the god Hermes as sometimes-narrator ("No. Don't put down the book...If the lines look like poetry, relax. This book is shorter than it looks"), the plot revolves around Rhaskos, an enslaved boy, and Melisto, an aristocratically born Greek girl -- "a wild girl, chosen by Artemis." For structure, Schlitz curates eighteen "exhibits" -- fragments of inscriptions, pottery, and sculpture. As in a museum display or textbook, each has its explanatory note. Each also initiates a section of the story. We follow Rhaskos from his childhood collecting dung to his work as slave to upper-class Menon, when he first encounters Sokrates. We watch as Melisto survives maternal abuse to become one of Artemis's acolytes, her life ending in an ecstatic, tragic dance, when the two narrative threads -- one in verse, one in prose -- entwine. Schlitz deploys many voices; Hermes, Rhaskos, Hephaistos, Artemis, Sokrates, and more have their declamations, strophes, and antistrophes, characteristic of a Greek chorus and fitting for oral performance. Scraps of philosophy find a place, as does much information on pronunciation, etymology, the gods, and relevant cultural practice. Ambitious and original, this is stuffed with food for thought, often sparkling with wit and appropriate strangeness.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)