Laura Amy Schlitz, the lower school librarian at Park, is receiving accolades for her children's book A Drowned Maiden's Hair (Candlewick Books, 2006). She has received fabulous reviews from NPR, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.
NPR ran a segment on books for holiday giving for children. Of its three choices for teens, Diane Cole recommended A Drowned Maiden's Hair on November 28:
Schlitz's self-proclaimed melodrama is replete with an orphanage, a creepy household of spiritualist sisters and an 11-year-old orphaned heroine torn between gratitude to those seemingly sweet sisters who take her in and her sense of betrayal at being taken in -- as in conned -- by them and their phony séances. This Gothic tale, set in 1909, offers outwardly kind but inwardly corrupt villains, a vulnerable whistle-blowing orphan and, in Maude's empathy for another's suffering, a reason to believe in the power of human comfort.
On November 11, 2006, Meghan Cox Gurdon in The Wall Street Journal gave the book an enthusiastic review:
It is the spring of 1909, and at the Barbary Asylum for Orphans, Maud Flynn is amazed to discover that she, the least winsome and most troublesome of all the young inmates, is about to be adopted by three genteel elderly sisters. To Maud's happy surprise, the youngest sister, Hyacinth, pronounces her "perfect." It's the first time that anyone has ever said anything so nice to Maud. She leaps joyfully into a new life of pretty clothes, bacon for breakfast and scrupulous obedience to Hyacinth's requirements. Maud is not permitted to go out of doors or even to be seen through a window. She must wear her hair just so. And, in the evenings, she is expected to perform behind the scenes of the sisters' phony séances, rattling tables and whispering ghostly words to dupe the grief-stricken rich into thinking they're communing with dead loved ones. Maud's qualms about her role and her brave understanding of exactly why she was "perfect" are overwhelmed by her desire to love and be loved?until the terrible night when a séance goes wrong and Maud is forced to see the sisters as the cold-blooded mercenaries they are. This is a marvelous book for children over 10, with an engaging, memorable and complex heroine and one of the most charming and ruthless villains to appear in children's literature since Long John Silver. People throw the word "classic" about rather a lot, but "A Drowned Maiden's Hair" genuinely deserves to become one."
The New York Times (December 3), in a review by noted children's author Elizabeth Spires, responded in kind:
Anyone who ever loved Joan Aiken?s ?Wolves of Willoughby Chase? will surely enjoy Laura Amy Schlitz?s delightful first novel, ?A Drowned Maiden?s Hair.? Set at the turn of the 20th century, it features a rebellious 11-year-old heroine, Maud Mary Flynn, who is unhappily installed at the Barbary Asylum for Female Orphans.
?On the morning of the best day of her life, Maud Flynn was locked in the outhouse, singing ?The Battle Hymn of the Republic,? ? the story begins. To Maud?s astonishment, two kind and well-off elderly sisters, Hyacinth and Judith Hawthorne, who have visited the asylum looking for an orphan to adopt, choose her, though no one has ever preferred the spunky and difficult Maud to the prettier and more pliant girls available. In true fairy-tale fashion, the sisters treat her to beautiful new clothes and books, and even an ice cream soda, on their way home to Hawthorne Grove.
But Maud quickly finds out that her new life comes at a price. Hyacinth informs her that she will be their ?secret child? and must hide whenever the sisters have company. Maud, happy to have a real home, especially one with indoor plumbing, is only too willing to comply with the strange request. She ?saw herself as a new person: a blissful, pampered, graceful little girl, the sort of child whom adults petted and adored. She would be good. She would be very good.?
Gradually, Maud?s real purpose in the household becomes clear when she discovers that she will be helping the sisters stage phony séances for wealthy patrons hoping to make contact with departed loved ones. For a while, Maud is willing to cooperate in the deception, believing that her loyalty will earn her Hyacinth?s love.
In one scene Maud convincingly impersonates the drowned daughter of a skeptical patron: ?Mrs. Lambert turned. She glimpsed the white-clad figure in the dark. Almost imperceptibly the room brightened; Judith had raised the wick of the kerosene lamp, allowing a little more light. Mrs. Lambert lunged forward, arms outstretched. Maud fell into them. ?Mama,? she whispered as Mrs. Lambert clutched her. Maud could feel the woman trembling; her heart thrummed in Maud?s ear. ?Oh, my dear girl,? murmured Mrs. Lambert, and then, as if it were a miracle, ?you?re warm.? ?
Full of page-turning suspense, ?A Drowned Maiden?s Hair? is a fascinating look into the sham underside of turn-of-the-century spiritualism, which preyed on desperate people?s grief. The story provides a satisfying, if slightly creepy, look behind the scenes at how spiritualists accomplished some of their haunting effects. But it is also about love in all of its guises, deceptions and disappointments. The beautiful, silken Hyacinth turns out to be wicked. The lame servant Muffet, a deaf-mute who initially repels Maud, has the heart of gold.
Schlitz?s story transcends the limited conventions of melodrama to answer some of the questions we are always secretly asking ourselves: If we are good, will we be loved? And if we are true to ourselves, will we suffer? But readers needn?t worry whether Maud ? after a bitter betrayal ? finds happiness and a home with people who really do love her. One of the best things about melodrama is the requisite happy ending.
Autographed copies of Laura's books are available for purchase through the Park School library. The Hero Schliemann ($18.89, including tax) was reviewed by the School Library Journal. "Schliemann wished to make a name for himself in archaeology, and he succeeded to a point. He exaggerated the truth, avoided proper procedures for the digs he financed, and his discovery of the ancient city of Troy was fraught with errors and misconceptions. Schlitz paints a colorful picture of a selfish man who used his shrewdness and earned wealth to create a mythological and romantic legend. This intriguing, well-documented biography is made more compelling by information boxes on history and such literary figures as Homer."
A Drowned Maiden?s Hair: A Melodrama ($16.79, including tax) tells the story of Maud Flynn, is known at the orphanage for her impertinence. So when the charming Miss Hyacinth and her sister choose Maud to take home with them, the girl is as baffled as anyone. It seems the sisters need Maud to help stage elaborate séances for bereaved, wealthy patrons. As Maud is drawn deeper into the deception, playing her role as a "secret child," she is torn between her need to please and her growing conscience?until a shocking betrayal makes clear just how heartless her so-called guardians are. Filled with tantalizing details of turn-of-the-century spiritualism and page-turning suspense, this lively historical novel features a winning heroine whom readers will not soon forget.
Books may be charged to your school account by emailing jhurdle@parkschool.net. Books will then be delivered to your child?s classroom.
contact: lbordeaux@parkschool.net
