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Title details for The Old Country by Mordicai Gerstein - Available

The Old Country

by Mordicai Gerstein
Tovah Feldshuh
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Mordicai Gerstein’s portrayal of Philippe Petit’s high-wire walk between the towers of the World Trade Center, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, won the 2004 Caldecott Medal and was among the most admired books of the year. Now comes a memorable new work, a novel of singular insight and imagination that transports readers to the Old Country, where “every winter was a hundred years and every spring a miracle . . . where the water was like music and the music was like water . . . where all the fairy tales come from, where there was magic–and there was war.”
There, Gisella stares a moment too long into the eyes of a fox, and she and the fox exchange shape. Gisella’s quest to get her girl-body back takes her on a journey across a war-ravaged country that has lost its shape. She encounters sprites, talking animals, a chicken that lays a golden egg, a court with a spider for a judge–and bloodshed, destruction, and questions of power and justice. Finally, looking into the eyes of the fox once more, she faces a strange and startling choice about her own nature.
The Old Country is at once timeless and contemporary–a tale that draws on a wealth of storytelling tradition and dramatizes the question of what it is to be human. Part adventure story, part fable; exciting, beautifully told, rich in humor and wisdom, it is the work of an artist and storyteller at the height of his powers.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    January 22, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780739386279
      • File size: 91383 KB
      • Duration: 03:10:22

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • ATOS Level: 4.4
    • Lexile® Measure: 630
    • Interest Level: 6-12(MG+)
    • Text Difficulty: 2-3

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Never make an assumption about a Mordicai Gerstein story! Gerstein weaves together the ancient and modern as wars are fought, shapes are shifted, animals and people talk--all at that illusive juncture where worlds and stories converge. Tovah Feldshuh lives the story. Her characterizations will amaze--from the determined heroine, Gisella, her great aunt, and their animated relatives to the conniving fox and myriad creatures who impact Gisella's every move. Feldshuh's quick pacing underscores the urgency. Listeners will be charmed. A.R. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from April 18, 2005
      Gerstein (The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
      )
      skillfully shapes a story by turns disturbing and comforting. His hybrid of fantasy and fable explores such themes as human nature, war, magic and music. The tale within a tale opens as Gisella visits her great granddaughter, gives her a present and shares a story of her childhood in the Old Country, where, she says, "I was a little girl and where I was a fox." Gisella builds on this note of intrigue, as she describes her wise great-aunt warning her that in the woods "things may not be what they seem. Things change; now it's this, then it's that. Look closely, be careful, and never look too long into the eyes of a fox." Indeed, danger befalls the young Gisella when her brother is drafted into the army, and it's up to her to kill the fox who's been stealing the family's chickens. Deep in the woods, strange things occur—talking animals and "small people." The girl finds herself gazing intently into the fox's eyes, and the two mysteriously exchange bodies. Meanwhile, war breaks out ("Air that had been full of springtime now had a new odor, bitter and jagged. It was the smell of pain, and it was everywhere"), sending Gisella on a labyrinthine journey with a forest sprite as her guide. Gerstein brilliantly ties the war's escalation with the dwindling of magic, and caps off this vividly descriptive narrative with an unexpected ending. Ages 11-14.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:4.4
  • Lexile® Measure:630
  • Interest Level:6-12(MG+)
  • Text Difficulty:2-3

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