A Wild Winter Swan by Gregory Maguire
LLBC Rating: 6/10
Book Synopsis: The entire world is against Laura Ciardi. At least, that is what she thinks. But, didn't we all feel that way at 15? After being expelled from her school just before Christmas, she gets the news that her grandparents are sending her away to finish school in Canada. Of course, having to pick up your entire life in New York and move to Montreal is a lot for a 15 year old to handle, and the one-winged boy that flies into her bedroom window in need of help is the last thing she is ready for. In this fairytale adaptation, Maguire borrows a character from Hans Christian Anderson's The Wild Swans so we can watch Laura grow by putting aside her pessimism and selfishness, and learning to be selfless in helping this creature get back home.
Though we enjoyed this read and consider it a fun fairytale adaptation that felt perfect for the holiday season, it is not at the top of our recommendations list. It took us all a while to sit down and actually read it as the first hundred pages felt like they could have been condensed in order for the story to actually start. That aside, we agree that Gregory Maguire did a good job capturing some of the feelings a teenage girl might have towards the world as well as herself. His descriptive language kept us engaged and allowed us to be a fly on the wall in the Ciardi family browstone. I felt as though I was in Laura's shoes, trying to hide the swan boy while figuring out how to help him.
THE FIRST MEETING: We were so excited to get started on the fairytale this month that we jumped right in! Mary and Quin started the meeting by discussing the topic of fairytales and what makes a fairytale. We learned that fairytales and folktales are often quite similar. Both tend to possess some kind of moral lesson for the reader the that drives the plot of the story and allows us to watch the character grow and change.
Then they covered a little bit about Gregory Maguire so we could get to know the author and the book we were about to read. As the author of Wicked, we were excited to see what else he had in store for us! As always, we read the first chapter together and, though it left something to be desired, we realized the story was only just starting and there was so much left to learn about our characters.
Next was the discussion of December's writing prompt. This month, we were all tasked with writing a fairytale of our own. Taking some of the elements we learned from tales we heard growing up, such as The Brother's Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson, we could find inspiration for a story of our own.
The tip of the month was to figure out the theme and characters of the story before beginning. This will help you form a strong base for any magical or transformative elements to create your fairytale atmosphere!
OUTING: This month, our club supported the local community a different few ways. First, a local business was participating in a food drive for the food pantry on Grand Rapids' West side. We found the list of needs and took a trip to the grocery store to stock up on a few of the items from the list.
When we arrived at the location to drop off the goods, we realized they where also hosting a craft fair! We love a craft fair and could not help but take a look around at all of booths and chat with the artists about their work. Those involved were mostly local artists from Michigan and they had some great pieces we were more than happy to take home. It was so fun to chat with these artists and support their business just as you support us!
THE FINAL MEETING: As everyone becomes very busy around the holiday season, the final meeting this month was a small crowd. But that's okay! We were still able to chat about the story and share our thoughts.
Because the group was so small, it was a pretty quick meeting and, instead of reading and discussing our writing prompts like usual, we decided to just send them out to our chapter club members for them to read at their leisure. Stay tuned for the writing feature this month as that will be posted shortly after this post!
We hope everyone had a great holiday season! Thank you everyone who joined us this month and participated in the forum discussion! We cannot wait for next year and hope you continue as a member of the LLBC! Make sure to follow our social pages to keep up with us daily and help us pick themes and books you would like to see in the coming year.
We hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year and we will see you in 2022!!
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