Another "last", and another book with Irish roots...not on purpose, it just happened that way! Maybe a bit o'Irish luck? The Last Rabbit has this adorable drawing on the front cover of a young rabbit sitting on top of a grassy rock overlooking the ocean. By all accounts, the cover would have you believe that this is a whimsical fantasy tale - which it is, in part! It also suggests this book is for younger readers - which it also is, but perhaps not as young as you might think. Although author Thomas has created a cute fantasy story with rabbits as some of the main characters, there is also magic, and another of the main characters turns out to be a direct kin of Death. Yep, the Grim Reaper. So don't be completely fooled (or turned away) from this cutesy cover and title. This book will have some surprises for you, and is a fun story to boot!
Albie was once a human girl, along with her three sisters. By accident, Albie turns all of them into rabbits. The crux of the book is Albie trying to get them all turned back to humans again. Thomas suggests some historical fiction in this story, although it seems way more "fiction" than "historical". It seems the island where much of this story takes place appeared once on maps just off the Irish coast, several hundred years ago. And then...it simply never appeared again. This is the history that Thomas has built her story around; where did the island go, why, and what happened to all life on the island when it was no longer above water?
The Last Rabbit is a fun tale, with animals and people interacting throughout, and a fair amount of magic worked in as well. Even the ocean is it's own character, in a sense, and helps Albie solve her puzzle, along with an old magician, and, yes, Death. In that sense it made me think of Scythe, by Neil Shusterman, a brilliant mystery (not for younger readers) where Death is a main character. But other than that, The Last Rabbit is much more of a fairly tale with animal characters, such as Richard Adams' Watership Down or Kate DiCamillo's The Tale of Despereaux. Moore's book is good, and fun, but not quite at the level as these two classics. But if you'd like a new fantasy story with animals as characters, this book will entertain you! Maybe not a "classic", but still pretty fun to read! 3 paws and wag!
No comments:
Post a Comment