September/October 2012 Newsletter

YA Novel Review

The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna (Balzer + Bray)

In this lush retelling of the Frankenstein concept, Mandanna tells the story of Eva, an echo who has been woven as a back-up to a human counterpart.  She has been raised only to replace Amarra, a far away girl she’s never met, just in case something happens to her.  She isn’t meant to have a life of her own; she’s a replica, a copy – an echo.  In this odd sort of prison, Eva must wrestle with her place in the world, with her own feelings of self, of love, of purpose – what could be more human that that?  Mandanna’s writing is rich and detailed, with an electrical emotional undercurrent.  Using the relevant topic of bioethics as her backdrop, Mandanna artfully explores not only what it means to be human on a universal level, but also what it means to have the courage to be one’s self.

Writing Exercise

I loved the world Mandanna built behind Eva, the idea of the weavers, of her life as an “echo.”  Take this word, echo, and build a new definition of it through a character you create, a poem you write, or a story that features an “echo” in a fresh way.

Outside Reading School Project

This fall, I’m teaching a unit called Legend, Fairytale, Myth and Monster where my students are exploring the driving question:  As humans, what story do we continue to tell over and over throughout time?  The Lost Girl is one of these retellings, a book that explores this idea of “monster” in a thoroughly fresh way.  The Lost Girl makes a wonderful companion book to the study of Frankenstein.  Encourage  students to look for the connection between Eva and Frankenstein’s monster.  Have students create a poster, a Venn Diagram, or some other visual way of showcasing the way these two books overlap.