STORYTELLER, by Patricia Reilly Giff, was written with two alternate timelines. In the first timeline, Elizabeth is in the 21st century. Her dad, hoping to sell more of his sculptures, goes on a trip to Australia. Meanwhile, Elizabeth is sent to live with her Aunt Libby. One day at Libby’s house, Elizabeth spots a picture of her great-aunt on the wall. Curious, she pesters Aunt Libby for information concerning her Great-Aunt Eliza, who is also known as Zee.
In Zee’s timeline, during the 18th century, she is forced to deal with family and friends going away to fight in the Revolutionary War. Zee’s mother dies when her house burns down, and she is left with badly burned hands. Will Elizabeth ever learn the whole truth about her great-aunt? Will Zee ever see her father and brother again?The main thing I really liked about this book was the fact that there were two stories that alternated. However, I thought this book had a lot of weaknesses. Some of these included: the characters’ emotions were not clearly expressed, there were more details in Zee’s story than in Elizabeth’s, Elizabeth’s story didn’t seem as developed as Zee’s story, and, although it was a cool concept, I couldn’t really understand how the two timelines fit together. I am not a big fan of historical fiction, but people who like history would probably enjoy this book more than I did.
Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Lake City, IA USA
