A modern retelling of the Swan Lake ballet, with African-American teen-age lovers who live in the Swan Lake Projects. Illustrated with modernistic paintings. This book is unique, but looks more like a picture book than a book for young adults.
Reviewed by LadyJay for TeensReadToo.com
Amiri is treated like a prince in the Swan Lake Projects. His mother wants him to find a nice girl to settle down with, so she throws him a party to meet several eligible ladies. She warns Amiri to choose wisely.
He sees Odette one day while playing basketball. She is beautiful, but somehow scarred. Odette is not allowed to love freely because of Big Red. She belongs to him - she is trapped. Amiri must find a way to break the spell Big Red has over Odette before it is too late.
AMIRI & ODETTE: A LOVE STORY is an interesting re-telling of the Swan Lake story. Set against the backdrop of the projects, Myers has taken a classical ballet and put an urban spin on it. Myers' writing flows, like lyrics to a rap song, across the page.
The paintings in this poem add to the grittiness and realism of the setting. Javaka Steptoe has used acrylic paints on huge slabs of asphalt. He then embellished the paintings with newspaper, feathers, plastic bags, and other items to give them a three-dimensional quality. The affect is absolutely stunning!
This is a great addition to Myers' already long list of writing accomplishments!
Amiri is treated like a prince in the Swan Lake Projects. His mother wants him to find a nice girl to settle down with, so she throws him a party to meet several eligible ladies. She warns Amiri to choose wisely.
He sees Odette one day while playing basketball. She is beautiful, but somehow scarred. Odette is not allowed to love freely because of Big Red. She belongs to him - she is trapped. Amiri must find a way to break the spell Big Red has over Odette before it is too late.
AMIRI & ODETTE: A LOVE STORY is an interesting re-telling of the Swan Lake story. Set against the backdrop of the projects, Myers has taken a classical ballet and put an urban spin on it. Myers' writing flows, like lyrics to a rap song, across the page.
The paintings in this poem add to the grittiness and realism of the setting. Javaka Steptoe has used acrylic paints on huge slabs of asphalt. He then embellished the paintings with newspaper, feathers, plastic bags, and other items to give them a three-dimensional quality. The affect is absolutely stunning!
This is a great addition to Myers' already long list of writing accomplishments!
