Dia Calhoun

Well-written, poorly plotted. The characters, dialog, and descriptions are nicely done - but for the first 2/3rds of the book, by far the largest problem is his parents refusing to talk to him...about stuff that is obviously already a problem (but they _promised_ each other they'd wait until he was 14). Not to mention that if they had (been able to) waited until he was 14 and then shoved him off into the mountains it would have been an utter disaster - with half a year of training he still barely makes it. Except of course, magically, everything comes right, and HEA. One thing that rings really really false, for me, is that a 12- and 13-year old is seriously considering who he's going to marry and being attracted to different women (girls, around his age). And both times, there's a jealous other man (boy) involved which causes more problems...this is just silly. If he'd been 18, or even 16, I might have been able to swallow it, but at 13-year-old boy should not be thinking about this stuff. Even when people married early - a 13-year-old girl might be ready for marriage, a boy would usually marry when he was 20 or older. The obstacles were too contrived, the solutions were too magical and running on rails. The thing with the mute girl was the most realistic part of it (well, that and his grandmother's attitude). Not a winner.… (más)

Five-year-old Treewing, a fir tree living on Faith Mountain and waiting for his time to become part of the Christmas magic that returns light to humanity every December, is surprised when the Christmas Deer marks him out for a special destiny. The cervine guardian of Christmas normally doesn't choose trees until they are at least six years old, but sure enough, Treewing is harvested and finds his way to a city Christmas tree lot. Here he waits to be bought by a family, thinking in this way to fulfill his purpose. Instead he finds that he is the only tree in the lot not to be purchased, becoming the favorite of a group of local homeless people. Through his miraculous light, Treewing manages to connect a young homeless boy whose father had recently died, serving in the military with the tree-lot owner's son, who also died. By sharing something of great value to both, the boy also participates in bringing back the light...

Although I am familiar with author Dia Calhoun's longer fantasies for middle-grade readers, I wasn't sure quite what to expect from The Return of Light: A Christmas Tale, a brief sixty-seven-page chapter-book I picked up off my library's holiday display almost on a whim. As I was reading it, I was reminded of the recently published The Christmas Eve Tree by Delia Huddy, which also dealt with a Christmas tree that is not purchased, and which becomes a focal point for a group of homeless people, and then part of a celebration involving the wider community. I was conscious, moreover, of a feeling that there was something sentimental about the story, in a way that felt a little too overt for my tastes. All that said, despite these feelings, I was still quite moved by parts of the story, and even got a little teary-eyed from time to time as I was reading. I appreciated the idea of the light returning being a central part of Christmas, as this ties in to part of what makes the celebration of the holiday so powerful, coinciding as it does with the Winter Solstice here in the northern hemisphere. Recommended to anyone looking for beginning chapter-books about Christmas trees and/or the power of giving and light to heal wounded hearts at this time of year.… (más)

Picked this up because it won the Mythopoeic award.
It was OK, but didn't really live up to my expectations - the storyline was just too familiar, and the worldbuilding was only so-so. It's one of those stories where it really didn't even need to be set in a 'fantasy' world; the fantasy aspect is quite beside the point.

It's also very, very message-y. I don't object to the message at all ("follow your own dreams and talents, rather than feeling that you have to live up to others' expectations"), but the attitude of "I will give young girls an important lesson through this book" is a bit overwhelming.

Plot elements follow:

Aria is a poor, small-town girl. She has experience helping her mother with herbs and healing; but she also has a talent for dancing. Her mother dreams of her daughter having the opportunity to go to the big city and study dancing.
When her mother dies, Aria's father does everything he can to facilitate that. Aria goes to the city with him and auditions at the ballet school. Although it's obvious as hell that she's a shoo-in, she believes some nasty bullies' false tale that she's not picked as a student, runs away, and ends up working as a laundress at the school.
However, in an abrupt reversal of fortune, she is re-discovered and enrolled in the school, where she quickly rises to success (to the ongoing dismay of the bullies).
However, she also finds herself drawn to assisting a physician, a role where she can use her other talents. It turns out that Aria blames herself for her mother's death, and has lost confidence in her ability to heal.

As events come to a head, Aria must deal with the bullies, gain confidence in herself, ditch her domineering boyfriend, improve the working conditions of laundresses, and choose between her two talents. The right choice leads to happiness and spiritual fulfillment.


It's a nice, feel-good story, but although the author seems like she's trying very hard to give Aria difficult dilemmas, the "right choice" is always blindingly clear. If only real life were so simple!… (más)