Alchemy and Meggy Swann

Author: Karen Cushman and

Narrated by Katherine Kellgren

Reading level: Grade 4–8

Summary:

Meggy Swann, a 13-year-old, is deformed since birth. She walks with a halting gait using two sticks. Many believe she is cursed by the devil. She lives in a small village with her mother who runs an alehouse. The only person who has ever loved her was her deceased grandmother. Even worse, now she has to go live with her father, whom she has never known before in her live, in London. When her father finally sees her, he can’t help being disappointed to discover that she is just a disabled girl. The reason he has sent for her was because her father’s apprentice is leaving. He has no one else to work for him so she is to take his place. Meggy meets a varied cast of characters, and Roger remains her good friend despite her ill-tempered treatment of him at times. Her father, whom she nicknames Master Peevish, is single-minded in his focus, oblivious to all else. In order to do his life's work, he needs money and Meggy overhears him plotting what she believes is a murder to obtain it. Fearing his head might wind up on a pole on London Bridge, she is determined to stop him. Her courage and confidence grow with each obstacle overcomed.
Reviews:
When I read the beginning of this book, it is confusing to me at first. I didn’t realize that Meggy is crippled and has to use walking stick. Cushman vaguely describes his main character and it makes the beginning confusing. However, it gets better in the middle part when Meggy comes to London and has to discover it herself with her two walking sticks. I feel so bad and sympathetic for her because her father is so into his work that he often ignores her and her needs. Eventually, she develops a stronger will and becomes more useful to her father like working in the bellows, finding his supplies for him while he’s busy with his project.
My main concern is that given the reading level required to handle the text, I expected a more complex storyline. In the end, I found it interesting, but not as compelling as I hoped.
At 176 pages, Alchemy and Meggy Swann is a compact read. It is also a compelling one. Cushman gives us a girl whose favorite expression is "Ye toads and vipers," a girl who "wabbles" instead of walking and frequently loses her temper, a girl not wanted by anyone. Yet the author shows us how Meggy succeeds against the odds--and there we have lead that truly does turn to gold. Or at least, we have lead used to build something altogether new and promising.

Award: 2011 Odyssey Award