Title: Valiant: A Modern Faerie TaleAuthor: Holly Black
Publish Date: September 2006
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Pages: 320pp
ISBN: 0689868235
Classification: Fiction
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Supernatural 14 and up
Age Range: 14 and up
Amazon: $8.99
Annotation: Valerie is seventeen years old. She has just shaved her head and runaway to the undergrounds of New York City and fallen in with a dysfunctional group of teens who live in an abandoned part of the subway system.
Summary: Seventeen year old Valerie has just runaway to New York City after witnessing her mother and boyfriend's betrayal. She meets Dave and Lolly, two similarly situated teenagers who live in the city's subway system. While Val struggles to cope with recent events, they introduce her to a whole new world she never thought existed, a world of faeries, trolls, and other strange creatures. Some of them are dangerous as on of them is on a killing spree. Suddenly Val finds herself right in the middle of a murder mystery, and her ordinary teenager problems don't seem so important after all.
Evaluation: Holly Black is a phenomenal story-teller. She combines reality with fantasy in an evocative fashion. I highly enjoyed this urban fairytale set in the streets of New York City. Though readers and perhaps parents should be aware that Valiant has sexual content and does incorporate some very serious issues including dysfunctional family and drug use. Personally, Valiant was my favorite out of all the Modern Faerie Tales books. I like enjoyed the dark tale and highly recommend it to older teens!
Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness:
- Dealing with bad parents.
- Doing what you have to in order to survive.
Reason this book was chosen: First of all, I enjoy any storyline that involves faeries, well almost any. What particularly drew me to this book was the dark elements Ms. Black included: drug use (and drug addiction), dysfunctional family, runaways, survival and sex. Additionally, I am a fan of Holly Black's books.
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Author's Website: Click HERE
Awards:
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2008
ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2006
ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, 2006
Andre Norton Award, 2006
Booksense Pick, 2005
The New York Public Library’s Best Books for the Teenage, 2005
