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by Denise Roman Denise Roman has a fun new series out for children. It begins with this book, Maria Dracula, a story about Marigold, the last herbs witch of Salem. Now, her Salem is a bit different from the Salem we all know in Massachusetts. Both cities still capitalize on their witchcraft histories, but Marigold’s Salem has more the flavor of Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley with some unusual characters. An orphan, Marigold receives an invitation from Dr. L. Acula to come to Bookrest (read Bucharest) to find out about a family legacy. While there, she has some near escapes in the underground city of the vampire children, along the roadsides with the Gypsy spell-casters, and even spends the night in Dracula’s castle. There are time travel and teleportation and a battle with the evil Black Suits. Still, Marigold makes friends with Red, one of the vampire children, and finds out more about her family and who Maria Dracula is. Roman grew up in Bucharest and draws on that city’s folklore to create the unusual characters in Maria Dracula. She continues Marigold’s adventures in Maria Dracula and the Land of Blackness. I really enjoyed this story, but I had trouble reading the book in first person present tense. The first person narrative is not my usual choice in reading material, though I can usually overcome that writing method once I delve deeper into the character. I did find the use of present tense rather like the Pick-a-Path books my children read ages ago, where the reader would decide where to go next and was instructed to continue the story on another page. This may be a flaw of my Western ears, wanting to experience a story not as it happened, but as a report of its happening. Still, Maria Dracula is a fun read. |
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Maria Dracula