CANR
WORK TITLE: The Passion of Dolssa
WORK NOTES: Printz honor book 2017
PSEUDONYM(S): Berry, Julianna
BIRTHDATE: 1974
WEBSITE: http://www.julieberrybooks.com/
CITY: Stow
STATE: MA
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: CANR 269
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
ADDRESS
CAREER
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
The Horn Book Magazine Jan.Feb., 2017. Berry” Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2014. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CH1000198167&it=r&asid=f4a37d06ce83f2224291b7aa74bd6a99. Accessed 12 Feb. 2017. “Julie, “The Passion of Dolssa.”. p. 15.
Publishers Weekly Dec. 2, 2016, review of The Passion of Dolssa. p. 121.
Booklist Apr. 15, 2016, Ilene Cooper, “Lofty ideas and terrorizing actions: Berry’s latest is a deep, authentic, and disturbing look at religious fervor.”. p. 55.
Voice of Youth Advocates Apr., 2016. Hilary Crew, “Berry, Julie. The Passion of Dolssa.”. p. 54.
The Horn Book Magazine Mar.Apr., 2016. Deirdre F. Baker, “The Passion of Dolssa.”. p. 85+.
Kirkus Reviews Feb. 1, 2016, review of Berry, Julie: THE PASSION OF DOLSSA.
The Bookseller Oct. 17, 2014, review of Ones to watch. p. 31.
The Horn Book Magazine Sept., Oct. Elissa Gershowitz, “The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place.”. p. 104+.
Voice of Youth Advocates Aug., 2014. Suzanne Osman, “Berry, Julie. The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place.”. p. 58.
Kirkus Reviews July 15, 2014, review of Berry, Julie: THE SCANDALOUS SISTERHOOD OF PRICKWILLOW PLACE.
Publishers Weekly July 14, 2014, review of The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place. p. 74.
School Library Journal Mar., 2016. Erinn Black. Salge, “Berry, Julie. The Passion of Dolssa.”. p. 143.
School Librarian Summer 2015 p. 114., Librarian, Peter Hollindale, “Berry, Julie: The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place.”. p. 114.
School Library Journal Oct., 2014. Kiera Parrott, “Berry, Julie. The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place.”. p. 102.
ONLINE
BookPage, https://bookpage.com (February 24, 2017).
BookPage, https://bookpage.com (February 24, 2017).
Deseret News, http://www.deseretnews.com (February 24, 2017).
BookPage, https://bookpage.com (February 24, 2017).
Deseret News, http://www.deseretnews.com (February 24, 2017).
Deseret News, http://www.deseretnews.com (February 24, 2017).
About me
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Julie Berry as a child.
Roaming through the garden, age 5. Photo by Sally Gardner.
I grew up on a 50-acre farm in Western New York as the youngest of seven children. We grew much of our own food and harvested eggs from our chickens. We also kept turkeys, pigs, rabbits, and oodles of dogs and cats. I was free to ramble around our pond full of frogs and turtles, and wade in our crick full of minnows and crawdads. I was lucky to be the caboose kid in a big family full of avid readers, with a mother who loved poetry.
I had a perfect little library of children’s classics to reread to my heart’s content. I think I came close to memorizing Charlotte’s Web, the Little House books, the Great Brain series, Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, The Secret Garden, Just So Stories, Heidi, Alice in Wonderland, and A Little Princess.
In high school I filled my time with clubs, sports (volleyball, track, cross country), music lessons and singing, babysitting and jobs (YMCA), friends, and still, books. College was much the same – more volleyball, more friends, more jobs (slinging pizza, making copies). I attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, where I majored in communication.
I dreamed of being many things – a marine biologist, a chemist, a mother, a gymnast, a Solid Gold Dancer – but always, writing was on the back of my mind. Whatever else I might be or do, I hoped writing would be part of the mix.
In college I met my husband Phil. We married young and started our family soon after. Now we’re the parents of four boys, including three teenagers, and we don’t know where the time went. To keep the gender balance more even in our home, we have a girl cat named Athena.
Julie Berry
2013, on my front porch. Photo by Bruce Lucier.
After my fourth son was born, I decided that since my family dreams were now well underway, it was time to pursue writing novels. I went back to school and earned an M.F.A. in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of the Fine Arts, where I learned from many talented and committed writers for young people. The Amaranth Enchantment was the second novel I wrote in school, and the first one to sell to a publisher. Since then I’ve written Secondhand Charm, All the Truth That’s In Me, and the Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys series with my older sister, Sally Faye Gardner, as the illustrator. All the Truth That’s In Me, my first YA novel, was named a 2013 Horn Book Fanfare title, a School Library Journal Best of 2013 book, and a Kirkus Best Teen Read for 2013. It has been named a Junior Library Guild Selection and has been nominated for a Carnegie Medal and a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults award, and will be published in 14 countries internationally. My most recent novel, a middle grade titled The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place, was published September 2014 in the US by Roaring Brook, in Germany by Theinemann Verlag GmbH, in the UK by Piccadilly Press, and in Brazil by Editora Rocco. It won an Odyssey Honor from the American Library Association, and was named a Best Children’s Book of 2014 by the Wall Street Journal, and was named to the Dorothy Canfield Fisher list. My upcoming novel, The Passion of Dolssa, releases April 12, 2016 from Viking Children’s Books. The book has garnered four starred reviews so far.
Now I’m home full-time, keeping the cats company by day while I write, and chasing the boys around in the afternoons and evenings. If you want to know if I’m working on another book now, the answer is always, “Yes.”
THE MFA IN WRITING FOR CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULTS AUTHOR BLOG
JULIE BERRY AND THE PASSION OF DOLSSA
Posted by Sarah Johnson on Thu, May 05, 2016 @ 08:05 AM
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Today we celebrate Julie Berry's novel, The Passion of Dolssa, published by Viking Children’s Books.
ThePassionOfDolssa-JulieBerry.jpg
Buried deep within the archives of a convent in medieval France is an untold story of love, loss, and wonder and the two girls at the heart of it all.
Dolssa is an upper-crust city girl with a secret lover and an uncanny gift. Branded a heretic, she’s on the run from the friar who condemned her mother to death by fire, and wants Dolssa executed, too.
Botille is a matchmaker and a tavern-keeper, struggling to keep herself and her sisters on the right side of the law in their seaside town of Bajas.
When their lives collide by a dark riverside, Botille rescues a dying Dolssa and conceals her in the tavern, where an unlikely friendship blooms. Aided by her sisters and Symo, her surly but loyal neighbor, Botille nurses Dolssa back to health and hides her from her pursuers. But all of Botille’s tricks, tales, and cleverness can’t protect them forever, and when the full wrath of the Church bears down upon Bajas, Dolssa’s passion and Botille’s good intentions could destroy the entire village.
From the author of the award-winning All the Truth That's in Me comes a spellbinding thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page and make you wonder if miracles really are possible.
Welcome, Julie! Can you share who was your favorite character to write and why?
Favorites are always tricky for me, because I love all my characters, but I can say this: the hardest was Dolssa, my ethereal mystic; the most playful was Sapdalina, who is a bit of a comic-relief character with a bit of a “My Fair Lady” arc; the two that had the tightest hold on my heart were Botille, who probably gets the Main Character crown in this large ensemble cast, and Symo, the surly grump of a newcomer to town who exasperates Botille to no end, but is always there when she needs help.
What was the most difficult element to cut/change during the revision process and why?
I’m not sure if I’ve recovered enough yet from the revision process for this book to be able to talk about it without my eyeballs twitching. This novel went through more iterations than I can count. Not just revisions, but structural overhauls, charts, spreadsheets, color-coding, cutting, trimming, honing. It was a nightmare, perhaps, but in a way, it was also an incredibly stimulating puzzle to unravel. It was worth it.
Tell us about your writing community. Are you in a critique group? Does a family member read your early drafts?
I belong to a writing group and a critique group, and both are vital to my sanity and productivity. In fact, as I write this response, I’m sitting in a library quiet study room with Larissa Theule (S3Q2, Summer 2009) and Catherine Linka (Winter 2006). We meet weekly to write together. I also belong to a critique group of Boston area writers that has kindly let me stay involved via Skype group chats. We meet when someone has finished an entire novel and we give it a global critique and love-fest. Their input has been lifesaving. My dearest and lifelong bosom buddy, Ginger Johnson (S3Q2, Summer 2009) always reads my manuscripts, bless her, and I treasure her input. My husband Phil is a brilliant reader. He reads my completed drafts, and occasionally I’ll let him see a partial. He’s my canary in the well – I know if he survives my early pages, I’m onto something.
What's your writing superpower?JulieBerry_2013_HiRezPublicityPhoto.jpg
Hm, I wish I had one! My husband would say that it is my ability to throw out what I’ve written and start over. A capacity for taking out the trash feels like a dubious power indeed. Also, I’ve seen a handful of bloggers say things like, “Julie Berry is unafraid to make her characters suffer.” Another curious accolade. Is sadism a superpower? I know what they mean, though, and I guess I’ll take it.
Tell us about something special you keep on your desk/wall as you work.
A catastrophic mess. I’m sort of a Pigpen of domestic clutter. Unlike Pigpen, I’m not proud of it. But maybe that’s my superpower. Someone once asked me at an author event how I managed to write books with four kids. I told them that I was capable of functioning amid a level of mess and chaos that would drive many women smack out of their minds. It’s true. But I should really try harder to find the floor.
What unusual swag do you wish you could make for this book?
It isn’t swag, but I want make a live-action cinematic trailer for this book. I think it screams for one. Who knows; perhaps I will.
Who were your advisors at VCFA?
I worked with Cynthia Leitich Smith, Brent Hartinger, and Tim Wynne-Jones. (I transferred in from Simmons College, so I only needed three semesters.) I was incredibly lucky in each case. Cyn held me together as I came face to face with all my writing weaknesses, and rewrote the beginning of The Amaranth Enchantment five times, once per packet. The poor dear! Brent worked with me on my critical thesis, which was a transformative experience, and he helped me channel the momentum I’d been building with Cyn into a completed draft of Amaranth. He was wonderfully encouraging and kind. With Tim’s wisdom and affection buoying me up, I wrote All the Truth That’s in Me and the first draft of The Rat Brain Fiasco. They launched me. I love them all.
What is your favorite VCFA memory?
Oh, where to begin? The dances! The nervous excitement of waiting to learn who my instructor would be. The sleepless jitters the night before giving my graduating lecture, nearly rewriting the entire thing. Goofing around and bonding with others in the dorms. NECI breakfasts and cookies – I’m easy to please. J Tromping through the snow. Finding kindred spirits.
One of my best VCFA memories now is that experience I’ve had, more than once, of helping an applicant who is considering VCFA overcome their hesitation and take the plunge, and then hearing afterwards how blissfully happy they are with that choice, and how grateful they are for the nudge. Advice is a tricky business, fraught with peril, but this one’s a slam-dunk, and it’s wonderful to see the glow in their eyes afterwards.
What do you wish you had known before you first set foot on the VCFA campus?
I suspect that the thing I wish I’d known was knowledge that I could only learn from submitting to the VCFA experience, a perspective I could only earn with time. I needed to learn to surrender my ambitions, my competitive urges, my eagerness to prove myself or find validation in writing achievement. I needed to let myself be a beginner and a student. I needed to give myself full, genuine permission to fail, and I needed the courage to allow others to see me fail. I needed to learn how to keep on going when no progress seemed evident, and I needed to let myself be taught and inspired by everyone around me – not just the most popular instructors, but every student. In other words, I needed to get out of my own way and patiently do the work, without saddling it with expectations. It was only when I began to learn to do that that my writing began to reach toward progress.
Can you tell us about your graduating class?
I entered VCFA with the Cliffhangers (Summer 2008) but because I transferred in, I graduated before them, with the Dedications (Winter 2008). So I guess I’m a Cliffcation. Ooh, no, a Dedhanger.
Sleep-deprived, wild-haired, rarely tidy, usually tardy, constantly grazing, generally fretting, and increasingly forgetful, Julie Berry writes teens and raises books. She is the author of many books including The Amaranth Enchantment, Secondhand Charm, All the Truth That’s In Me, The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place, and the Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys series.
Visit Julie online at www.julieberrybooks.com
Julie Berry
Born: 1974 in Medina, New York, United States
Other Names : Berry, Julie Gardner; Connor, Lexi
Nationality: American
Occupation: Novelist
Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2014. From Literature Resource Center.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2016 Gale, Cengage Learning
Updated:June 6, 2014
Table of Contents
Listen
PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Born 1974, in Medina, NY; married; husband's name Phil (a software engineer); children: four sons. Education: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, B.S., 1995; Vermont College of the Fine Arts, M.F.A., 2008. Religion: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). Memberships: Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Addresses: Homeoffice: Stow, MA. E-mail: julie@julieberrybooks.com.
CAREER:
Writer. Has worked in marketing and technical writing; sales and marketing director in the software industry, beginning 2003; MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA, humor columnist, beginning 2004.
WORKS:
WRITINGS:
NOVELS
The Amaranth Enchantment, Bloomsbury (New York, NY), 2009.
Secondhand Charm, Bloomsbury (New York, NY), 2010.
The Colossal Fossil Freakout, illustrated by Sally Faye Gardner, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 2011.
All the Truth That's in Me, Viking (New York, NY), 2013.
"SPLURCH ACADEMY FOR DISRUPTIVE BOYS" SERIES
The Rat Brain Fiasco, illustrated by Sally Faye Gardner, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 2010.
Curse of the Bizarro Beetle, illustrated by Sally Faye Gardner, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 2010.
The Trouble with Squids, illustrated by Sally Faye Gardner, Grosset & Dunlap (New York, NY), 2011.
Also author of a Web log.
Sidelights
In The Amaranth Enchantment, Julie Berry offers readers "a lively, quick, stylish, engaging first novel with some lovely, familiar fairy-tale elements," in the words of a Kirkus Reviews critic. Berry notes that she has always had an interest in fantasy literature; as a child, she read the "Chronicles of Narnia" series by C.S. Lewis, and more recently she has delved into the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling. A devout Mormon, Berry reads from the Bible or the Book of Mormon daily. "I've been spoon-fed a diet of biblical literature that has fed my imagination," she told Boston Globe interviewer Michael Paulson. "Scripture is the ultimate fantastic literature."
A former technical writer and humor columnist, Berry turned to fiction after the birth of her fourth son. The Amaranth Enchantment centers on Lucinda Chapdelaine, a fifteen-year-old orphan who toils in her uncle's jewelry shop under the watchful eye of his abusive wife. When her uncle unexpectedly dies and she is cast out, Lucinda seeks help from a mysterious woman named Beryl, a reputed witch who recently visited the shop with a magnificent gem. Lucinda soon learns, however, that the stone has been pilfered by a young pickpocket, and she seeks to regain the treasure from its new owner, Prince Gregor. According to a Publishers Weekly contributor, The Amaranth Enchantment "teems with romance, danger and suspense." Comparing the work to the familiar tale of Cinderella, Horn Book reviewer Anita L. Burkam remarked that Berry's novel "features a heroine more than eager to change her fate by the application of determination and resourcefulness," and in Booklist Francisca Goldsmith similarly praised "Lucinda's maturing sense of independence, fate, and self" in The Amaranth Enchantment.
Berry published her second novel, Secondhand Charm, in 2010. Another young-adult fantasy, the novel follows sixteen-year-old Evie Pomeroy, a self-taught healer who pores over her physician parents' medical textbooks. In addition to teaching her everything she knows, they are her primary means of connecting with her parents, who died of influenza when she was a baby. Offered a scholarship, Evie leaves her grandfather's home in the village of Maundley to attend university in Chalcedon. The journey proves perilous but arms her with new friends and new knowledge about her heritage and gifts.
"A cast of strong secondary characters rounds out this mix of humor, light romance and mystery," observed a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Heather Miller, writing in School Library Journal, similarly praised the book, writing: "The many plot elements are deftly woven together into a novel sure to please." A blogger for Book Smugglers offered an admittedly effusive review. "I loved this book so very much," the blogger wrote. "When I started Secondhand Charm, I was desperate for a good fantasy read that would restore my faith in the YA, fairytale-ish subgenre ... --I wasn't expecting to be swept off of my feet. ... Immediately, I fell in love with Julie Berry's writing style," the blogger continued, adding that "the novel soars ... because of the defiant strength of its heroine."
The same year that she published Secondhand Charm, Berry inaugurated a new series, the "Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys" series, with The Rat Brain Fiasco. The book follows troublemaker Cody Mack, who is sent to the reform school of Splurch Academy, only to find it is run by monsters and resembles a haunted house more than a school. "With a tongue-in-cheek style and hilarious cartoons, the laugh-out-loud story is sure to creep off the shelves," predicted Krista Welz in a School Library Journal review. Berry followed The Rat Brain Fiasco with Curse of the Bizarro Beetle and The Trouble with Squids.
In 2013, Berry published All the Truth That's in Me. This novel is narrated by outcast Judith, who returns to her home at age eighteen, having been kidnapped and held captive two years ago. Because her kidnapper severed her tongue, she is unable to explain what happened to her--or the crime that she witnessed. The village does not receive her warmly, but an old friend inspires her to try and regain her speech and discover the courage to share what she knows.
Reviewers were enchanted by the novel. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called All the Truth That's in Me "such a story. A tale of uncommon elegance, power and originality." "Lyrical language, a good mystery, and a compelling heroine--this is a page-turner with substance," remarked Martha Baden in Library Journal. Booklist contributor Daniel Kraus called it a "cunningly stylized novel ... a strange but satisfying--and relatively singular--mix."
Berry once told CA: "I was the kid who never left her house without a book to read in the car, on the bus, in the waiting room. I took books to bed with me the way other kids took stuffed animals. Such treatment wasn't always healthy for the books' spines and jackets, but that's how enamored I was with stories. Becoming an author seemed like an impossible dream when I was young. I couldn't fathom how mere mortals could concoct something so densely complicated as a novel. But if there was one thing good children's books taught me, it was that I should dream the impossible. As it turns out, not only is it possible to write novels for young readers, it's a lot of fun."
FURTHER READINGS:
FURTHER READINGS ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
PERIODICALS
Booklist, February 1, 2009, Francisca Goldsmith, review of The Amaranth Enchantment, p. 38; August 1, 2013, Daniel Kraus, review of All the Truth That's in Me, p. 76.
Boston Globe, March 1, 2009, Michael Paulson, "Faith and Good Works: Mormon Writers Find Their Niche in Wholesome Young-Adult Genre," p. 38.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Dec, December, 2010, Karen Coats, review of Secondhand Charm, p. 172.
Horn Book, May-June, 2009, Anita L. Burkam, review of The Amaranth Enchantment, p. 289.
Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2009, review of The Amaranth Enchantment; September 15, 2010, review of Secondhand Charm; July 1, 2013, review of All the Truth That's in Me.
Library Media Connection, January-February, 2011, Michele Turner, review of The Rat Brain Fiasco, p. 65; November 3, 2013, Sandi Jones, review of Secondhand Charm, p. 72.
Publishers Weekly, July 22, 2013, review of All the Truth That's in Me, p. 70.
School Library Journal, April, 2009, Miriam Lang Budin, review of The Amaranth Enchantment, p. 128; November, 2010, Krista Welz, review of The Rat Brain Fiasco, p. 65; January, 2011, Heather Miller, review of Secondhand Charm, p. 100; August, 2013, Martha Baden, review of All the Truth That's in Me, p. 109.
Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 2009, Susan Hampe, review of The Amaranth Enchantment, p. 148.
ONLINE
Beacon-Villager Web site, http://www.wickedlocal.com/maynard/ (March 11, 2009), Brad Petrishen, "Maynard Author Celebrates Release of Her First Novel."
Julie Berry Home Page, http://www.julieberrybooks.com (June 15, 2010).*
The Passion of Dolssa
The Horn Book Magazine.
93.1 (JanuaryFebruary 2017): p15.
COPYRIGHT 2017 The Horn Book, Inc.. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution
permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
Full Text:
The Passion of Dolssa
written by Julie Berry; Viking
(Middle School, High School)
Berry relates the tale of two indomitable female protagonists in 1241 France: teenage matchmaker and tavernkeeper
Botille; and Dolssa, the Catholic mystic and accused heretic Botille rescues and hides. Complex historical and religious
details of Inquisitionera France are woven into a meticulously researched, captivating tale. Review 3/16.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"The Passion of Dolssa." The Horn Book Magazine, Jan.Feb. 2017, p. 15. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA476679330&it=r&asid=2fcb60496b03645b4b7ab2f98f88fcd5.
Accessed 12 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A476679330
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http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1486942081864 2/16
QUOTED: "she weaves a tense, moving portrait of these two teenage girls and their struggle to survive."
The Passion of Dolssa
Publishers Weekly.
263.49 (Dec. 2, 2016): p121.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Passion of Dolssa
Julie Berry. Viking, $18.99
ISBN 9780451469922
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
When Botille Flasucra finds Dolssa de Stigata lying on a riverside close to death, she takes the stranger to her family's
tavern. Botille, a young matchmaker, and her sisters nurse Dolssa back to health in secreta Dominican friar
obsessively hunts Dolssa, whom he condemned as a heretic to be burned at the stake. The year is 1241 in Prove.nsa
(now Provence), where the aftereffects of the Albigensian Crusade have led to an inquisition meant to rid the Christian
world of heretics. Dolssa, however, feels called to heal the sick in the nam'e of her beloved Jhesus, and her miracles
eventually bring danger to the small town of Bajas. Berry (All the Truth That's in Me) again delivers an utterly original
and instantly engrossing story. Drawing from meticulous historical research (highlighted in extensive back matter), she
weaves a tense, moving portrait of these two teenage girls and their struggle to survive against insurmountable odds.
Love, faith, violence, and power intertwine in Berry's lyrical writing, but Botille's and Dolssa's indomitable spirits are
the heart of her story. Ages 12up.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"The Passion of Dolssa." Publishers Weekly, 2 Dec. 2016, p. 121. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA475224769&it=r&asid=a39703330f19df4080d35c6f3f5368f4.
Accessed 12 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A475224769
2/12/2017 General OneFile Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1486942081864 3/16
QUOTED: "The strength of religiouscentric novels is their revelation of the myriad ways
people grapple with their faith and spirituality. The Passion of Dolssa's rich brew will leave readers thinking about all
of these things, even as it profoundly influences their own struggles and questions."
Lofty ideas and terrorizing actions: Berry's latest
is a deep, authentic, and disturbing look at
religious fervor
Ilene Cooper
Booklist.
112.16 (Apr. 15, 2016): p55.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
* The Passion of Dolssa. By Julie Berry. Apr. 2016.496p. Viking, $17.99 (9780451469922). Gr. 912.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Publishers say that historical fiction is a hard sell, and books with religion at their core are few and far between. Kudos,
then, to Berry (All the Truth That's in Me, 2013) for creating a sweeping saga that not only deeply entwines both but
also dissects its characters' humanity as it looks at the often troubling beliefs that underlie their actions.
The storywithinastory begins in 1290. A friar is gathering papers and testimonies that will show how the inquisitions
here on the border of France and Spain were God's holy work. But one tale troubles him, so much so that he begins to
stitch the strands together, and that is where the main story begins. Botille is a sassy teenager who makes money in her
seaside village of Bajas by matchmaking. A disruptive childhood and a drunken father has bound Botille and her sisters
closely together, but their lives are good: Plazensa runs the tavern, Botille makes her matches, and Sazia tells fortunes
with uncanny accuracy.
To the north, in Tolosos, there is another girl, Dolssa. Aristocratic by birth and a mystic by the grace of God, she spends
her days with her "beloved," Jesus, who wraps her in his murmurs and consumes her with his love. That much love
cannot be contained, and Dolssa begins telling others how much her beloved cherishes all people. The simplicity of her
message is seen by the inquisitors as a threat to the church, a devil's deception, and there is only one place it can end: a
public burning. Miraculously, Dolssa escapes the pyre. She wanders until she meets Botille, who saves and shelters her.
This beautifully crafted plot would be enough on its own, but Berry does so much more. First, she establishes a
convincing setting, in part by peppering the dialogue with Old Provencal language. Using many voices, some of which,
including Botille and Dolssa, relate their own stories, she picks beneath words and actions to expose the motives of the
2/12/2017 General OneFile Saved Articles
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heart, revealing how lofty ideas can turn into terrorizing actions, and how fear and selfpreservation can make friends
and neighbors turn on one another. Yet despite the book's gravity, Berry also manages to infuse her story with laughter
and lightwelcome surprises.
The final surprise awaiting readers at the book's conclusion adds yet another layer to the storytelling. Also at the book's
end, Berry has included a wealth of back matter, a glossary, a list of characters (possibly of more help if placed at the
book's beginning), and an author's note explaining the roots of the religious discord, inquisitions, and wars, and
touching on such female mystics as Hildegard of Bingen, who is referenced in the novel.
The beauty of historical fiction is that it brings to life longago times and places even as it shows how hopes, fears, and
dreams remain constant across the ages. The strength of religiouscentric novels is their revelation of the myriad ways
people grapple with their faith and spirituality. The Passion of Dolssa's rich brew will leave readers thinking about all
of these things, even as it profoundly influences their own struggles and questions.
Cooper, Ilene
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Cooper, Ilene. "Lofty ideas and terrorizing actions: Berry's latest is a deep, authentic, and disturbing look at religious
fervor." Booklist, 15 Apr. 2016, p. 55. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA451632300&it=r&asid=f9423dba0beff887bbb99c2acce19440.
Accessed 12 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A451632300
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Berry, Julie. The Passion of Dolssa
Hilary Crew
Voice of Youth Advocates.
39.1 (Apr. 2016): p54.
COPYRIGHT 2016 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
# 5Q * 4P * J * S
Berry, Julie. The Passion of Dolssa. Viking/ Penguin Random House, 2016. 496p. $18.99. 9780451469922.
In Provensa (Provence), 1241, Dolssa, a young mystic, tells how she is accused of heresy and sentenced to burn. But,
when she is forced to watch her supportive mother burn first, her bonds are mysteriously loosened and she hears a
voice telling her to run. Exhausted and starving, she is found by Botille, a matchmaker on her way home to Bajas, who
tells her own story of how she and Symo, the nephew of a friend, hide Dolssa away in their cart just before she is found
by inquisitor Friar Lucien. Risking her own life and those of her sisters, Botille hides Dolssa in their tavern at Bajas.
Berry's meticulous research on the genocidal war waged by papal forces against the holy men and women of Provensa
a war continuing to fuel the Dominican Order's persecution of suspected hereticsis skillfully integrated and explains
why Dolssa's passion for her "beloved" and the miracles she performs healing villagers are anathema to the church. The
dark reality of persecution by religious zealots who would burn Bajas, Dolssa, and her supporters are leavened by
Botille's matchmaking activities. A multivoiced narrative and persona representing clerics, peasants, and nobles whose
language is drawn from Old Provencal contribute to a vivid sense of medieval Provensa. Strong characters and
relationships, such as the trusting love between Dolssa and Botille and the prickly love between Botille and Symo, are
central to this powerful and beautifully written novel. The author includes glossaries and fascinating notes on how
Dolssa's story came to be written.Hilary Crew.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Crew, Hilary. "Berry, Julie. The Passion of Dolssa." Voice of Youth Advocates, Apr. 2016, p. 54. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA450504854&it=r&asid=c808e0fdf6f690b4a2713de994fcf641.
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QUOTED: "Berry writes in short sentences
with relatively simple language, conveying complex historical and religious matters fluently and accessibly for today's
readers."
The Passion of Dolssa
Deirdre F. Baker
The Horn Book Magazine.
92.2 (MarchApril 2016): p85.
COPYRIGHT 2016 The Horn Book, Inc.. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution
permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
Full Text:
* The Passion of Dolssa
by Julie Berry
Middle School, High School Viking 482 pp.
4/16 9780451469922 $18.99 (g)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Berry (All the Truth That's in Me, rev. 11/13) tells the story of (fictional) Catholic mystic Dolssa de Stigata after she
escapes being burned as a heretic in 1241 Toulouse, France; mostly, however, it's the story of Botille, an enterprising
young matchmaker from a tiny fishing village who rescues Dolssa from starvation and detection, and thus puts herself
and her village in mortal danger. Berry constructs her novel as a 1290 account by a monk, and employs both first and
thirdperson narrationsfrom Botille to Dolssa to the vengeful Dominican Friar Lucien who pursues Dolssa, and more.
If this makes the reading experience choppy at times, it doesn't matter: Botille's spirited, downtoearth character and
style, the heartrending suspense of the events she relates, and the terrifying context of the Inquisition in medieval
Europe all render the novel irresistibly compelling. So too does the female solidarity Berry portrays among Botille and
her sisters (tavernkeeper and fortuneteller) and their loyalty to the woman they rescue. Berry writes in short sentences
with relatively simple language, conveying complex historical and religious matters fluently and accessibly for today's
readers. Her thoughtful, sober historical note places the story's thirteenthcentury issues in a valuable modern context;
also appended are two glossaries (for Old Provencal and Latin words), a list of place names, and a bibliography.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Baker, Deirdre F. "The Passion of Dolssa." The Horn Book Magazine, Mar.Apr. 2016, p. 85+. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA445751464&it=r&asid=2133cf9bd84c1cf661ec1caa44cfb44b.
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QUOTED: "a compelling, admirable young woman in a gorgeously built world" "Immersive and mesmerizing."
Berry, Julie: THE PASSION OF DOLSSA
Kirkus Reviews.
(Feb. 1, 2016):
COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Berry, Julie THE PASSION OF DOLSSA Viking (Children's Fiction) $18.99 4, 12 ISBN: 9780451469922
A girl matchmaker in 13thcentury southern France meets a mystic on the run from the Inquisition. A generation after
the horrors of the Albigensian Crusade, the elders are still broken by memories of entire towns put to the sword, but the
younger folk, such as Botille and her sisters, focus on the present. After a childhood on the run, the sisters seek stability
in povertystricken Bajas: brewing ale, telling fortunes, and helping their neighbors. Bajas is depicted through a
scattering of third and firstperson viewpoints (but primarily Botille's) as a town where all look out for one other as a
matter of course, where goodness is found in prostitutes, fishermen, hustlers, and drunks. Bajas' generosity is
challenged when Botille discovers Dolssa, an injured, spiritshattered girl on the run. Dolssa's a convicted heretic for
speaking publicly of her intimate relationship with "her beloved...Senhor Jhesus." She trails miracles like bread crumbs,
from a neveremptying ale jug to repeated uncanny cures. The villagers venerate her, but the arrival of the Inquisition
in a world where branding and burnings are mild punishments compared to recent historyputs their goodness to the
test. The slow build reveals Botille as a compelling, admirable young woman in a gorgeously built world that accepts
miracles without question. The medieval Languedoc countryside is so believably drawn there's no need for the toofrequent
italicized interjections in Old Provencal that pepper the narrative. Immersive and mesmerizing. (character list,
historical note, glossary, bibliography) (Historical fantasy. 1417)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Berry, Julie: THE PASSION OF DOLSSA." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2016. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA441734937&it=r&asid=b1ac9958a47dab5c7ed5471a2694989d.
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QUOTED: "It's brilliantly done and very entertaining."
Ones to watch
The Bookseller.
.5642 (Oct. 17, 2014): p31.
COPYRIGHT 2014 The Bookseller Media Group (Bookseller Media Ltd.)
http://www.thebookseller.com
Full Text:
JULIE BERRY
THE SCANDALOUS SISTERHOOD OF PRICKwiLLOw PLACE
PICCADILLY PRESS, 6.99 [pounds sterling], 1ST, P/B, 9781848124370All
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
The Truth That's In Me was shortlisted for this year's Carnegie Medal, and shadowing groups named it as their top
choice. Berry's new novel is something quite different: a middle grade murder mystery farce. It's brilliantly done and
very entertaining. Set in a Victorian School for Young Ladies, seven rather tenacious young women cover up the
apparent murder of their headmistress. There are plot twists aplenty, with mistaken identity, pesky neighbours and
lovelorn suitors. Themes of friendship and independence are central to the story, and it's an obvious one for fans of
Murder Most Unladylike.
MICHAELA & ELAINE DEPRINCE
HOPE IN A BALLET SHOE
FABER, 12.99 [pounds sterling], 1ST, TP/B, 9780571314461
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
This is the extraordinary autobiography of Michaela DePrince, and one of the most heart wrenching and inspirational
stories you'll read this year. Growing up in wartorn Sierra Leone, Michaela witnesses horrific atrocities, loses her
parents aged four, and is sent to an orphanage. The dream of becoming a ballet dancer brings her great hope, and when
an American family adopts her, she has the chance to pursue her ambition. Michaela is now an international ballet star
who has spoken at the United Nations, and she will make some highprofile publicity appearances on publication.
DAN SMITH
BIG GAME
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CHICKEN HOUSE, 6.99 [pounds sterling], 1ST, P/B, 9781909489943
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
This is a film tiein with a difference: established author Smith was commissioned to write a novel based on the
screenplay for "Big Game", a major movie starring Samuel L Jackson, due for a spring 2015 release. A 13yearold
Finnish boy is sent into the wilderness on an ancient test of manhood, armed only with a bow and arrow. But his
survival adventure becomes something altogether more deadly when he discovers the US president, shot down by a
mysterious enemy. A taut, engaging thriller ensues, and the film is already getting strong early reviews.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Ones to watch." The Bookseller, 17 Oct. 2014, p. 31. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA386437090&it=r&asid=96515cc8221f6766abb9f364ea001ddd.
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QUOTED: "An immensely entertaining, smart, and frothy diversion."
The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place
Elissa Gershowitz
The Horn Book Magazine.
90.5 (SeptemberOctober 2014): p104.
COPYRIGHT 2014 The Horn Book, Inc.. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution
permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
Full Text:
The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place
by Julie Berry
Middle School Roaring Brook 354 pp.
9/14 9781596349566 $15.99 (g)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
This airy confection could not be more different from Berry's most recent (and pitchblack) novel All the Truth That's
in Me (rev. 11/13). Part murder mystery, part girls'school story, part dark drawingroom comedy (think Edwin Drood,
Arsenic and Old Lace, or the 1980s movie Clue), the novel opens in 1890 England at Saint Etheldreda's School for
Young Ladies. The seven studentsour heroinesare known throughout the book as Dear Roberta, Disgraceful Mary
Jane, Dull Martha, Stout Alice, Smooth Kitty, Pocked Louise, and Dour Elinor. Their headmistress is Mrs. Plackett, but
she's dispatched in the second paragraph (by poison), followed soon afterward by her ne'erdowell brother, Aldous.
The young ladies spend the rest of the book trying to figure out whodunit while also concealing the deaths (burying the
bodies in the vegetable garden; having Stout Alice impersonate Mrs. Plackett; bilking their parents for tuition) in order
to remain together at the school. Berry takes her madcap seriously, never breaking character when it comes to the oldtimey
setting or details (a Strawberry Social is the unlikely occasion of a lateinthestory death). The young ladies, too,
are products of their time: each one's burgeoning independence and comingintoherownlargely gained through the
murder investigation and/or coverup, some also through snagging a beauis satisfying without being too
anachronistic. An immensely entertaining, smart, and frothy diversion. ELISSA GERSHOWITZ
(g) indicates that the book was read in galley or page proof. The publisher's price is the suggested retail price and does
not indicate a possible discount to libraries. Grade levels are only suggestions; the individual child is the real criterion.
Gershowitz, Elissa
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Gershowitz, Elissa. "The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place." The Horn Book Magazine, Sept.Oct. 2014, p.
104+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA382084563&it=r&asid=42396008be37411d5c90dfd87aebd268.
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QUOTED: "patient readers who do not need constant whiteknuckle suspense and can appreciate the gentle
unfolding of a mostly sweet tale."
Berry, Julie. The Scandalous Sisterhood of
Prickwillow Place
Suzanne Osman
Voice of Youth Advocates.
37.3 (Aug. 2014): p58.
COPYRIGHT 2014 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
3Q * 3P * M
Berry, Julie. The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place. Roaring Brook/ Macmillan, 2014. 368p. $15.99. 9781
596439566.
Imagine being a student at a girls' boarding school in 1800s England when suddenly, during the weekly Sunday dinner,
the headmistress and her brother drop dead from veal poisoning. Interestingly enough, this alarming event does not
cause sorrow, but merely stimulates a wave of curiosity as students wonder who could have perpetrated such a ghastly
crime? In addition, if word gets out that Mrs. Plackett is dead, the students will all be sent home, so they all decide to
cover up the two murders. This becomes most tricky as neighbors and other random visitors constantly stop by. Then,
there is the dilemma of what to do about the party Mrs. Plackett is expected to attend. Therefore, until the students
solve the identity of the headmistress's killer, life will be comprised of concocting clever stories and lies, with one of
the students actually impersonating the old lady, and the rest stalling and redirecting nosy visitors.
This delightfully zany scenario embodies the premise of The Scandalous Sisterhood. While beautifully written with
rich vocabulary, charming detail, spunky dialogue, and plucky heroines, this Victorian murder mystery farce tends to
drag along as the feisty young girls devise madcap plans for how to conceal a double murder. For this reason,
recommend it to patient readers who do not need constant whiteknuckle suspense and can appreciate the gentle
unfolding of a mostly sweet tale sprinkled with just a smattering of edginess and a few plot twists. Suzanne Osman.
Osman, Suzanne
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Osman, Suzanne. "Berry, Julie. The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place." Voice of Youth Advocates, Aug.
2014, p. 58. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA378680501&it=r&asid=b7f41c701e8e7c18ecb6f242cfe79c8e.
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QUOTED: "Droll farce yields to intriguing mystery, leaving the seams between them
showing."
Berry, Julie: THE SCANDALOUS
SISTERHOOD OF PRICKWILLOW PLACE
Kirkus Reviews.
(July 15, 2014):
COPYRIGHT 2014 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Berry, Julie THE SCANDALOUS SISTERHOOD OF PRICKWILLOW PLACE Roaring Brook (Children's Fiction)
$15.99 9, 23 ISBN: 9781596439566
When an overbearing headmistress and her odious brother drop dead, seven Victorian schoolgirls decide to run their
school without adult interference.It's an ordinary Sunday dinner at Saint Ethelreda's School for Young Ladies until Mrs.
Plackett and Mr. Aldous Godding choke on their veal and fall over, dead as a pair of unpleasant doornails. All of the
seven students at Saint Ethelreda's, from Dull Martha to Dour Elinor, are horrified at the notion of their inevitable
separation. Once they tell the authorities about Mrs. Plackett's death, surely they will all be sent back home to their
dreadful families and shunted off to far worse schools. All seems lost until Smooth Kitty asks the others, what if they
just don't tell the authorities about their headmistress's untimely demise? What follows is classic farce, as the young
ladies spend the rest of that evening desperately hiding the corpses and their headmistress's absence from an
unprecedented stream of callers. Stout Alice is disguised as Mrs. Plackett, Disgraceful Mary Jane initiates the garden
gravedigging, and Pocked Louise helpfully adopts a puppy. A third of the way through the novel, the breakneck
shenanigans abruptly settle, becoming merely the backdrop of a fairly classic drawingroom mystery. The young ladies
are charming and their problemsolving ingenious, though the epithets used to describe themit is never "Roberta,"
always "Dear Roberta"get old very quickly.Droll farce yields to intriguing mystery, leaving the seams between them
showing. (Farce/mystery. 1113)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Berry, Julie: THE SCANDALOUS SISTERHOOD OF PRICKWILLOW PLACE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2014.
General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA374693353&it=r&asid=4494ea4f76449936a570fe4afe670b70.
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QUOTED: "Readers with a penchant for dark humor will relish Berry's ... tongueincheek murder
mystery."
The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place
Publishers Weekly.
261.28 (July 14, 2014): p74.
COPYRIGHT 2014 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place
Julie Berry. Roaring Brook, $15.99 (368p) ISBN 9781596439566
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Readers with a penchant for dark humor will relish Berry's (All the Truth That's in Me) tongueincheek murder
mystery set in a late19thcentury British girls' boarding school. The St. Etheldreda's School for Young Ladies, run by
stern headmistress Constance Plackett, may not be paradise for its residents, but the students get an unanticipated break
from their dull routines when Plackett and her odious brother drop dead at the dinner table one spring evening,
apparently poisoned. Knowing opportunity when they see it, the girls hatch a scheme to dispose of the bodies and run
the school on their own. Unfortunately, a killer is on the loose, and the girls could be the next victims. The pupils'
attempts to convince the public that everything is normal at the school make for some hilarious scenes, and their efforts
to find the murderer result in surprising encounters with suspicious (but often quite appealing) suspects. Romance
blooms in unexpected places, and danger lurks around every corner in this delightfully farcical tale, full of twists and
turns. Ages 1014. Agent: Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Trident Media Group. (Sept.)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place." Publishers Weekly, 14 July 2014, p. 74. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA375948483&it=r&asid=69626ebf03e908b0cf2644c639e8490a.
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QUOTED: "An expertly crafted
piece of historical fiction, Berry's latest is a must for middle and high school libraries."
Berry, Julie. The Passion of Dolssa
Erinn Black Salge
School Library Journal.
62.3 (Mar. 2016): p143.
COPYRIGHT 2016 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution
permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
* BERRY, Julie. The Passion of Dolssa. 496p. ebook available. Viking. Apr. 2016. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9780451469922.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Gr 7 UpBotille is a matchmaker in the small seaside town of Bajas in medieval France. She struggles to run the
family's tavern and keep her sisters and herself afloat. Dolssa is a young woman with a secret that she can't help but
shareher lover is God, and she speaks to him regularly. When the two young women cross paths, both deep friendship
and mortal peril await them. A beautifully rendered portrait of a littleknown portion of history, this work is a
meticulously researched piece of fiction. Yet it is not just in the accurate details that the novel shines. The strength and
humanity of the almost entirely female set of characters are inspiring and well drawn. The panic and suspicion of postinquisition
France is omnipresent, giving the story of a supposed heretic a constant edge of danger. As the novel slips in
and out of magical realism, readers will be transported into Dolssa and Botille's world. VERDICT An expertly crafted
piece of historical fiction, Berry's latest is a must for middle and high school libraries.Erinn Black Salge, Saint Peter's
Prep, Jersey City, NJ
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Salge, Erinn Black. "Berry, Julie. The Passion of Dolssa." School Library Journal, Mar. 2016, p. 143. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA444915072&it=r&asid=dfb0a022fd55acdfaf13ddd749127190.
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QUOTED: "This is a stylish, witty and extremely funny novel, full of hilarious tensions and suspense."
Berry, Julie: The Scandalous Sisterhood of
Prickwillow Place
Peter Hollindale
School Librarian.
63.2 (Summer 2015): p114.
COPYRIGHT 2015 The School Library Association
http://www.sla.org.uk/schoollibrarian.php
Full Text:
Berry, Julie
The Scandalous Sisterhood of
Prickwillow Place
Piccadilly, 2015, pp368, 6.99[pounds sterling]
978 1 84812 437 0
It is 1890. Saint Etheldreda's School for Young Ladies in Ely has seven pupils. At Sunday dinner the girls are eating
bread and hot beans while their Headmistress, Mrs Plackett, and her ne'erdowell brother dine on veal. Both the adults
suddenly choke and die. Louise, who at twelve is easily the youngest of the seven, but nonetheless an accomplished
scientist, correctly diagnoses cyanide poisoning. Although the girls are not fond of their unsympathetic Head, her
murder is a nuisance. None of the girls wishes to go home or to another school, and they are a loyal sisterhood. Their
leader, Kitty, devises a solution. They will bury the bodies in the vegetable garden, and institute what Kitty later calls
an 'independent feminine utopia'.
What follows is classic farce. Every time the doorbell rings it introduces some new threat of exposure. Instant ingenuity
is called for as crisis follows crisis. Male incursions on the secret bring threats, but also, in four cases, some romantic
possibilities. And the farce is often macabre. Somebody poisoned Mrs Plackett. Who is the murderer? Will he (or she)
strike again?
This is a stylish, witty and extremely funny novel, full of hilarious tensions and suspense. The young ladies are
adolescents of twelve and over, and many girls in the same agegroup will thoroughly enjoy it.
Hollindale, Peter
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Hollindale, Peter. "Berry, Julie: The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place." School Librarian, Summer 2015, p.
114. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA419268431&it=r&asid=0d0c9175ee8a63a9e4dbc31532442cef.
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QUOTED: "Overall, this is a wellresearched, clever, and deliciously dark comedy with an emphasis on
female empowerment."
Berry, Julie. The Scandalous Sisterhood of
Prickwillow Place
Kiera Parrott
School Library Journal.
60.10 (Oct. 2014): p102.
COPYRIGHT 2014 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution
permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
BERRY, Julie. The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place. 368p. Roaring Brook. 2014. Tr $15.99. ISBN
9781596439566; ebk. $9.99. ISBN 9781596439573.
Gr 6 UpIn this Victorian boarding school murder mystery, seven young women find themselves gloriously free from
adult supervision when their judgmental, pennypinching headmistress and her goodfornothing brother die suddenly
during dinner. Rather than alert the authorities and risk having the school shut down and all the students sent home, the
girls decide to keep things under wraps and proceed as if the late headmistress and her brother were still alive. But first
they'll have to bury the bodies in the garden without attracting the notice of busybody neighbors, potential suitors, a
suspicious housekeeper, and a host of charmingly annoying villagers with a penchant for showing up at the worst
possible moment. While juggling mounting debts and increasingly precarious fabrications in order to keep up their
charade, the students also try to discover who poisoned the deceasedand why. Berry's prose is reminiscent of the dark
comedy and melodrama of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" mysteries. Each girl at Saint Etheldreda's
School is defined largely by an adjective that precedes her name: Dear Roberta, Disgraceful Mary Jane, Dull Martha,
Stout Alice, Smooth Kitty, Pocked Louise, and Dour Elinor. The nicknames are illustrative of the insidious ways in
which women and girls were pigeonholed and denigrated in the patriarchal society of 19thcentury Great Britain, and
over the course of the story, the characters prove that their supposed weaknesses are often the sources of great strength
and ingenuity. That said, the device is used throughout the entirety of the book and will wear thin with some readers.
The pacing slows midway, though kids will want to read onif only to find out if the sisterhood winds up behind bars
for all of their shenanigans. Overall, this is a wellresearched, clever, and deliciously dark comedy with an emphasis on
female empowerment.Kiera Parrott, School Library Journal
Parrott, Kiera
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Parrott, Kiera. "Berry, Julie. The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place." School Library Journal, Oct. 2014, p.
102. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA384340134&it=r&asid=08455ba6be00b831fbb912b0ccc75204.
Accessed 12 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A384340134
QUOTED: "Berry’s writing is stunning. Poetic, insightful and, at times, deeply disturbing, Dolssa’s story is steeped in 13th-century sensibilities yet so relatable to 21st-century readers."
THE PASSION OF DOLSSA
By Julie Berry
Viking
$18.99
ISBN 9780451469922
Published 04/12/2016
Teen / Teen Fiction
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Web Exclusive – April 12, 2016
THE PASSION OF DOLSSA
Dangers and delicate magic in medieval France
BookPage review by Diane Colson
In 13th-century France, the Catholic Church is hell-bent on eradicating heresy. Unfortunately, their definition of heretics includes the bons omes and bonas femnas—saintly aesthetics who are devoted to God but not necessarily to the Catholic Church. Persecution of these wandering souls is top priority for the Church.
For Botille Flasucra, who is eking out a living with her two sisters in a tiny village, these meddlesome inquisitors seem remote. While on an errand to another village, Botille rescues a dying girl she finds lying in the woods. This is Dolssa, an ethereal mystic who has an intimate relationship with Jhesus. Dolssa is pursued by Lucien de Saint-Honore, an inquisitor charged with burning Dolssa alive. Although the Flasucra sisters strive to keep Dolssa hidden, her proclivity to perform miracles soon makes Dolssa the talk of the village.
The story is told from multiple points of view: Lucien, Botille, Dolssa and well-chosen witnesses that flesh out hidden facets of perspective. Botille, in particular, is a wonderful narrator. She is amused by village life as only a teen can be, infusing the story with her dry humor. She is our compass, shaping our understanding of Dolssa’s mysticism as well as the ruthless persecution espoused by the dominant religious power of the day.
As in her debut novel, All the Truth That’s in Me, Berry’s writing is stunning. Poetic, insightful and, at times, deeply disturbing, Dolssa’s story is steeped in 13th-century sensibilities yet so relatable to 21st-century readers. Berry includes a map, glossary and extensive source notes.
QUOTED: "Berry ... went to France to visit cathedrals, abbeys, libraries and castles to absorb as much history and context as she could to add to the richness of her book."
"This research shows in Berry's colorful descriptions of the landscape of each city the book mentions. Her sensitivity to the culture and history of France, as well as the language, flows naturally throughout the novel."
Book review: 'Passion of Dolssa' explores the lives of medieval religious people
By Tori Ackerman
Published: April 24, 2016 5:00 a.m.
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"The Passion of Dolssa" is by Julie Berry.
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"The Passion of Dolssa" is by Julie Berry.
Author Julie Berry was in the middle of raising her four sons, one of them a newborn baby at the time, when she decided to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree. Writing was her passion, and she decided that she had been taking care of people for so long that it was time to do something for herself.
"It was a lot of work," Berry said of her years in school. "I had four children with very demanding needs. I was very busy, but I was excited and driven to feed my brain and to experience the joy of writing stories."
Prior to this, she worked in software and sales marketing but would squeeze writing into every spare half-hour she had, which was mostly during her kids' naps, preschool and speech therapy sessions.
"Anything you want really badly enough, you will find the time to make it happen," Berry said.
Since those days, she's written a few novels, including "All the Truth That's in Me," which was listed among the School Library Journal Best Books of 2013.
Her most recent young adult novel, "The Passion of Dolssa" (Viking, $18.99, ages 12 and up), was released April 12. The book is set in the 1200s and describes the lives of a group of people in France during the Catholic Crusades.
Dolssa, the protagonist and novel's namesake, is introduced early in the book and is immediately established as a spiritual woman who would go to any lengths to know God better. A friar has labeled her as a heretic, so Dolssa must run for her life. A tavern-keeper and matchmaker named Botille finds Dolssa on the brink of death, takes her in, nurses her back to health and discovers that Dolssa has healing powers. But it becomes clear that neither Dolssa nor Botille is safe from the wrath of the friar and the church.
Berry said she based Dolssa on several medieval mystics, or divine-seekers, who lived during the Middle Ages and were victims of the crusades in southern France.
Berry said the character of Dolssa is alive and real to her, though she was one of the most difficult to write. The woman is seen by some in the book as a heretic and by others as someone who truly communes with God. With these conflicting sides, Berry said, she left it up to the reader to interpret who Dolssa is.
"She was the hardest character to truly embody and the hardest one to present to modern readers because of the foundational view on which her worldview rests," Berry said.
Berry said she feels connected to Dolssa in many senses.
"Dolssa borrows from my own desire to be more like the women on whom she's based," Berry said. "They are single-minded and more singly focused on their devotion and ardor of their love for God."
Berry also developed other interesting characters, including Botille and her two sisters who run a tavern in the city of Bajas. These characters add a lightheartedness and engaging elements to what could have been a more serious storyline.
Berry's descriptions of the characters and their commune with God are respectful and varied, whether given from the perspective of Dolssa, Botille or even the Dominican inquisitors who are after the two. This gives the reader a better understanding of what the different perspectives of deity may have been for those who lived in that era.
Berry did research to give accuracy and content to her book. She even went to France to visit cathedrals, abbeys, libraries and castles to absorb as much history and context as she could to add to the richness of her book.
Comment on this story
This research shows in Berry's colorful descriptions of the landscape of each city the book mentions. Her sensitivity to the culture and history of France, as well as the language, flows naturally throughout the novel.
"The Passion of Dolssa" includes some violence, including burning scenes. There is no foul language or explicit sexual content.
Berry is now working on a middle grade novel set to be released in spring 2017, with "The Emperor’s Ostrich" as a working title.
QUOTED: "Despite the serious nature of this being a murder mystery, Berry keeps the tone light and the girls, even Dour Elinour, likable, while also showing that investigating a crime in the 1890s was much different from it is in the host of contemporary television dramas."
Book review: 'The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place' a fun whodunit for middle readers
By Christine Rappleye@CTRappleye
Published: Oct. 11, 2014 3:05 p.m.
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The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place
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The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place
"THE SCANDALOUS SISTERHOOD OF PRICKWILLOW PLACE," by Julie Berry, Roaring Brook Press, $15.99, 351 pages (f) (ages 10-14)
When seven girls at a Victorian England finishing school watch their headmistress and her brother die while at the dinner table, they don’t want St. Etheldreda’s School for Young Ladies on Prickwillow Road to close.
They do what they can to continue the school, keeping up pretenses that all is well, such as embroidering the tablecloth for an upcoming social, along with investigating the murders, in author Julie Berry’s mystery for middle-grade readers “The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place.”
What ensues is an entertaining whodunit story with the girls, each with her own quirks that had her sent off to finishing school, employing their skills or talents, sometimes with objections, to help with the ruse.
The first obstacle is that after dinner, their stern headmistress, Constance Plackett, had planned a surprise party for her younger brother, Aldous Godding, and guests, from the town gossip to the doctor, begin to arrive not long after the deaths.
Smooth Kitty Heaton takes charge with the plan to hide the bodies and continue as usual as the youngest of the girls, Pocked Louise Dudley, with her unfashionable interest in medicine and science, keeps careful track of clues and figures out it was poison that killed their headmistress and her brother.
It’s almost a game of Clue where the girls are pretending they aren’t playing at all as they go through the almost-comical twists and turns while trying to figure out what happened. If discovered, their burying the bodies in the backyard, impersonating the headmistress and forging her handwriting, among other things, would be a scandal the community wouldn’t soon forget.
With such a broad cast of characters — seven girls, the headmistress, her brother, other relatives, the constable, the doctor, neighbors, love interests for a few of the girls, among others — Berry uses nicknames to help keep the girls straight and enough descriptions and distinctive character traits to keep the others clear, too.
Despite the serious nature of this being a murder mystery, Berry keeps the tone light and the girls, even Dour Elinour, likable, while also showing that investigating a crime in the 1890s was much different from it is in the host of contemporary television dramas.
Comment on this story
The language is clean and the romance is kept within Victorian-era standards. Although there are deaths and burglaries, they are not detailed and are described in an age-appropriate way.