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WORK TITLE: Lantern
WORK NOTES:
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WEBSITE: http://www.chessdesalls.com/
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NATIONALITY: American
http://www.chessdesalls.com/contact.html https://chessdesalls.wordpress.com/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer.
AWARDS:Two IAN Outstanding Young Adult citations, both 2016, for Travel Glasses and Insight Kindling; Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards Gold in YA Fiction Ebook, 2017, for Beacon; Literary Classics Gold in Best YA Series, 2017, for The Call to Search Everywhen; Literary Classics Gold in High School Mystery/Thriller, and Literary Classics Gold in High School Fantasy, both 2017, both for Travel Glasses.
WRITINGS
Also author of the ebook Beacon, and author of The Call to Search Everywhen.
SIDELIGHTS
Chess Desalls is a prolific novelist who has released an average of three books a year since 2015. Her first book, Insight Kindling, received an IAN Outstanding Young Adult citation. Desalls’s second book, the 2016 title Lantern, also earned the same award. Desalls released an additional three novels in 2016 as well, Time for the Lost, Wrapped in the Past, and Glistens. Next, in 2017, Desalls published Travel Glasses. The latter title was commended with a Literary Classics Gold in High School Mystery/Thriller and a Literary Classics Gold in High School Fantasy. The same year, Desalls published the novel Darker Stars, and she also wrote Flash Tales: A Collection of Short Stories for Children. The novel Glistens Part Two followed in 2018. Other ebooks credited to Desalls include Beacon (winner of the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards Gold in YA Fiction Ebook), and The Call to Search Everywhen (winner of the Literary Classics Gold in Best YA Series).
One of Desall’s most widely reviewed books is Lantern, a novel built of three linked novellas. The first tale follows sixteen-year-old Tori. The protagonist finds a haunted lantern on her grandmother’s property, and the lantern is inhabited by a boy named Jared. Jared was working for his master, the lantern maker Machin, when he was cursed and trapped. He has been inside the lamp for centuries. When Tori and Jared fall for each other, Tori must find a way to free her true love from his curse. Teenager Serah Kettel is the protagonist of the next tale, and she is also one of Machin’s apprentices. Machine asks the girl to open a sealed globe, and Serah becomes trapped inside. Centuries later, a boy opens the globe and Serah is released, but she struggles to cope in modern society. The third tale begins as Machin creates a lantern for Graham, and though the boy remains unharmed, a girl named Evelyn is sucked into the lantern and transported back in time.
A somewhat ambivalent assessment of the novel was proffered by Buried under books Website correspondent Lelia Taylor, and she stated that the story is “sort of a modern-day fairy tale, sort of a romance (although a light one).” Yet, Taylor added, “Lantern is a sweet story, I might say even sugary.” On the other hand, a Kirkus Reviews critic announced that each of the three “stories effectively stands alone.” In fact, the critic explained, “Desalls casts a different slant on each telling . . . and among these . . . a shared tale emerges of how lives may develop and love may burgeon.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2017, review of Lantern.
ONLINE
Buried under Books, https://cncbooksblog.wordpress.com/ (June 2, 2016), Lelia Taylor, review of Lantern.
Chess Desalls Website, http://www.chessdesalls.com (March 15, 2018).
Sudden Insight, http://blog.suddeninsightpublishing.com/ (May 13, 2016), review of Wrapped in the Past.
Honors and Awards
The Call to Search Everywhen Box Set hit the following lists!
Nook Top 50
#1 Bestselling Kids Nook Books
#1 Amazon Best Seller, Teen & YA Time Travel eBooks
#1 Amazon Best Seller, Teen Science Fiction & Fantasy Time Travel
#1 Amazon Hot New Release, Teen & YA Time Travel Fiction
#2 iBooks US Bestseller List, Science Fiction
Individual Awards
2017 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards Gold in YA Fiction Ebook (Beacon)
2017 Literary Classics Gold in Best YA Series (The Call to Search Everywhen)
2017 Literary Classics Gold in High School Mystery/Thriller (Travel Glasses)
2017 Literary Classics Gold in High School Fantasy (Travel Glasses)
2016 IAN Outstanding Young Adult (Travel Glasses)
2016 IAN Outstanding Young Adult (Insight Kindling)
2016 Readers' Favorite Honorable Mention in YA Mystery (Travel Glasses)
2016 Readers' Favorite Bronze Winner in YA Adventure (Insight Kindling)
2016 IAN Book of the Year Finalist (Travel Glasses)
2016 IAN Book of the Year Finalist (Insight Kindling)
2016 New York Book Festival Young Adult Runner-Up (Travel Glasses)
Aug. 2015 First Place WritersTalk Challenge, Fiction Division ("Needles")
Feb. 2015 First Place WritersTalk Challenge, Fiction Division ("What a Clown Reads")
Editorial Honors
Kirkus Reviews (Lantern: The Complete Collection)
Readers' Favorite 5 Star Review Seal (Frabbles)
Readers' Favorite 5 Star Review Seal (Flash Tales)
Readers' Favorite 5 Star Review Seal (Beacon)
Readers' Favorite 5 Star Review Seal (Glistens, audio ed.)
Readers' Favorite 5 Star Review Seal (Insight Kindling)
Readers' Favorite 5 Star Review Seal (Lantern)
Desalls, Chess: LANTERN
Kirkus Reviews. (Nov. 15, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Desalls, Chess LANTERN Czidor Lore, LLC (Indie) $15.99 9, 26 ISBN: 978-0-9993829-3-6
In these three novellas, unhappy teens find themselves displaced in time and saved by love.
In Lantern, 16-year-old Tori finds a lamppost on her grandmother's property and a lantern that only lights up in her presence. The beam turns out to be a tiny person: a boy named Jared, who long ago was trapped inside the object while working for his master, Machin, a renowned maker of lanterns. As Halloween approaches, Tori must find a way to free Jared--or risk losing him forever. In Beacon, Serah Kettel, a disowned teenager in the medieval village of Havenbrim, takes up an apprenticeship with Machin. Tasked with opening a sealed globe, Serah instead becomes caught inside--until many Halloweens later when a boy releases her to a world she no longer understands. Finally, in Torch, an orphan named Graham succeeds Serah as Machin's apprentice. As he did for Serah, Machin fashions a special lantern for Graham. This one is different, however, and in Pennsylvania one distant Halloween, Evelyn, an orphaned teen in her final year of school, strays too close to a lamppost and is whisked back in time to Havenbrim. Can Graham free her from her glass prison--and if he does, will she stay with him? Desalls (Time for the Lost, 2016, etc.) might skirt the edges of generic girl-boy longing, but her young characters have personality enough to stand apart, and Machin's lamp-making adds sparkle to the trilogy. In fact, it is the artifice of Machin's character that gives the collection its edge: an ominous uncertainty to weigh against those first gentle flutterings of teenage hearts. Each of the protagonists' stories effectively stands alone, yet the three novellas also benefit from being read in tandem. Desalls casts a different slant on each telling of her Halloween scenario, and among these--simply written yet garnering a combined weight of experience--a shared tale emerges of how lives may develop and love may burgeon. From Havenbrim to the here and now, many YA readers will likely stare at the moon and dream.
A trio of innocent romances more magical and mysterious than the titles and covers might suggest.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Desalls, Chess: LANTERN." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A514267680/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e75690db. Accessed 4 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A514267680
Book Review: Lantern by Chess Desalls
JUNE 2, 2016 BY LELIA T
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Lantern Tour Banner
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Title: Lantern
Author: Chess Desalls
Publisher: Czidor Lore
Publication Date: December 11, 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
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Goodreads
Links to get your free copy:
Barnes & Noble // iTunes // Amazon
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LanternLantern
Chess Desalls
Czidor Lore, December 2015
Ebook
From the author—
Five days before Halloween, all sixteen-year-old Tori has on her mind is vacationing with her family and scoring lots of candy. Her grandmother’s estate, with its Gothic spires and trails that lead out to the woods, holds an unexpected secret: a lantern that lights up for Tori and nobody else. Certain that it’s a ghost or a prank, she investigates further and discovers a mysterious life that shines in the darkness.
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Chess Desalls has other books under her belt, none of which I’ve seen, and I’m curious now as to whether Lantern is reminiscent of those or totally different. It definitely is not what I was expecting but that’s not a bad thing.
Sort of a modern-day fairy tale, sort of a romance (although a light one), Lantern is a sweet story, I might say even sugary, the story of a girl who believes in the impossible. That “impossible” includes a family dynamic we’re never likely to see in real life in which teenaged Tori is always happy to look after her 3-year-old brother and her perfect relationship with her parents is marred only by a brief episode of rebellion.
Jared is another oddity, a young man who barely questions his transition from another world to this one and he fits in astoundingly well. Miraculously, he speaks Tori’s language and dresses much like any young man in our society despite being from a world that exists somewhere out there.
I like everyone in Lantern and enjoyed the story even though it’s much fluffier than my usual fare…but I still have no idea what actually happened 😉
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, June 2016.
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About the Author
Chess DesallsChess Desalls is the author of the YA time travel series, The Call to Search Everywhen. She’s a longtime reader of fantasy and sci-fi novels, particularly classics and young adult fiction. Her nonfiction writing has led to academic and industry publications. She’s also a contributing editor for her local writing club’s monthly newsletter. The California Writers Club, South Bay branch, has awarded two of Chess’ stories first place for best short fiction. When she’s not reading or writing, she enjoys traveling and trying to stay in tune on her flute.
Travel Glasses is YA fantasy filled with metafiction and other literary twistiness. Sign up for Chess’ newsletter to receive updates on giveaways and new releases.
Indie Book Review – Wrapped in the Past by Chess Desalls
MAY 13, 2016 INDIE BOOK REVIEWS NO COMMENTS
It’s time for another indie book review!. Read on and find out what Jay thought of ‘Wrapped in the Past’ by Chess Desalls.
‘Wrapped in the Past’ by Chess Desalls is a cleverly crafted time travel tale. It’s a Christmas story wrapped inside a Christmas story, and a book that is sure to appeal to smart readers of all ages. I have wanted to try listening to an audiobook for awhile; I have also been wanting to read one of Chess Desalls’ books. This was a great opportunity to do both. I enjoyed the voices of the storyteller and the author, and I thought they came together in a way that was easy and fun to listen to. Desalls brought the story to life with her creative look at time travel, and her diverse cast of relatable characters. Janine Haynes added her own unique touch, breathing new life into the tale with her colorful narration. The narrator played her own part in the telling, and it was a welcome addition.
Shirlyn is a girl on the verge of becoming a young woman, being raised in a loving home where nearly anything seems possible. Her mother is a sweet and nurturing woman, her father a caring but somewhat disconnected genius. Rather than give his family a normal gift for Christmas, he arranges a trip in their yacht. But this is no ordinary yacht; it takes them back in time, and transforms to a more appropriate mode of transport. They find themselves in Bethlehem, directly in the path of three magi on their way to meet a very special newborn. They are riding a camel now, and join the historical procession for a while.
Her father has prepared for the trip: he knows how to act, and has learned enough of the tongue to communicate with the magi. His wife and daughter are not so well prepared, it being a Christmas surprise for them. They are left to find adventure in something other than what is being said. When adventure finds them, it is a little more than they had bargained for. Their camel bolts when they stop to rest and say goodbye, and the family is faced with being trapped in the past without it. Fortunately the magi are understanding, and wish to be helpful; they mount up with them, and head off to find the camel/yacht that will get them home.
Shirlyn finds herself riding with Balthazar, and realizes that he is both young and handsome. She begins to consider the rules of time travel, as her father has so carefully explained them, and how unfair they are. Although she knows that leaving the wrong kind of thing behind is forbidden, it is just the kind of thing Shirlyn most wants to leave. Without it her connection to Balthazar will fade from his memory forever, and so will she. It is too difficult of a thought to imagine, as they grow closer and the bond deepens.
She searches for a way to keep both her father and her own heart happy as the search continues. It becomes increasingly evident that this young woman is more obsessed with the contents of her heart than with the rules as the story moves along. What begins as a harmless teen’s desire takes a dark turn, and desire becomes obsession. It’s a beautiful and unpredictable ride, from beginning to end.
I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Wrapped in the Past’; it made me wonder what more this curious author has written on the subject. Clearly she has thought deeply about the endless repercussions implied, and has found a way to dance across that line at least once in this book. The world that she explores and explains is as fun to get to know as the characters living in it, and I look forward to the chance to see what kind of angle she approaches ‘Travel Glasses’ from. I would highly recommend ‘Trapped in the Past’ to readers of any age, particularly to those interested in time travel and its many consequences.
Wrapped in the Past is available in eBook and audio formats – get your copy of this great book at Amazon now!