Talk:The Red Necklace

This and that

The article may be improved if any of these themes can be addressed reliably.

• ages. How old are Sido and Yann? One probably-US library Library of Congress says 12 and 14. See the Summary, which is otherwise inferior to the one we now link.[1] We call Yann a "young gypsy boy", meaning in 1789 perhaps. Some catalogs (perhaps US Library of Congress) direct the book to senior high school readers, ages 14-18 or so --or to their secondary school librarians.[2]

• covers. Re the first cover, depicted here, we say "Lydia Corry (Portrait of boy)". Does that mean Lydia Corry designed the cover using a historical illustration named "Portrait of boy"? Do the US covers of Red Necklace and Silver Blade mislead regarding Sido and Yann?[3] She doesn't look 12 to me!

• fantasy. How strong is the fantasy element, found at least in the "gypsy magic" and "telepathic powers"? Not so much to be be outside historical fiction, evidently. Is it magical realism?

or supernatural fiction, per the Publishers Weekly review ...

--P64 (talk) 20:06, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

ages and fantasy. Re the sequel Silver Blade, one probably-US library Library of Congress says "descent into the Reign of Terror", which implies the characters are about 4 years older. "Yann, now an extraordinary practitioner of magic, uses his skills to confound his enemies and help spirit refugees out of France".[4]

In a starred review (which is not common), Kirkus does label Red Necklace fantasy and directs it to ages 12 up.[5] Same for Silver Blade without the star (which sequels rarely earn).[6]

--P64 (talk) 21:03, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

--P64 (talk) 20:15, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

I covered the two-book series hastily in the lead, giving Library of Congress records for the 1st US editions as references. Those records show the "probably-US library" summaries are by LC and the senior high school label is not by LC,as corrected above in strikeout and boldface. --P64 (talk) 20:51, 2 July 2014 (UTC)