Stravaganza City of Stars - Hardcover

Hoffman, Mary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1582348391 ISBN 13: 9781582348391

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, 2003

Synopsis

Georgia is an ordinary girl, living in London with her mother, stepfather and bully of a stepbrother and coping with the difficulties of growing up. But all that changes when she buys a tiny figurine in the form of a winged horse and suddenly finds herself swept up into the world of the Stravagante. Her talisman, the figurine, transports her to Remora the Talian parallel to Siena, Italy. There she meets Lucien, the Stravagante we first met in City of Masks and many other fascinating people who are in the midst of preparing for the Stellata, the city's annual horse race. Intrigue, romance, and the rare appearance of a true winged horse ensure an exciting adventure to rival the first in this captivating series.

About this title

About the Author

Mary Hoffman is the author of Amazing Grace and other wonderful books for children. The Stravaganza series is an exciting new direction for her acclaimed writing.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up-This second volume of the trilogy continues the story begun in City of Masks (Bloomsbury, 2002). Georgia, a 15-year-old with a hateful older stepbrother, finds herself transported to 16th-century Talia (Italy), when she goes to sleep holding a little winged horse figure she bought in an antique shop. She awakes in a barn where a coveted, rare winged horse has just been born. She quickly finds herself involved in the intrigues and conflicts between rival families and the preparation for the Stellata, the annual horse race among the competitive elite families. The di Chimici family is seeking to extend its power and control and sees the race as another step in reaching that goal. At the same time, its patriarch is devastated by an accident that left his youngest son, Falco, crippled. When Falco, dismayed at his now limited future, meets Georgia and learns that she can travel across time and place, he resolves to stravagate permanently to her time, where modern medicine may be able to give him a normal life. Georgia eventually helps him to get to England, but his transition to life there seems somewhat contrived and too neatly resolved. The book climaxes with the horse race and Falco's death in his own time when he becomes a modern-day boy. The concept of stravagation is appealing and is used well to create an adventure tale that takes readers back into the 16th century with all its drama. Fans of the first book will find the sequel equally appealing.
Jane G. Connor, South Carolina State Library, Columbia
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About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1582348391
• ISBN 13: 9781582348391
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 300