Crossing Over - Softcover

Anna Kendall

3.04

525 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1780620578 ISBN 13: 9781780620572

Publisher: Indigo, 2012

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Whether it`s a curse or a blessing the fact remains: whenever Roger is in enough pain he can cross over to the Land of the Dead and speak to the people there. It`s an unexpected gift - and one that, throughout Roger`s life, his violent uncle has taken advantage of. Roger has been hauled from fairground to fairground, and beaten into unconsciousness, in order to bring word of the dead to the recently bereaved. It`s a hard, painful way of life, deceiving the living for a crust of bread. So when Roger has the chance of a new life, it seems a gift. He has a chance at safety and at living a life of his choosing, tucked away in the royal court. But life is unexpected, and when Roger falls in love with the bewitching, willful Lady Cecilia he has no idea what he is letting himself in for. With every step he takes towards her, he is drawn deeper into court intrigue, into politics, and even into war ...and when Roger`s curious abilities come to the Queen`s attention, everything changes forever. Trapped in courtly politics, bound by secrets, Roger is torn between his own safety and that of his friends. He can save them ...but only if he can bring himself to perform a deed so unthinkable that the living and the dead shrink from it alike...

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About the Author:

ANNA KENDALL was born in Ireland and emigrated with her parents to the United States at age twelve. For several years she taught fourth grade. She lives in Seattle, where she plays a lot of chess. This is her first novel.

From Booklist:

Fourteen-year-old Roger has a peculiar gift that allows him to cross from the land of the living into the world of the dead—but only at the point of extreme personal pain. He finds himself at court in the capital city, and he quickly becomes a tool in the deadly contest of wills between a young queen some say is not fit to rule and her mother, who refuses to relinquish the throne. Kendall’s debut novel is an atmospheric coming-of-age tale that weaves ill-fated courtly love with Roger’s difficult journey to understand the world. The involving story is weakened just a little by unnecessary and oddly placed references to sexual arousal and characters that exhibit little overall growth. There are tantalizing references to a mysterious place known as Soulvine Moor, which receives short shrift when readers are finally taken there toward the novel’s end. Despite this, Kendall’s first effort will find fans who will cheer Roger on and hope for his constancy. Grades 8-11. --Cindy Welch

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