by Gail Sidonie Sobat
- Determine which episodes in the novel are familiar yet inverted
traditional fairy tales?
- What might Gail Sidonie Sobat be suggesting by having a witch wake
a prince with a kiss?
- Why does Ingamald not marry Prince Randulfr?
- How does the myth of Apollo and Daphne come into play in this novel?
- Earthsea saga novelist, Ursula K. Le Guin, wrote: "...the
witch is the archaic crone, the possessor and destroyer, the mother
who feeds you cookies and who must be destroyed before she eats you
like a cookie, so that you can grow up and be a mother too" (Ursula
K. Le Guin, The Language of the Night, Harper Perennial, 1993). How
is the relationship between Ingamald and Spinne similar or dissimilar?
- What are the dangers of shapeshifting? What fairy tale elements
of shapeshifting do you recognize in Sobat's narrative?
- How is Ingamald like a typical teenager even though she lives in
a fantasy, and a pre-industrial world?
- How are the Musica similar to the gypsy or
Roma people?
- Is the final portion of the novel, from Ingamald's departure to
Spinne's domain to her final defeat of Spinne, real or a dream? Defend
your position.
- How is this coming-of-age tale different from others with a male
protagonist or hero?
Topic and Themes for English:
- bildungsroman
- mythology and folklore
- the heroine's quest
- literature of the fantastic (speculative fiction)
- power and corruption
- comparisons of Spinne with Lady Macbeth
Topics and Themes for Social Studies:
- European witch hunts and witch lore
- medieval life
- power and corruption, absolute rule
- history of the Roma (gypsy) peoples of Europe and/or North America
The book is suitable for grades 7-12, and there are applications for
the study of either English or Social Studies/ History. |