The Transformation
by Mette Newth
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mette NewthTranslator: Faith Ingwersen
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-10-19
ISBN: 0374377529
Number of pages: 195
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Book Reviews of The Transformation
Book Review: The Transformation
Summary: 5 Stars
"In the beginning, when Human Beings came, there was only darkness. At that time a young woman was living with her father by the seashore. Once, when she was going to fetch some water, she saw a feather floating toward her from the sea. She opened her mouth and the feather floated in. She swallowed it and was with child. The child was born with a raven's beak... No one knows for certain whether the Raven created the first light, but all know that he loves the sun and that he steals it when he can."
Navarana is a young Inuit woman living in Greenland. After losing both of her parents to famine during the long cold winter that has taken over the land, she becomes a hunter and a shaman. Navarana's people, who call themselves the Human Beings, are hanging on by only a flickering flame of life as the endless winter wears on. Now Navarana's wings must touch the sun in order to end winter's awful grip on their land.
Brendan is a young Irish monk who came to Greenland to convert the "heathens." He is like a newborn babe in the Human Being's land, and Navarana wonders how this stranger will fit in after she saves him from starvation --- a decision she must justify to the Old One. Having taken the sow as her spirit guide when it gave its life so her people could have food, Navarana tells the Old One, "He has hair the same color as the sow's coat."
"Do you know what path you have chosen?" the Old One asks. "You've saved a life and you've set something in motion, something you alone can't control. You've no idea where this will lead you." And she, who always listened carefully to the Old One, turns a deaf ear to him.
Now she knows it was not common sense that led her to taking the stranger with her. She has no idea what her decision will lead to, for him or for her, as together they start on Navarana's quest to bring back the sun. She only knows that in order to survive, they must draw on each other's strengths.
"We must journey to the edge of the world, where once upon a time the sun was born," she began. "There the sun will be resurrected if my power is strong enough. The rest of the Human Beings can manage for themselves. Human Beings will adjust to nature's changes, just as we always have had to do. But," she continued slowly, "no one can adjust to a world without sun, for she is the absolute sovereign of all life."
As they travel together, Navarana admires Brendan's courage as he tries to heal the raw and bleeding wounds from his childhood by finding his spirit light. Will he be able to reconcile his dedication to his Great God with his love for Navarana and her devotion to the Great Mother of the Sea? They live in two different worlds; can they become one?
THE TRANSFORMATION is filled with Mette Newth's vivid and beautiful word pictures and metaphors describing a breathtaking land of legend and folklore.
Mette Newth is an illustrator, translator and the author of THE ABDUCTION, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and THE DARK LIGHT. She is the head of the National College of Art in Oslo.
--- Reviewed by Audrey Marie Danielson
Summary of The Transformation
A powerful novel about the meeting of two very different cultures in fifteenth-century Greenland
For several years, the Inuits in Greenland, the "Human Beings," as they call themselves, have suffered from unusually hard winters that do not let up even in what should be summertime. Navarana, a young Inuit woman, has lost both her parents to these terrible times of starvation and desperation. She decides to become a hunter and a shaman, a spirit guide, to help her people. Then she accidentally finds and reluctantly saves a stranger, Brendan, a young Irish monk. He has come to Greenland to help the Christian community and convert the "heathens." But the Christian community has disintegrated and, one by one, his fellow monks have died. Both proud and stubborn, Brendan and Navarana are immediately at odds. Gradually, however, as they learn more about each other, they develop a mutual respect. And Brendan is chosen to accompany Navarana on her perilous journey to bring back the sun.
For several years, the Inuits in Greenland, the "Human Beings," as they call themselves, have suffered from unusually hard winters that do not let up even in what should be summertime. Navarana, a young Inuit woman, has lost both her parents to these terrible times of starvation and desperation. She decides to become a hunter and a shaman, a spirit guide, to help her people. Then she accidentally finds and reluctantly saves a stranger, Brendan, a young Irish monk. He has come to Greenland to help the Christian community and convert the "heathens." But the Christian community has disintegrated and, one by one, his fellow monks have died. Both proud and stubborn, Brendan and Navarana are immediately at odds. Gradually, however, as they learn more about each other, they develop a mutual respect. And Brendan is chosen to accompany Navarana on her perilous journey to bring back the sun.
"There are more than two worlds between them.... When would they see that they were two parts of a whole?" Norwegian author Mette Newth's third novel is the exquisitely written story of a Christian and a pagan who battle the elements, conflicting beliefs, and each other before realizing that the Great Mother (or Father) had always meant for them to be together. Brendan is a young Irish monk who has been charged to convert the heathen souls of 15th century Greenland. But his zealous heart has been no match for the freezing environment, and he is the last one left alive in his small Christian outpost. Enter Navarana, an Inuit shaman in training who is searching for food for her starving tribe. She happens upon the unconscious Brendan and against her better judgment, saves his life. The two are bound together and at the advice of a village elder, go on a mission to seek the missing sun, which has not shone with any regularity for three long seasons. On this journey, they share mental and physical trials that transform them from argumentative loners into soul mates believing in the same vision.
Newth's young adult novels are simply remarkable. Her writing transports readers to a world beyond imagination, where she makes them feel every joy and pain of her deftly drawn characters. The Transformation illustrates the principle of ethnic and religious tolerance in a way that is neither preachy nor sappy, and many teens will be stunned to realize that this contemporary problem has such a long past. This is an unforgettable tale from an amazingly gifted author. (Ages 13 and older) --Jennifer Hubert
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