[.ca] Shadow Spinner (ISBN 0613230345)

not only a tale for children:
I loved this book. I am in highschool, and my reading level is past college, but this book was a great story. I read it in a day, and then I read it over again. I even used the beginning page as a monologue for my drama class. I applaud this author, and I give this book five stars. I highly recommend this book for adults and children everywhere. I guaruntee that all those who read it will love it.

how dares she?!:
How dares this author destroy the wonderful character of Shahrazad? I understand that she wants to present a shy, physically imperfect girl (Marjan) as a person who realises her strength and helps Shahrazad inside the dangerous and cruel world of the harem. I understand that she wants to take the characters of the mythical story and make them round, flesh them up -and, very naively, make them soun "real". But did she have to depict Shaharzad as terrified and on the brink of a nervous breakdown, constantly fearing for her life? And, even worse, how do we believe, then, that even though she is afraid of being murdered by the sultan -as hundreds of girls had been before her- she, in fact, loves him? Uh??? The author wants the characters to sound "real" and she makes Shahrazad love a dangerous psycho-killer who has killed hundreds of young girls and who can also kill her any day??? And, this is really cheap!, the person responsible for this, the one who is really guilty of the sultan's behaviour is ... his mother!!! who manipulates him like a puppet. And yet Shahrazad deeply loves him. Well, I really didn't reach the end of this awful, stupid miscreation. The characters of THE ARABIAN NIGHTS cannot be taken as real people (it would be really difficult to explain their behaviour in real-life terms, especially the sultan's), they are myths or symbols. Shahrazad represents the strength and seduction that story-telling (in any form) has and will always have for us, humans. Her story-telling sessions teach, cure and, ultimately make human the sultan. Read to your children the original tales (which were such a children's classic in the 19th century) and don't destroy for them the character of Shahrazad, the power, fascination and wisdom that they will find in stroy-telling.

Shady Says--!:
'Twas a good book. I've read it over and over and have given it to my friend who has fallen in love with it. I love the style, the eloquence, and the person which confines to us her narrative of an expression of deep thoughts and dark bitterness-the type of story that often makes a mark in the classics. Yes, the classic story (1000 tales) has its undying charm but this story is the story behind the stories. This book gave me insight, it gave me window to see charisma and writing as one.

Shadow Spinner:
Susan Fletcher wrote the book Shadow Spinner. It is about a girl named Marjan, in the Middle East who admires Shahrazad. Shahrazad is a wife to the Sultan in a harem who told stories to the Sultan to keep him from killing more wives than he already had. Dunyazad hears Marjan tell a story to some children in the harem and brings Marjan to her sister Shahrazad. Shahrazad is looking for a new story to tell, because the Sultan doesn't like to hear a story twice. Shahrazad never heard the story before and tells the Sultan it. The Sultan was told the story when he was a child and it was his favorite. The Sultan remembers another half to the story that Marjan never heard. The Sultan wants to hear the rest of the story so Dunyazad and Marjan have to track down the rest of the story. It's a book of adventure. The author paints the scenes very well with words. I enjoyed the book very much and hope others will too. A sixth grade student

Shadow Spinner a Jade Room play:
Once upon a time there was a sultant who married a beatiful wife who betrade him so he had her killed. So after this he married and killed a new wife every night, untill Sharazad. She kept herself alive by telling a story to the sultant everynight, for nine-hundred and eighty-nine nights! One day Marjan a thirteen-year old girl who has a crippled foot, took a trip to the harem, with her aunt Auntie Chava, to sell trinkets. Marjan ends up telling a story to some of the harem girls. Dunyazad Sharazad's sister listens in on the story Marjan is telling. So Dunyazad brings Marjan to Sharazad. Sharazad is despertly looking for a story to tell o the sultant that night. Marjan tells Sharazad a story that she never heard before. The story is about Julnar a beatiful mermaid. So Sharazad tells the story to the sultant. The sultant then wants to here about Julnars son. So Marjan is set out on an adventure to find the story. She thinks that she heard the story long ago when she was little in the bazaar from a blind storyteller. Marjan has succeded on her quest. She tells the story to Sharazad and Sharazad tells the sultant and Sharazad lives. Once again Marjan needs to get more of the story, but this time Dunyazad comes with Marjan. Remember this everytime Marjan leaves the harem she has to escape without anybody nowing, becaues no woman our aloud to leave the harem ever! All through out the story marjan keeps meeting new friends and enemies. For example: the Khatun (the sultants eveil mother), Ayaz (a poor boy), Zaynab (a crazy bird lady), Soraya (the sultants next victem), Uncle Eli (Auntie Chavas husband and Marjans Uncle) and final Mitra (a girl in the harem).