Pale Phoenix by Kathryn Reiss

Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Pale Phoenix by Kathryn Reiss REISS, Kathryn 1957- PERSONAL: Surname is pronounced "reese"; born December 4, 1957, in Cambridge, MA; daughter of Edmund Alan Reiss and Dorothy Ann (Kauffman) Molnar; married Thomas Strychacz (a professor), October 2, 1981; children: Nicholas, Daniel, Isabel. Ethnicity: Caucasian. Education: Duke University, B.A. (English and German), 1980; attended Rheinische-Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität (Bonn, Germany), 1980-81; University of Michigan, M.F.A., 1988. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Presbyterian. Hobbies and other interests: Traveling, reading, collecting old series books. ADDRESSES: Home— Benicia, CA. Office— Mills College, English Department, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613. Agent— Marilyn E. Marlow, Curtis Brown, Ltd., 10 Astor Pl., New York, NY 10003. E-mail— [email protected] CAREER: Princeton Language Group, Princeton, NJ, instructor, 1981-82; Stuart Country Day School, Princeton, director of foreign exchange, 1981-82; Princeton Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), Princeton, instructor, 1981-82, and 1984; Europa at Princeton (a bookshop), Princeton, manager, 1982-83; Princeton Public Library, Princeton, NJ, assistant to children's librarian, 1982-83; Trenton State College, Ewing, NJ, instructor, 1984-86; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, instructor, 1986-88; Mills College, Oakland, CA, lecturer of English, 1989—. Princeton Arts Council, writer-in-residence, 1986. MEMBER: Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, League of University Women. AWARDS, HONORS: Scholarship, American Field Service, 1975; Fulbright-Hayes Scholar, 1980-81, to study contemporary German short fiction; grant, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, 1983-84; Cowden Memorial Prize for fiction, University of Michigan, 1987; Best Books for Young Adults citation, American Library Association, 1993, for Time Windows, and for The Glass House People; Black-Eyed Susan Young Reader Medal, state of Maryland; nominations for Edgar Allan Poe award, Mystery Writers of America, for Pale Phoenix and PaperQuake; award from International School Librarians Association, for Paint by Magic. WRITINGS: NOVELS. Time Windows, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1991. The Glass House People, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1992. Dreadful Sorry, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1993. Pale Phoenix (sequel to Time Windows ), Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1994. PaperQuake: A Puzzle, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1998. Riddle of the Prairie Bride ("History Mysteries" series), Pleasant Company Publications (Middleton, WI), 2001. The Strange Case of Baby H ("History Mysteries" series), Pleasant Company Publications (Middleton, WI), 2002. Paint by Magic: A Time Travel Mystery, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2002. Sweet Miss Honeywell's Revenge: A Ghost Story, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2004. Contributor of short stories to periodicals, including The Archive, HipMama, Parents, and Baby magazine. Associate editor, The Archive, 1979- 80. "GHOST IN THE DOLLHOUSE" SERIES. The Dollhouse of the Dead, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1997. The Headless Bride, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1997. Rest in Peace, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1997. ADAPTATIONS: The Strange Case of Baby H was adapted to audio recording by Recorded Books, 2003. SIDELIGHTS: Writing young-adult mystery novels and teaching creative writing at Mills College, in California, Kathryn Reiss has earned a reputation as an appealing author for adolescents. In the last decade of the millennium, she published a handful of suspense novels, including her debut Time Windows and its sequel Pale Phoenix, "The Ghost in the Dollhouse" trio, and several stand-alone novels. A hallmark of these novels is the time-slip element, a premise that has long interested Reiss. "I have a special interest in our various notions of time—memory, perception, history, time travel (as a child I was always looking for ways to travel in time; perhaps my writing is my own version of a time machine!)," she once told CA. "I have a special interest in writing for middle-grade and young-adult audiences, and write the sort of books now that I liked when I was the age of my readers—especially favoring books about magic or mystery." Although as a young girl Reiss wrote "novels," her actual career began in a roundabout way. As a student in high school and college, she took creative writing classes whenever she could, and in 1980, she graduated with a dual degree in English and German. The following year, on a Fulbright-Hayes Scholarship, she attended university in Bonn, Germany, where she began to write her first novel, in English. She once recalled to CA, "At one point I was up to my ears in [the German poet Johann Wolfgang] Goethe's works, analyzing them, writing about them, preparing to give an oral report in class (a scary thought!)—and I decided to take a day off from work just to read something light, preferably in English— despite my promise to myself to avoid the English language as much as I possibly could. I had read all of my English novels already, and it was pouring rain outside, so a trip to the bookstore didn't seem so good. I thought to myself: 'This is your chance. You've been saying for years that you want to write a book, right? So, why not start now?' I got a pad of paper and my pen, and sat down and started writing a story. When the rain stopped, I was still engaged in my new story, and I went out to sit on my little balcony (I rented a room in a big, drafty house) and kept on writing far into the night. I continued to write in my free time until I had an entire first draft of a novel. I revised it over several years (taking breaks to get married, to go to graduate school, and to have two children) and so produced my first novel, Time Windows. " Time Windows and its sequel, Pale Phoenix, each feature Miranda Brown, who has recently moved to an old house in a small Massachusetts town. In the attic she discovers an old dollhouse, a replica of the larger house, that acts as a time machine, allowing her to see events of the past. This novel garnered good reviews from several critics, including Kliatt contributor Gerrie Human, who described it as "a fine mystery, full of suspense." A Publishers Weekly reviewer also praised Time Windows for being "deft, entertaining, and inventive." A slightly older Miranda deals with the adoption of the mysterious Abby into her family in Pale Phoenix. As Miranda discovers, Abby is an unfortunate time traveler from 1680, and Miranda and neighbor Dan try to return her to her own time. Although Horn Book Guide reviewer Karen E. Walsh thought the book's premise was "clever" but the denouement "contrived," New Advocate reviewer M. Jean Greenlaw likened the work to Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting and predicted that readers would find Reiss's novel "fascinating." "A thoughtful and enjoyable book" is how Booklist 's Jeanne Trinner described the sequel. With their titles reflecting axioms and song lyrics, Reiss's early titles The Glass House People and Dreadful Sorry deal with almost-ruined lives. The first is a family saga featuring a teenaged brother and sister, who try to unearth the details surrounding the family's present difficult circumstances, in what Kliatt reviewer Claire Rosser described as "entertaining throughout." The "page-turner" Dreadful Sorry, to quote Kliatt critic Barbara Jo McKee, will appeal to teen readers as its protagonist must overcome her fear of the water and a reincarnated girl suggestively named Clementine. From 1998 to 2002, Reiss published, among other books, another pair of winning titles, PaperQuake: A Puzzle and Paint by Magic: A Time Travel Mystery. As with several of her other works, these titles use the time-slip element, the first dealing with San Francisco earthquakes in the present and 1906, and the latter a mystery in the present harking to 1924 with a tie to the 1400s. In PaperQuake, main character Violet, the third and non-identical sister of triplets, is haunted by a fear of earthquakes and a vision of children fleeing an earthquake. When she, her sisters, and parents go to San Francisco in the aftermath of tremors to clean up a building they own, a letter addressed to Baby V falls from the wall. As similar letters arrive mysteriously, Violet learns of a girl named Verity whom she believes is sending her letters from the past to avert a future disaster. PaperQuake caught the attention of reviewers, among them Horn Book 's Ann A. Flowers, who dubbed the work "clever and skillfully written." Moreover, Mary Logue of Hungry Mind Review maintained that the novel "is a much richer story" than the typical mystery for this age level, with "the most fascinating aspect of this novel . [being] the relationship between Violet and her two sisters." Yet the work was not without critics. Booklist 's Carolyn Phelan faulted Reiss for relying heavily on coincidence to drive the plot, though she praised the "well-drawn relationships" between Violet and other characters. While "the plot might be overly complicated," Logue conceded, "the twists and turns are a good ride." PaperQuake is "an adroit fusion of magic, romance, and adventure," concluded a Publishers Weekly critic. With her 2002 offering Paint by Magic, Reiss explores the creative process and "paints an intriguing mystery," punned a Kirkus Reviews contributor. The plot revolves around eleven-year-old Connor, who wonders why his mother begins to act strangely all of a sudden. When he finds himself transported back in time, he discovers the truth. While Lisa Prolman, writing in School Library Journal, found some of the comparisons of pre-technological times with the present heavy-handed, she also found the plot "unusual and compelling," predicting that readers would hold on until the conclusion.

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