Alchemy and Meggie Swann by Karen Cushman

Bibliography
Cushman, Karen. Alchemy and Meggy Swann. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.

ISBN: 9780547231846


Plot
Meggy Swann is a girl whose mother has sent her to live with her father. Her two main characteristics are her crippled legs and her sharp tongue. Her father is an alchemist who is trying to find the transformation of immortality. While at first he rejects Meggy, eventually he allows her to help him and they work together. Meggy meets Roger, the previous apprentice, and makes friends with a printer and his family, along with the neighboring cobbler and his son. When Meggy overhears a plot to kill a Baron, which her father is intricately involved in, she decides to attempt to stop it. Meggy and Roger, along with the printers help, attempt to save the Baron from death. At the end of the story, her father remains selfish, but Meggy has taken steps to grow out of her own selfishness.


Critical Analysis
The story of Meggy Swann succeeds in its authenticity to the time period, involving the mannerisms, customs, and language of the people at the time. The reader will be thrown into London at the time of Queen Elizabeth, with all its grime and busyness. This accurate setting sets the stage for the plot, involving a well researched occupation of alchemy and the tensions between the rich and poor during the time period. Cushman, writing through Meggy's perspective, brings to life the various personalities that create character in the story, and draw Meggy out of her shell. The theme of selflessness and gratitude peek through the plot line, but rarely make a full appearance due to the abrupt and slight change in Meggy at the very end of the novel. The ending was not well set up by the attitudes displayed in Meggy through the rest of the text. The style of writing was one of the true lacking aspects of the novel; Cushman dwells inside of Meggy's negative and cynical perspective alone, and while it presents the negative aspects of language and dialogue at the time, it rarely sheds light on the more understanding and kind personas that must have lived in the Elizabethean period. The novel does justice to the historical fiction in providing a view into the time period, but the story itself lacks substantive depth to really delight in the characters.


Personal Response
"Toads and Vipers!" this was a long, drawn out story. I chose to listen to this via audiobook. I personally did not enjoy the story; the constant bickering, arguing, name-calling, insulting, and repeating of the phrase "toads and vipers" left me feeling worn out. I almost chose another book when Meggy was going to kill her only friend, the goose; the resigned despondency was quite deep. The main character was sharp and cynical, crippled in spirit as well as the legs it seemed. Not to be too harsh, the author did paint Elizabethean London well; I found myself drawn into the age with all of its sad realities and language. The reading was very well done, the author taking the time to change into the various voices for clarity in what was happening and who was speaking. I recognize that the time period was hard, and do not belittle the circumstances of the book; I only wish that the main character were less negative. And, perhaps, that a different "shocked" expression were used occasionally.


Excerpts of Reviews
"Katherine Kellgren's lively reading of Karen Cushman's novel (Clarion, 2010) is flawless, capturing Meggy's feisty temperament in the period language. Her narration of a wide-range of accents if excellent, and she does a wonderful job singing the ballads that Meggy composes and sings. The sights and sounds of the era and the sense of place and time are vividly depicted as Meggy grows in confidence and independence, using available resources and her wit, courage, and determination to forge a place for herself in her new world."
School Library Journal

"Because so many historical novels set in this period feature girls of royal or noble lineage, it’s bracing to meet Meg, who empties her own chamber pot into the ditch outside her door and trades strings of creative Elizabethan insults with Roger, her best friend."
Booklist

"Cushman has the uncanny ability to take a time and place so remote and make it live. Readers can hear and see and smell it all as if they are right beside Meggy. She employs the syntax and vocabulary of the period so easily that it is understood as if it’s the most contemporary modern slang."
Kirkus


 
Connections

1. Have children create their own ballad, using Elizabethean language. They can use it to tell a familiar story, or a message such as Meggy did in the book.
Book of Ballads by Charles Vess
A Child's Introduction to Poetry: Listen While You Learn About the Magic Words That Have Moved Mountains, Won Battles, and Made Us Laugh and Cry by Michael Driscoll.


2. Learn more about Elizabethean England through informational books.
Elizabethan England (How'd They Do That in) by Russell Roberts
Shakespeare's London: A Guide to Elizabethan London (Sightseers) by Julie Ferris
The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer
Elizabeth's London: Everyday Life in Elizabethan London by Liza Picard


3. Read additional historical fiction set in the 1500-1600's.
Beware Princess Elizabeth by Carolyn Meyer
Cue for Treason by Geoffrey Trease


 
4. Have students research the printing press through these stories:
Johann Gutenberg and the Amazing Printing Press by Bruce Koscielniak
Johann Gutenberg and the Printing Press (Inventions and Discovery) by Kay Melchisedech Olson
The History of Making Books: From Clay Tablets, Papyrus Rolls, and Illuminated Manuscripts to the Printing Press by Gallimard Jeunesse, Scholastic Books