Title: Froi of the Exiles Author: Melina Marchetta Publisher: Candlewick Press Pub Date: March 13, 2012 Category:  Supposedly young adult fantasy /action & adventure, but I don’t recommend it for teens. Melina Marchetta is a master wordsmith who expresses her stories with elegance and clarity, but there is more to an enjoyable novel than a skilful use of words. It’s the content of Marchetta’s writing that I have difficulty with in this series. In the first book, ‘Finnikin of the Rock’, Marchetta introduced us to a damaged world and the characters of Finnkin, Isaboe and the orphan Froi. These and other equally vibrant characters leapt off the page, their feelings and motivations clear and convincing. At the end of that book, the land of Lumatere’s curse was lifted and its people were on the path to a brighter future, but we had to grind our way through a lot of misery to get there. This book starts three years later. Froi feels he has found his home in Lumatere. He is part of … [Read more...]