Why Are There All These Blank Spaces?

You may notice that in some of my posts there are blank spaces in the reviews. These are spoilers that I've written so I can remember important details of the books when I want to read the sequel. I've made the text a beige color to blend in with the background so you won't accidentally see something you don't want to. If you want to read it, just highlight the section to make the text appear - although you should really just read the book yourself! :)

Friday, April 22, 2011

Green-Sky: Below the Root

by Zilpha Keatley Snyder


It was a little over a year ago when a classmate in an online class recommended this book to me. After a few months of searching, I finally found it and it's two sequels.

And then they sat on my shelf for months.

Finally, I'm trying to catch up on some old books and I pulled these out. I'm glad I did. While the book is from the 70s it could very well have been written much more recently. The themes and genres are ones that are recently seeing a resurgence in YA literature: dystopian, alternate worlds, and post-apocalyptic to name a few.

The story takes place in the world of Green-Sky - a planet similar to Earth except for the abundance of large trees where the Kindar people make their homes, and a gravity much less severe than Earth's. The Kindars are a peaceful people, who live in harmony high in the trees while the sinister Pash-shan live below the root on the forest floor. Kindars are taught from birth to fear the Pash-shan, so when young Raamo is Chosen to become one of the revered elders of their society who protect the people from the Pash-Shan, he is eager to learn. However, in his studies as an Ol-zhaan, Raamo begins to discover that things aren't what they seemed, and there is much more to the Pash-shan than the Kindars know. Together with his new friends Neric and Genaa, Raamo must discover the truth and save Green-Sky from the true evil they face.