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About The Book

Salz is a boy afflicted with cystic fibrosis -- though in the Middle Ages in Saxony no one can identify it as such. Instead he is an outcast, living with his unfeeling father and superstitious brothers in a hovel outside Hameln. His grandmother has kept Salz alive by having him avoid the mead and beer commonly drunk by all and by teaching him how to clear his lungs.
When the townsfolk of Hameln are affected by a mold that grows on the hops -- poisoning their mead and beer -- Salz is one of the few who are unaffected. The mold's effect is hallucinogenic, and soon Hameln is in the grips of a plague of madness, followed by a plague of rats. It is only Salz who can proclaim the truth -- although it might cost him his life.

About The Author

Photo Credit:
Donna Jo Napoli

Donna Jo Napoli is the acclaimed and award-winning author of many novels, both fantasies and contemporary stories. She won the Golden Kite Award for Stones in Water in 1997. Her novel Zel was named an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists, a Publishers Weekly Best Book, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon, and a School Library Journal Best Book, and a number of her novels have been selected as ALA Best Books. She is a professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband. Visit her at DonnaJoNapoli.com.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (May 11, 2010)
  • Length: 272 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781439132227
  • Ages: 12 - 99

Raves and Reviews

"A compelling mystery...fully realized characters bring life to the legend."
-- Kirkus Reviews

"[An] achingly poignant story about survival and the power of love."
-- VOYA

Awards and Honors

  • ALA Best Books For Young Adults
  • Riverbank Review Books of Distinction Finalist
  • Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
  • Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers Nominee

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More books from this author: Donna Jo Napoli