Category: Children Publisher: Diving Boy Books
ISBN-10: 0990932834
Type: Fiction
Pages: 170
Copyright: Feb 3, 2015
ISBN-13: 9780990932833
Price: $3.99 (eBook)
Pearl can't move. She's never wanted to until now. Pearl is a statue carved of milk-white stone that has stood on the floor of an ancient sea for a thousand years, but she's waking up, and she wants more.
Pearl can’t move. She’s never wanted to, until now. Life above the waves beckons to her as she watches the boats moving along the surface of the water above her. Pearl is a statue carved of milk-white stone that has stood on the floor of an ancient sea for a thousand years, but she’s waking up, and she wants more. As desire builds within her, it propels her on a journey that takes her to an exotic island grotto, into the midst of a bloody revolution, underground into a rat-infested tomb, and, at last, to a magical mountain paradise. Crazed rebels, wise philosophers, greedy grave robbers, and a few other friendly people and fish accompany her along the way, as she asks the question, “Is desire enough?” She'll have to have faith in the stars. She'll have to muster more courage than she's ever imagined. But perhaps by journey's end, Pearl will believe in herself, experience a miracle, and realize her greatest desire of all.
Excerpt
CHAPTER ONE
She was a girl carved from the purest milk-white stone and she rested on the floor of the sea at a depth just far enough down that the wavy light filtered all around her, illuminating her watery world from above.
Of course, she couldn’t remember her birth. And she had no recollection of how she had come to be at the bottom of the sea. Because it was all she had ever known, the stone girl assumed it was how it had always been, and for centuries she accepted that simple idea as the explanation for her own existence.
The girl’s amusements - the ways in which she passed her time - were few, but pleasurable. Sometimes a pair of sleek dolphins cruised by in the near distance. They danced a twirling ballet for the girl as they passed. At other times a purple octopus slithered over her bare feet, its tentacles tickling her toes.
But the little yellow minnows had become the stone girl’s dearest friends. They were so curious and nervous and shimmery. They often swam just beyond the end of her nose, and for an instant their shining eyes would peer inquisitively into her own.
It was in those rare moments, when the light from above was aligned with the position of the fish floating before her, that the girl was granted her only glimpse of her own appearance. At those times a minnow’s eye became a tiny, bulging mirror. The girl would look into that mirror, and into the distorted reflection of her own pale face. She noted the taciturn smile faintly etched on her lips. She studied her own innocent eyes gazing back at herself from the green-blue sea.
The girl often wondered what the look in her eyes might mean. It was impossible to know if it was a look of great sadness or great joy, of thoughtfulness or simply a blank stare. The subtle style in which she had been created over a thousand years before, along with the tiny size of the minnow’s eye, made it hard for her to discern the exact emotions displayed on her face.
Perhaps, she told herself, it’s all the feelings mixed up together.
Before she could decide for sure, the fish with mirrors for eyes would dart away. Those yellow minnows always made the girl laugh, albeit in her own silent way.
But when her bright yellow friends were busy elsewhere, doing whatever it was that fish had to do, the girl was left with no other occupation but to gaze at her own thin arm.
That arm, with its delicate hand opening like a white starfish beyond her wrist, was all the girl had ever known of her body. In the motionless, statuesque pose that she held, her arm was all she could see. It stretched before her out of the edge of her vision. And because she was standing at a slight angle leaning back, her arm was held so that she seemed always to be reaching toward the glittering ceiling of the sea.
The girl loved her arm. Over time she had come to fondly appreciate her hand as well, although she didn’t understand either one of them. They were like mysterious parts of a dream she just couldn’t quite remember. But it gave the girl a good feeling to look at her arm and hand, the feeling that there was some kind of magic and hope hidden away inside her secretive soul of stone.
Time passed beneath the sea, as time does everywhere - silently, slowly - each moment slipping into the edge of the next moment to follow like a shadow passing through a door. The girl felt neither overly happy, nor sad; neither desirous, nor dreadful. Except for her girlish appearance, she seemed to have very few of the qualities associated with regular girls made of flesh and blood. There in that deep water, quiet as a barnacle, she lived an elemental life.
But then came the night when everything changed.
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Reviews for "Pearl"
Reviewed by Rivalie Chiang
3/22/2018
This was such an interesting novel! At first, there were some parts that seemed confusing but it was so cool to see how Brian Kindall turned a girl of stone into someone you sympathized and cared for. I'm still a bit iffy on the delivery of the story - I think the author has such a fascinating idea for this story but the execution was a bit weak but that could be attributed to the fact that the story was so short. Either way, I enjoyed the story and am interested to see more of Kindall's works.
Reviewed by Amanda Peck
2/25/2018
This was a very unique story. It focuses on Pearl, a statue who travels from the bottom of the ocean to many different places and encounters many people.
The story is a middle grade novel but I enjoyed it quite a bit. The writing style was very accessible for the middle grade reading level but didn't feel juvenile. There is a lot of depth to the story and it is quite thought provoking.
I enjoyed this story because it was unlike any book I've ever read. I also adored the innocence of Pearl and seeing the world through her eyes. There were sad moments and sweet moments and the ending was completely unexpected and delightful.
I highly recommend this story to children and adults alike!
I received a copy of this book from the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Reviewed by Amy Campbell
1/26/2018
Pearl is a good middle grade book. It has a wonderful lesson for children to learn and recommend it. I give it 4 stars.
Definitely worth a read.
Reviewed by Nicole baker
12/31/2017
I think the book is really creative and imaginative. I read the book with my son and we both really enjoyed it. It was a nice read that allowed us to know the character's and geel like we were on a journey. I would definitely recommend this book. I will be listing it on my teacher perferred reading list for my class. I dont think i will let them borrow my copy :)
This is a fascinating, memorable book--one that keeps you thinking about it. For our children, it is an amazing adventure. One that I think they will enjoy. But also adults? Parents? There is much to be considered in this story...
Do you encourage your children to read, to dream, to imagine? While I was reading this fantasy, I kept thinking about having the faith of a mustard seed...for surely Pearl did... Pearl is our main character, made of stone. She has lived under the sea for hundreds of year. Though made of stone, she is able to see what is around her, hear, and think... Up until our story begins, the only living creatures around her were creatures of the sea. Although she didn't know the names of what she saw, she had learned of the difference between night and day since darkness surrounded her most of the time. Only when the sun shown brightly down through the sea could she really see and appreciate the beauty in which she lived... She loved the little yellow minnows who she thought of as friends and decided they must be pieces of the sun, that beautiful light that was the same color as the little fish which came up to her, swimming around her.
She had been content for so long, but new feelings had been discovered when she saw large shadows on the surface, above her. She was afraid. But, more, she began to feel a longing... She wanted something more than she had...
And then the day came when a young boy came out of something sitting on top of the water and he began to come close...closer... But she could not move, she could not hide...
The boy introduced himself as Niko and went on further to explain that everybody called him Diving Boy. He proudly told her that he was now, after many years, the greatest diver in all of the Aegean Sea. He asked for the girl's name and then realized that she would not respond... Niko told her she was a pretty girl and then decided to call her Pearl, after his mother. Strange, fluttery feelings were developing inside of Pearl, the stone girl...
And after getting some rope from his boat, Niko pulled her up, out of the sea and to the surface, where the sun felt hot on her body...at least that's what Niko told her as he directed his skiff toward a place only he knew about, inside of a mountain and there in a grotto, Pearl and Niko spent much time as Niko visited often to talk to her...
But Diving Boy grew older, while Pearl remained a girl... He had met a young woman and planned their marriage...the only treasure he had to sell...was Pearl...
Thankfully, the man who bought her appreciated her artistic value. In fact, he had already acquired two other statues... Pearl learned that Hero was one of them, while Sage, who became her teacher and mentor, was an elder man who had learned much and was quite willing to teach Pearl when she begged him to help her...
Pearl learned fast, but long before she had learned enough, it happened...
Pearl was once again alone, but there was always somebody who saw her beauty and wanted to save it...
Readers will become enchanted with the adventure woven around a stone girl who became Pearl... But for Pearl, what was happening was that she was learning more and more, yet...yearning for even more...
Still, the climax caught me off guard, even though I was thinking of how the book might end. The pace of the book is slow, more to allow what is happening and being learned to take primary place for Pearl, then the actual adventure that seems to "happen" to her. You might say that she hadn't yet learned that sometimes asking for what you want doesn't always work out!
Dreams play an interesting part in the book and could lead to children trying to better remember their dreams and how they might be used to consider what is happening in their lives. Another possibility is that a shy child might find that being silent may be something they want to learn to get over and to begin to interact with others, even if they, too, are isolated and separated from others... In fact, all that came to mind as I read is far more than I am able to include in this review... The book is intriguing, yes, but it is also a lovely story in many ways... This would be an exceptional book to read together, even if separately, and talk to your child about what he finds of most interest... You might be surprised... Do check it out--maybe a stocking stuffer!!!
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