“Swallow’s Dance” was a fascinating and heartbreaking book that offered a glimpse into life in the Bronze Age.

Leira is about to complete her initiation as Priestess when an Earthquake destroys the life she knows, and the future she expects. She’s forced to start over in Crete. But more tragedies ensue.

This was a powerful, heavy book. The pacing was slow, and I found it difficult to get through this book. I’m glad I persevered. This book shattered me.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I love that this story is blended with verse. That makes is appealing to my middle grade students. Swallow's Dance is a wonderful story that involves so much culture as Leira's family tries to survive natural disasters.

I wanted to read Swallow’s Dance because something about the story reminded me of Tracy Higley’s City on Fire. Like City on Fire, Swallow’s Dance is the story of a family who flee from a natural disaster. Leira’s family loses everything when a tsunami and volcanic eruption devour her home and village. But Leira’s unconquerable spirit drives her onward, fighting to survive in places where her once prestigious heritage is spurned. Her strength and fierceness made me invest so much in the book. I found myself really wanting her to find peace and happiness.

Honestly, I found it easy to invest in all of the major characters. Even though Leira’s mom suffers a brain injury and barely speaks, she’s a colorful character and never has trouble expressing her emotions. Even the cranky Nunu won me over with her devotion to Leira and her mom.

The cultural details about the girls studying to serve their goddess and gathering saffron all added a richness to the story. I don’t normally read historical fiction and I don’t know much about this time period, so I can’t weigh in on how accurate the details are, but it all felt very well-researched and I found it easy to get lost in the vivid setting.

I liked the way the story blended prose and poetry, too. I’ve never seen that done before, but often I didn’t notice the transitions. I read the poetry faster, so it really worked to have that in the higher action parts of the story, because it felt like things sped up since I was literally reading faster.

Historical fans and readers who enjoy female-centered books like A Single Stone by Meg McKinlay will love Swallow’s Dance.

The author of Nim’s Island brings readers another island adventure tale about a young girl on an island in the Mediterranean who shares her tale with readers of growing, love, loss, and grief as only the very young can say it. The narrative deftly shifts from prose to poetry and back in a long story-dirge that reminds the world of an island lost to ash and fire long ago.

Perhaps one of the most beautiful middle grade/young adult novels I have ever read, Swallow’s Dance is a book I will require my students to read while they study Ancient Greece and the civilizations around the Mediterranean. This book will supplement any history curriculum and will make a fine leisure read as well. Young readers will not walk away from this book with only a story-the triumph of Leira will linger on their hearts well into adulthood, as many of the great books we adult readers read as children stick with us even in our older age.

Wendy Orr also expands the literary style of the typical middle grade novel to encompass more than just prose writing. Lyrical writing and poetic narrative are becoming more popular, as some recently published novels, such as Inside Out and Back Again are written entirely in verse and tell a story, akin to the epic poetry of old. Though the writing style of narrative verse is not for everyone, it could be if it were introduced in the middle grade reading years, as much of the literature of history is written in verse (The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, etc.). This is a read children should definitely not miss.

I thought it was going to be more interesting. , but no. I really don;t care for books in verse much either. I gave it a shot, but couldn't finish it. I am sure some YA is going to enjoy this story. But, as I am not in that category, it wasn't for me. Sorry.