The Seventh Raven written by David Elliott, reviewed by Bethany Bratney

Summary:  Based on the Grimm’s Fairy Tale “The Seven Ravens”, The Seventh Raven begins in a house with seven sons, six named Jack (after their father) and the youngest named Robyn. Robyn always feels different, left out, and unseen among his brothers. The parents have always wished for a girl. When they are finally blessed with a daughter, she is born sickly. Her father, in a moment of desperation, thinks that he would sacrifice his sons if his daughter could live. The sons all become ravens, and the daughter, April, survives. The Jacks all hate being ravens, but Robyn, ever different, relishes in the freedom of flight. April believes herself to be an only child until her teen years, when the truth is finally revealed to her, and she sets out on a long and dangerous quest to find and rescue her brothers.

Straight Talk for Librarians:  The Seventh Raven should have a place in any high school library, and most middle school libraries as well. It hauntingly reimagines the original fairy tale with perfectly honed adaptations that allow the story to center concepts of identity and feeling different from those around you. Elliott thoughtfully and beautifully uses different patterns of poetic verse and rhyme scheme to convey the different speaking characters as well as the narrator of the story. Black and white ink drawings by Rovina Cai accompany the verse, adding to the somber and mysterious tone of the story. Curricular connections abound in ELA as this book could easily be tied to folktale, fairy tales, adaptations, poetry units, or analyzed for its own significant literary merit. Though the tale can be slightly macabre at times (e.g. removal of a finger to be used as a tool), it is unlikely to shock even middle school students, though the deliberate variation of rhyme scheme for different characters may prove a bit more challenging for younger readers. The book may require some advertising, but the beautiful cover and creepy vibes will help to sell it, and verse novel enthusiasts will gravitate towards it naturally.