Summary: Plain Kate is the best carver in her village, second only to her father. When father dies, she is left with nothing. She tries to out eek out a living, but strange things start to happen and the people of the village accuse her of being a witch. She makes a deal with a mysterious man named Linnay. He helps her escape the village and gives her cat Taggle the power of speech, but in return he takes her shadow. Plain Kate starts traveling with a group of people called Roamers, but soon they turn on her as well. She eventually meets up with Linnay again and discovers that he is using her shadow as part of a powerful spell that will harm many people. Plain Kate must rely on her bravery and her true friends to put a stop to Linnay’s plan.Citation: Bow, E. (2010). Plain Kate. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books.
Impression: Plain Kate is a very moving story. This is due in part to Bow’s simple yet lyrical writing style. For example, when Kate finds a note from Linnay, Bow describes the handwriting as “so fierce it threatened to topple and break like a wave,” (p. 310). Kate is such a likable and admirable heroine, and the reader feels sorry for the trials she suffers— the death of her father, her treatment at the hands of her village and then the Roamers, and her efforts to stop Linnay. The ending is ultimately hopeful, but there is a feeling of sadness and loss that runs throughout most of the book. However, Bow does provide some comic relief in Kate’s cat Taggle. Taggle is one of my new favorite animal characters in literature. He provides a few welcome moments of levity that offset the otherwise somber mood of the book. Bow gives him some witty one-liners that made me laugh out loud and wish my own two cats could talk.
Review:
Kirkus:
Bow's debut novel takes the stuff of Disney (spunky orphaned heroine and talking animal sidekick) and uses it to tell a surprisingly dark fantasy. When Plain Kate, an orphaned woodcarver, trades her shadow to Linay, a wandering stranger, for her heart's desire, she gets more than expected: The deal draws her (and her now-talking cat) into Linay's scheme to destroy those who burned his sister as a witch and throws her in with the Roamers (gypsies), who are more tied to Linay than Plain Kate could have guessed. The vaguely medieval, quasi-Eastern European setting works well, especially with the Roamer elements, but the real strength is the characterization; even cold, often cruel Linay evokes sympathy, and Taggle is a truly remarkable feline, especially as the power of speech renders him oddly human. Don't be fooled by Plain Kate's youth: This is full of blood magic and unhappy people doing unpleasant things, but there's lots of heart and redemption, too. A haunting, chilling (but never gory or graphic) tale with a fantastic girl at its center.
(2010, September). [Review of the book Plain Kate, by E. Bow]. Kirkus Reviews, 78(17), 850. Retrieved from http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Uses in a library: This would be a great book to use as a part of a display or booktalk featuring books with strong heroines.
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