Amiri & Odette: A Love Story by Walter Dean Myers,with paintings by Javaka Steptoe
Why did I read it?
My sister grabbed this book from the library, and when she finished reading it, I couldn't resist the uniqueness of the cover and idea behind the adaptation.
What happened?
Amiri is the prince of the basketball courts in the Swan Lake Projects. While he appears to own and conquer all he sees and all who challenge him, his mother worries. She understands the violence and danger of his urban life, and wants him to settle down.
Later that night, his mother's desires become his desires, as he meets the girl of his dreams. But a dangerous curse separates their new found love as Odette is promised to Big Red. While Odette believes herself irrevocably chained, Amiri believes their love is stronger than any other tie.
But, defeating Big Red and holding onto the love that they have found will be even more difficult and dangerous than either can imagine.
What did I like or not like?
As Myers puts out in his introduction, the story of Swan Lake has been told in Celtic, Russian, Slavic, and Arabian folklore, and is best known for the Tchaikovsky ballet version of the tale. But Myers felt it appropriate to tell the tale again as he believed modern dangers in young people's lives today are similar to the magic spells of folklore.
Myers sets his retelling of the classic tale in a housing project, relates the action in verse form, and has his words accompanied by collage-on-cinder-block paintings by Javaka Steptoe.
I thought the combination of urban poem and paintings was a new and interesting way to portray the timeless themes and story of Swan Lake.
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