The Grasshopper's Secret: A Magical Tale
A book for the child in every adult, and for the wisdom in every child. A story about the magic in daily life, the mystery in human relationships, and the powers of healing through understanding and compassion. Zelda is a feisty, often angry thirteen-year-old girl in Los Angeles. She resents the arrival in her family of an orphaned German boy who is eleven and brings with him only a battered suitcase, a grasshopper in a cage, and a troubled past. Zelda scorns the boy’s sensitivity, his eagerness to please, and his name Kidcou, short for Kid Courage. When she chances upon the secret of Kidcou’s grasshopper, she is taken on a magical journey. She becomes the witness of the dramatic story of Kidcou’s life in Europe. In the course of the events, she notices that the Grasshopper is plotting something, and that she herself may be part of the plot. As the suspense grows, everything comes to depend on Zelda. Will she guess the Grasshopper’s intentions and understand her mission? Will she be able to enter Kidcou’s story and change his destiny?
Reviews
“Time travel with a grasshopper! This is a cute, literate story about a thirteen-year-old girl named Zelda and Kidcou, an orphaned German boy of eleven, who her parents have taken in. Zelda resents Kidcou—he is everything that she is not—sensitive, eager to please, sociable. Her parents seem to like him more than her! But when Zelda finds that Kidcou’s grasshopper can take her on a journey to the past in Italy, she discovers (like Scrooge via the three ghosts of Christmas) that she has a heart after all. A light read, but satisfying. For 5th – 8th graders.” Debbie Reagan, Bay Area Young Adult Librarians
“This ‘magical tale’ is not a children’s book, yet similar to Harry Potter, both adults and children alike will enjoy it.” –Anon
Time travel with a grasshopper! This is a cute, literate story about a thirteen-year-old girl named Zelda and Kidcou, an orphaned German boy of eleven, who her parents have taken in. Zelda resents Kidcou—he is everything that she is not—sensitive, eager to please, sociable. Her parents seem to like him more than her! But when Zelda finds that Kidcou’s grasshopper can take her on a journey to the past in Italy, she discovers (like Scrooge via the three ghosts of Christmas) that she has a heart after all. A light read, but satisfying. For 5th – 8th graders. Debbie Reagan, Bay Area Young Adult Librarians
The Grasshopper’s Secret is a story about the magic in everyday life, the wisdom of nature, the mystery in human relationships, and the powers of healing through understanding and compassion.
In this story the characters can easily identify with real life teenage kids who rebel in their own way, trying to find their own personality through their unique magical journey in life. The writer touches our hearts from the very first chapter of this book and makes the readers feel they have to read on to see how the story unfolds.
The plot has a tint of magic, combined with geography and history, and they blend together in such a perfect way that the outcome is a compelling, magical story.
The Grasshopper’s Secret is also moving and highly enjoyable, and caters to all, young and old. Renate Stendhal has definitely found the magic wand that transforms stories into mysteries. The author shows her magic in many parts of the story, such as when the grasshopper gets ready to take the heroine on a magical journey to Italy: ‘The grasshopper was growing . Or was she shrinking? Her body seemed to be falling away, weightless, to be lifted in the air by the curious gaze that wouldn’t let go of her. She tried to scream but the rushing of a strong wind pressed the scream back into her throat.’ The Grasshopper’s Secret is a good read for everyone who loves fiction. Liana Metal, The Compulsive Reader