I, Coriander facts for kids
First edition
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| Author | Sally Gardner |
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| Illustrator | Lydia Corry |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's |
| Publisher | Orion Children's Books |
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Publication date
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4 August 2005 |
| Pages | 320 pp |
| ISBN | 978-1-84255-290-2 |
| OCLC | 59878419 |
| 823.914 22 | |
| LC Class | MLCS 2006/45011 |
I, Coriander is an exciting fantasy novel for young adults. It was written by Sally Gardner and came out in 2005. The story takes place in London during a tough time in history. This was when the Puritans were in charge, after King Charles I lost his head. The book follows events from that time until King Charles II returned to the throne.
The novel won the top Nestlé Children's Book Prize Gold Award. It was also a finalist for the British Children's Book of the Year. Plus, it was considered for the famous Carnegie Medal.
Contents
Story of Coriander
The book tells the story of a girl named Coriander. She lives in the 1600s. Coriander Hobie is born to a rich merchant who lives by the River Thames. This is a few years before the English Civil War begins. The story is told by Coriander herself, sharing her early childhood memories.
Early Life and Magic Shoes
Coriander doesn't pay much attention to the politics around her. She focuses on her mother's special medicines. Her mother gives these to their neighbors. She also tells Coriander magical fairy stories. Coriander's room is full of paintings of golden creatures.
One day, Coriander gets a gift of silver shoes. Her mother tells her not to wear them. She hides them above a wardrobe. A stuffed alligator is also there, which scares Coriander. But Coriander is a curious child. She secretly tries on the silver shoes.
The first time she wears them, strange things happen. She sees things that aren't real. She disappears on a bridge with a family servant. They reappear minutes later, both very shaken. Her mother insists the shoes stay hidden. Coriander begs for them back.
On Coriander's ninth birthday, her mother finally lets her have the shoes. Soon after, a dark raven flies into their house. Coriander doesn't understand why, but her mother dies shortly after this event.
A Secret and a New Family
While her father is sad, there are hints that Coriander's mother was not fully human. She might have been from a magical fairy world. It seems she had a special fairy item. This item might have saved her life. Coriander's father hides this item. He puts it near the stuffed alligator, where the silver shoes used to be.
People in the neighborhood start to talk. They say Coriander's father supports the King. They also call his late wife a witch. To protect Coriander, her father decides to remarry. He chooses a strict Puritan woman named Maud Leggs.
Maud immediately changes Coriander's life. Maud brings her own daughter, Hester, who is kind to Coriander. But this doesn't make up for Maud's cruel treatment.
Life Under Puritan Rule
Coriander's father is away more and more on business. This happens as Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans gain power. Soon, there's a warrant for her father's arrest. To escape, he flees to France. Coriander is left with her stepmother and stepsister.
Without her father there, Maud takes complete control. She sells all their nice furniture. She scrubs all the beautiful paintings from Coriander's room. Maud also invites a cruel Puritan Preacher, Arise Fell, to live with them.
The preacher and Maud treat Coriander very badly. They tell her she must change her name to Ann. They beat her whenever she refuses to use the new name. Soon, they fire Coriander's favorite servant. This servant, along with Hester, was her only friend.
After Coriander hides a doll, her stepmother gets very angry. She cuts Coriander's hair. Then, the preacher and Maud lock Coriander in a red chest. They hope she will run out of air.
Journey to the Fairy World
Instead of suffocating, Coriander is transported to the Fairies' world. An old man named Medlar helps her. He says he knew her parents. In the Fairy world, Coriander is a tiny blue light. No one can see her except Medlar.
Medlar shows her that her mother was a Fairy Princess. She was the daughter of the Fairy King. Before her mother left the Fairy world for the human world, her father remarried. He married a dark fairy named Queen Rosemore. Rosemore wanted to steal her mother's fairy shadow. This shadow was the source of her mother's power.
Now, Rosemore plans for her own daughter to marry a fairy prince, Tycho. But Tycho doesn't want to marry her. Coriander accidentally meets Tycho. She tells him to stand up to Rosemore and fight back. Rosemore has threatened to turn him into a fox and have giants hunt him if he refuses.
Return to the Human World
Too soon for Coriander, she wakes up from the Fairy World. She is back in the chest in her father's house. The police and a kind neighbor are there. They expect to find her bones. In the human world, years have passed. But Coriander felt like she was only gone for a little more than a day.
Coriander is freed from the house. She now lives with the neighbor, who is a kind tailor. The tailor has an apprentice who loves Hester. But they couldn't save Hester at that time. Coriander barely has time to get used to her new life. She is now a teenager, much bigger than she was. She is also worried about Tycho, whom she has fallen in love with.
The tailor's apprentice warns her. Maud and the preacher are about to kill Hester. They tried to do the same thing to Coriander.
Rescue and a New Plan
Coriander dresses up as a boy. She breaks into her old home with the tailor's apprentice. They want to rescue Hester. But they overhear Queen Rosemore meeting with the preacher and Maud. Rosemore is angry that Coriander is not dead. She is also upset that her mother's shadow is not hers.
Coriander and the apprentice escape with Hester. But Coriander decides she must go back for her mother's shadow.
Once Hester feels a bit better, Coriander agrees to write down her story. Hester cannot read or write. Just as Coriander is writing her own story in the book, she writes Hester's account of her sad childhood.
Claiming the Shadow
Coriander decides she won't let Rosemore win. She must go back to the house to get her mother's shadow. It rightfully belongs to her. She returns to the house in her disguise. She finds that the stuffed alligator has come alive with her mother's magic. It is guarding the shadow from the preacher and Maud.
Coriander can approach the alligator without fear. When she takes her mother's shadow, she is transported to the fairy world again. It is now the middle of winter there. Tycho has become a fox. He is still running from the giants because he refused to marry Rosemore's daughter.
Coriander finds him. He is badly hurt by arrows. She spends the night in a barn, crying over his body. When morning comes, she wakes up to find the fox gone. Tycho has been restored as a human for the day. He looks messy and tired, but he will become a fox again.
Love and Choices
Coriander faces Rosemore. She does not give up the shadow. Tycho becomes fully human again. He tells Coriander he loves her. He asks her to stay with him in his kingdom. She loves him too, but she says no. She feels it is her duty to return to her father.
In the human world, a year has passed. Hester has a child. Edmund Bedwell asks Coriander to marry him. But she refuses. She is still in love with Tycho. She is very sad without him. One day, she goes for a walk. She sees him and rushes into his arms.
