England's Queen Mary I has been known throughout history as Bloody Mary for the burning of some 300 Protestants considered heretics. This novel, written from Mary's point of view, covers Mary's life from age 10 to 20, when she fell from her position as cherished Princess of Wales to bastard daughter of King Henry VIII and his cast-off queen, Catherine of Aragon. Meyer underplays Mary's religious perspective, focusing more on her emotions--fear, abandonment, and, most of all, hatred for Henry's new love, Anne Boleyn, mother of Elizabeth I. Forced to wait on the baby Elizabeth, and scolded abusively, Mary nonetheless formed a strong affection for her half sister, one that is not reflected in Kathryn Lasky's book about Elizabeth, reviewed elsewhere in this issue. Meyer writes powerfully and sympathetically, mixing the grim details of life in the 1500s with glamorous, fascinating descriptions of life in the court of Henry VIII. This fine novel includes an eye-catching jacket and concludes with a historical note recounting the sad ending to Mary's life. (Reviewed September 15, 1999)

Although obviously sympathetic to Mary Tudor, King Henry VIII's oldest daughter, this is an engaging account of Mary's childhood and early adulthood. Long before she ascends the throne, Mary is dismayed by the way her mother is discarded by Henry after failing to produce a male heir. Jealous and bitter, Mary is nevertheless full of determination and strength. The period is well evoked, although the history lesson in this fiction is definitely one-sided.

<p>Meyer (Gideon's People, 1996, etc.) presents the youth of Mary Tudor, oldest daughter of Henry VIII, as a bitter tale of mistreatment, political machination, and battling wills. From the outset, Mary blames the witch, Anne Boleyn, for separating her and her mother, Catherine of Aragon, then depriving them of wealth and security; for persuading the king to declare Mary illegitimate; for forcing her at last into the role of scorned servant, charged with changing the infant Elizabeth's nappies. Certain that she will one day be queen, Mary fights back in the only ways she can, by becoming an accomplished spy, holding in her anger, and refusing for years to sign the acknowledgement of her illegitimacy. Meyer gives Mary, Henry, and Anne strong, distinct personalities and motives, enlivens historical events with closely observed details of dress and ceremony, and drives it all forward with engrossing emotional intensity--climaxed by an eyewitness's lingering account of Anne Boleyn's beheading: "" 'We heard the dreadful sound--there is none like it in all this world.' ""It's an absorbing story, compellingly told, and if Mary doesn't come off as the religious fanatic she evidently was, her later brutality is not soft-pedaled in the appended historical note. Follow this up with Rosalind Miles's equally powerful I, Elizabeth (1994).</p>

PW called this sympathetic portrait of Henry VIII's oldest daughter, before she earns her sanguinary nickname, a "riveting slice of fictional royal history." Ages 12-up. (Apr.)

PreS-Gr 2-A delightful and satisfying tale celebrating the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. According to tradition, Jews are supposed to eat dairy foods to commemorate the day that Moses received the Torah on Mount Sinai, and hardworking Sarah would love to make a mountain of cheese blintzes for her husband and five children. However, with such a large family to feed, she cannot afford to buy all the ingredients, until she comes up with an ingenious plan. For the two weeks preceding the holiday, she and her husband will each work a little extra, every day putting their additional earnings into a special coin box. With both of them saving a little each day, surely they will have enough by Shavuot. Of course, neither Sarah nor Max part with the extra coins, each rationalizing that the other will do so. Ultimately, it is their resourceful children who provide the ingredients for the celebratory mountain of blintzes. Loosely based on a traditional Chelm tale, this story is set in the Catskills in the late 1920s, providing a charming small-town locale for the sunny watercolor illustrations. Utilizing a bright, friendly palette and endearing pink-cheeked characters, the illustrations tell an amusing story within a story, as the children find their own ways to contribute to the Shavuot table. Background notes and recipe are included.-Teri Markson, Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary School, Los Angeles Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.