Alice Hoffman is at her magical best in a new novel about loss and healing. When her family is lost in a terrible disaster, 15-yr-old Green is haunted by loss and by the past. Struggling to survive physically and emotionally in a place where nothing seems to grow and ashes are everywhere, Green retreats into the ruined realm of her garden. But in destroying her feelings, she also begins to destroy herself, erasing the girl she'd once been as she inks ravens into her skin. It is only through a series of mysterious encounters -- with a ghostly white dog and a mute boy -- that Green relearns the lessons of love and begins to heal as she tells her own story. Hoffman's latest fable for teens begins with an apocalyptic scene that mirrors the events of 9111: a girl watches as her city across the river explodes into smoke and fire, and people leap from buildings. Green, named for her uncanny gardening talent, is 15 years old, and, in the tragedy, she loses her beloved family. Faced with grief and an anarchic world, Green finds solace in the brittle numbness of daily tasks and in the pain of the tattoos t@.aL- she b-@gir.,.- to dr--v,, or. herself. Slowly, she connects with survivors, especially a mysterious boy, who helps her replant her garden and feel joy again. Hoffman's lush prose and moody, magic realism will easily draw readers into the harsh, ash-covered world that follows the explosion, as well as the sunny world that precedes it, when "bees would drink the sweat from ... skin, and never once sting." Green's brave competence and the hope she finds in romance will appeal to many teens, particularly those with gothic tastes.---Booklist, April 15th, 2003Beautifully written prose fills this first-person narrative of a teen whose world is turned around in an instant. This is both a survival story and an homage to the need to cherish life's every moment. Moody, introspective Green, 15, stays at home while her parents and younger sister travel to the city to sell their produce. Her disappointment at being left behind causes her to be cold and not say good-bye. Then the city is engulfed in flames, and ashes hover in the atmosphere for a long time. Green is left with her guilt for her sullen behavior and the solitude of her ruined garden. Hoffman has created a multilayered, believable protagonist. Readers suffer along with her and share her fears as she tries to pick up the pieces of her life. The contrast between her original faith in the promise of the future and her later acknowledgment of the tentative nature of reality is vividly and eloquently portrayed. This is not an easy read, and though it is an absorbing tale, it will most likely appeal to more sophisticated readers. A powerfully written and thought-provoking selection--School Library Journal, March 2003, starred review.The subject of Hoffman's second fairy-tale novel for children is considerably darker than that of the first, the light mermaid fantasy Aquamarine, but it does fill the pages of a novel more successfully. From her idyllic village home, Green watches as the city across the river is suddenly blown to bits--the city where her beloved family has gone to sell the vegetables they grow. As ash and embers fly across the river, nearly blinding Green and covering everything in soot, she begins her transformation. Sewing thorns to her clothes and nails to her boots, Green tries to create a shield against grief, against all feeling. She covers her body in black tattoos and takes the name Ash. Her journey, we know, will be to rediscover the life (or Green) inside her armor. The tragic events are softened by the distance and magic of once-upon-a-time. A weak girl whom Ash cannot save seems to have "drifted into the fire [and] turned into smoke." A badly burned boy appears at Ash's door like the wounded animals before him; as he regenerates her forsaken garden, her...