The Silver Bowl (Silver Bowl, 1)

There's a touch of Upstairs, Downstairs in this book about a roughly raised poor girl who is sent to the king's castle to work as a scullery maid when she is only seven. Little by little, she learns to get along with the castle staff and do a good job. Her one encounter with royalty tells her that princes are snobs. But she rolls up her sleeves and gets back to scrubbing the pots, encouraged in her endeavors by her friend Tobias, the donkey boy. In time Molly is promoted to silver polisher, and her life path seems plain. She ignores the fact that she once saw a vision of the future, telling herself she imagined it.Except--it turns out the royal family has been cursed, and the irrepressible Molly learns she has a strange connection to the events of the cursing. But first the king and his sons suffer greatly, until the entire castle worries what might happen next. And Molly starts seeing more visions in the great silver bowl she has been assigned to polish by Thomas, the keeper of the castle's silver. Molly had believed what she was told as a child, that her mother was crazy, but was she really just a witch? And is Molly a witch, too?When things get bad for Prince Alaric, Molly and Tobias take a series of huge risks to protect him. I like the way their cleverness and practicality makes them perfectly capable of handling a horrible situation. Under pressure, Molly and her friend's qualities shine like polished silver.Part mystery, part fairy tale, part reconciliation of class differences, The Silver Bowl is altogether satisfying as the pieces come together. Molly uses her visions from the bowl to help solve the mystery, though she has difficulty figuring out who the true villain might be, to her great peril. Fortunately, Tobias is there to help, and even Alaric begins to contribute usefully and a bit more humbly to their plans. Stanley builds suspense as Alaric becomes the last royal standing and his common-born friends turn out to be the only ones capable of saving his throne from his greedy cousins and the shadowy figure of the curse-maker.Here's an excerpt from a scene early in the book, when Tobias takes Molly upstairs in the castle:"'We must be silent as ghosts, Molly. And if one of them should come into the room, look down in a very respectful manner, and do not meet their eyes, for they don't wish to be reminded we are about.''Why? If I had a castle full of servants, I'd be glad to be reminded of it.''Well, they are not. We are as common as lice to them, and just as interesting.'"Diane Stanley's message about valuing those who seem to have less social value doesn't distract from the sweep of her storytelling in this well-written fantasy. I recommend it to fans of books like Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted, Shannon Hale's Princess Academy, and Jessica Day George's Princess of the Midnight Ball.Note for Worried Parents: The Silver Bowl is being marketed for teens (YA), perhaps because of a handful of grisly deaths and some peril, along with the eventual ages of the protagonists, but it reads as upper middle grade (MG) to me.

I love this book as well as the one succeeding it, and I just now have decided to re-read them. I have not read the third book yet as I forgot of its existence, but I can't wait to. These books are filled to the brim with adventure and evolution of character. I couldn't take my eyes off the page, resulting in being up till midnight to finish. I suggest to anyone to give this book a try, for fantastical adventures lie within.

Full of daring-do, practical magic, and a bit of mystery, the heroine is refreshingly honest and accessible. She's a person of the working class. The sub themes of common humanity trumping the feudal caste system, a lowly woman trumping the royals -- it is very satisfying how the author works it out. A very entertaining read.

An unremarkable, but interesting enough to make it a quick readthis is a review of my second reading of this book. It sat on my shelf for a few years before I got around to re reading it.It's a decent written story with a good enough plot that I kept it .Sadly it really somewhat forgettable (no, really, 2 days later I can't remember it !) . I would gauge that It's 4-6th grade reading interest, as it has a strong female character,mild intrigue, mystery & a very small bit of romance. (friendship that grows into a deeper affection).I'll keep it because there are so few non depressing books & fewer still that nave no objectionable material , it will go back on my shelf of books as it's a nice little adventure book that I don't have to have regrets about giving a grandkid

The story takes place during the Middle Ages and offers an interesting twist to the thinking during that time. It is a story that has history, adventure, fantasy, and a decent story line. Good for both boys and girls.

This book is a quick and interesting read. The author did a wonderful job of weaving the fantasy into the history of the times

This book was purchased at the request of my teenage daughter so I cannot provide a helpful review. What I can say, from my daughter's actions, is that the book "smells" good. Not sure what it is about new books, but the first thing she does is randomly open the book and stick her face in it to get a whiff. Her reaction indicated that it did pass the "smell" test. That is worth two stars in my book as a dad. The book did arrive before the expected time in good condition which is also worth two stars. As far as content, I will probably never be able to review that since there are many other books that are much higher up my reading list.

I like how this book includes real historical elements that explain the commoners lives and the differences in the classes. I would recommend this book for fourth grade and up.