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Odwrócone
"Wymamrotałam modlitwę, którą powtarzałyśmy, odkąd nauczyłyśmy się mówić:
– Niech zapomnę, że mam oczy. Niech zapomnę, że jestem sobą. [...]
Byłam jedną z odwróconych i wiedziałam, że muzyka należy do Mistrzów".
Dwunastoletnia Delphernia całe życie spędziła w klasztorze, którego kamienna kopuła, zgodnie z prawem miasta Blajbakan, odgradza odwrócone dziewczęta od morza, nieba, świata… Na zewnątrz Mistrzowie – wyłącznie chłopcy i mężczyźni – grają muzykę. W środku odwrócone w milczeniu, bez słowa, przemieniają tę muzykę w złoto. Matka Dziewięć nazywa to wytwarzaniem migotu.
Delphernia jednak nie umie wytwarzać migotu. I woli śpiewać, zamiast milczeć.
Gdy do klasztoru przybywa Mistrz, który nie zachowuje się jak Mistrz, dziewczyna ma szansę wyrwać się ze swojego więzienia. Na zewnątrz, poza murami klasztoru, morze dyszy jak dzikie zwierzę, niebo spogląda z góry tysiącami gwiazd przypominających oczy, a tajemniczy ogród ma liście ostre jak szpony. Delphernia poznaje księcia mówiącego cytatami z poezji oraz dziewczynę o zadziwiającej odwadze i niezależności. Uwikłana w rozgrywki złowieszczo milczącego Kuratora i nieprzeniknionej królowej, Delphernia pojmuje, że choć uwolniła się z klasztoru, w Blajbakanie nigdy nie będzie wolna.
Blajbakan zaś nie stanie się wolny bez niej.
– Niech zapomnę, że mam oczy. Niech zapomnę, że jestem sobą. [...]
Byłam jedną z odwróconych i wiedziałam, że muzyka należy do Mistrzów".
Dwunastoletnia Delphernia całe życie spędziła w klasztorze, którego kamienna kopuła, zgodnie z prawem miasta Blajbakan, odgradza odwrócone dziewczęta od morza, nieba, świata… Na zewnątrz Mistrzowie – wyłącznie chłopcy i mężczyźni – grają muzykę. W środku odwrócone w milczeniu, bez słowa, przemieniają tę muzykę w złoto. Matka Dziewięć nazywa to wytwarzaniem migotu.
Delphernia jednak nie umie wytwarzać migotu. I woli śpiewać, zamiast milczeć.
Gdy do klasztoru przybywa Mistrz, który nie zachowuje się jak Mistrz, dziewczyna ma szansę wyrwać się ze swojego więzienia. Na zewnątrz, poza murami klasztoru, morze dyszy jak dzikie zwierzę, niebo spogląda z góry tysiącami gwiazd przypominających oczy, a tajemniczy ogród ma liście ostre jak szpony. Delphernia poznaje księcia mówiącego cytatami z poezji oraz dziewczynę o zadziwiającej odwadze i niezależności. Uwikłana w rozgrywki złowieszczo milczącego Kuratora i nieprzeniknionej królowej, Delphernia pojmuje, że choć uwolniła się z klasztoru, w Blajbakanie nigdy nie będzie wolna.
Blajbakan zaś nie stanie się wolny bez niej.
272 pages, Paperback
First published October 9, 2018
About the author
Hayley Chewins
5 books139 followersHayley Chewins is an award-winning author of middle grade fantasy and a published poet. Her debut novel, THE TURNAWAY GIRLS (Candlewick, 2018), received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and was named a Kirkus Best Book of 2018 as well as a 2019 Amelia Bloomer List pick. Her second novel, THE SISTERS OF STRAYGARDEN PLACE (Candlewick, 2020), also received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus, and was chosen as the 2020 Foreword Indies Gold Winner for Juvenile Fiction and an Amazon Best Book of the Month. Hayley is also the author of LOKI: SEASON ONE NOVEL (Marvel Press, 2023), a middle grade novelization of Marvel's LOKI television show, starring Tom Hiddleston. Her YA debut, I AM THE SWARM, is forthcoming from Viking Children's in 2025. Hayley lives with her family in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is the co-host, with Lindsay Eager, of the Story of the Book podcast, where she interviews authors about their publishing journeys. When she isn't writing books, Hayley sings and writes music for her alt-pop band with Alejandro Zarazua, EIGHT THOUSAND BIRDS.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
November 5, 2018
A debut that sings! Chewins introduces both an inventive idea (girls who weave gold from music) and a lyricism rarely found in middle-grade literature (best described as literary fantasy). The advanced diction and complexity of the story make it suitable for upper middle-grade readers (ages 10 to 14), but this book that blazes with sorrow and longing will likely enchant adults, too. Highly recommend to fans of The Girl Who Drank the Moon or anyone who enjoys a brooding tale centered on a girl with an unusual, forbidden talent.
September 17, 2018
A gorgeous cover The Turnaway Girls is a beautiful middle grade book that leads with the message of being your true self.
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review
January 8, 2019
Book Reviewed by Stacey on www.whisperingstories.com
Twelve-year-old Delphernia is a turnaway girl. She lives on Blightsend, a strange little island that seems to be ruled by the sea and lives inside in the cloisters. The job of the turnaway girls is to make gold by turning music into shimmer. They are not allowed to sing or the sea will take them. Deplhernia maybe a turnaway girl but she can’t make shimmer, she also has too many thoughts which annoy her teacher – Mother Nine. Plus, she really wants to sing.
Once a year masters come to choose a turnaway girl and those left become like slaves to Mother Nine. Just when all hope is lost and it seems that Delphernia won’t be chosen, a saviour comes for her. It is now her time to experience the outside, see the sky and be free. However, the outside is not as nice as it first seems and is full of mysteries.
The Turnaway Girls is an unusual, yet enchanting book about the plight of one twelve-year-old girl who has been brought up to believe she is nothing more than a girl to serve others and not worthy. A turnaway girl is someone who as a baby turns away from their reflection in the mirror placed inside their cot. They are brought up to turn music into shimmer (gold). Their purpose is to line the pockets of their masters.
As a baby the girls have part of their hearts taken, the part that stops them asking questions, however Delphernia was born at the time of a festival and so part of her heart wasn’t taken, because of this she has lots of questions and as she is different from the other girls she feels like she doesn’t fit in. This all infuriates Mother Nine who sees fit to punish her for any little thing she does wrong, Mother Nine doesn’t like different.
The story is about a young girl having felt like she doesn’t belong for the last twelve years suddenly realising that there is a big world outside of the cloister. She discovers that there are other people who feel like they don’t fit in and that sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in and be who you want to be.
The book is intriguing and poetic. At times it was a little confusing and I did re-read sections yet never once did I feel put out by this. This is a powerful debut from author Hayley Chewins and I’m sure lots of people will be able to identify with Delhernia about not being seen as ‘normal’. As her friend Linna says, ‘Odd people are the best’.
Twelve-year-old Delphernia is a turnaway girl. She lives on Blightsend, a strange little island that seems to be ruled by the sea and lives inside in the cloisters. The job of the turnaway girls is to make gold by turning music into shimmer. They are not allowed to sing or the sea will take them. Deplhernia maybe a turnaway girl but she can’t make shimmer, she also has too many thoughts which annoy her teacher – Mother Nine. Plus, she really wants to sing.
Once a year masters come to choose a turnaway girl and those left become like slaves to Mother Nine. Just when all hope is lost and it seems that Delphernia won’t be chosen, a saviour comes for her. It is now her time to experience the outside, see the sky and be free. However, the outside is not as nice as it first seems and is full of mysteries.
The Turnaway Girls is an unusual, yet enchanting book about the plight of one twelve-year-old girl who has been brought up to believe she is nothing more than a girl to serve others and not worthy. A turnaway girl is someone who as a baby turns away from their reflection in the mirror placed inside their cot. They are brought up to turn music into shimmer (gold). Their purpose is to line the pockets of their masters.
As a baby the girls have part of their hearts taken, the part that stops them asking questions, however Delphernia was born at the time of a festival and so part of her heart wasn’t taken, because of this she has lots of questions and as she is different from the other girls she feels like she doesn’t fit in. This all infuriates Mother Nine who sees fit to punish her for any little thing she does wrong, Mother Nine doesn’t like different.
The story is about a young girl having felt like she doesn’t belong for the last twelve years suddenly realising that there is a big world outside of the cloister. She discovers that there are other people who feel like they don’t fit in and that sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in and be who you want to be.
The book is intriguing and poetic. At times it was a little confusing and I did re-read sections yet never once did I feel put out by this. This is a powerful debut from author Hayley Chewins and I’m sure lots of people will be able to identify with Delhernia about not being seen as ‘normal’. As her friend Linna says, ‘Odd people are the best’.
April 1, 2018
A shining, feminist book as lyrical as the songs the heroine hides away inside of her.
May 5, 2019
I won a copy of the book in a Twitter giveaway via the publishers!
BIG NEWS- I'm running an international giveaway on Instagram, head over to this link for more details!: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxAtiSxnk0n/
T/W- Bullying, Abusive character
What a haunting debut novel from Hayley. This middle-grade story follows young Delphernia who lives on a strange island called Blightsend and is known as a 'turnaway girl.' There are other girls known as this and their role, is to create gold with the power of music. Shimmers in this world are very important. Mother Nine who is the current leader for the girls warns them that singing will be one step closer to being thrown into the sea and drowning. When the Masters arrive, some of the girls are lucky to be chosen, but for Delphernia, she is chosen and glad to leave the scary eye of Mother Nine. Her life changes when she learns hidden secrets about her past, one wrong move and she could end up dead. It was an interesting premise, however the lack of visuals let the reading experience down for me. The world-building, I struggled to gel with. The array of characters I did like. It is a quick read, just missing a little something for me!
BIG NEWS- I'm running an international giveaway on Instagram, head over to this link for more details!: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxAtiSxnk0n/
T/W- Bullying, Abusive character
What a haunting debut novel from Hayley. This middle-grade story follows young Delphernia who lives on a strange island called Blightsend and is known as a 'turnaway girl.' There are other girls known as this and their role, is to create gold with the power of music. Shimmers in this world are very important. Mother Nine who is the current leader for the girls warns them that singing will be one step closer to being thrown into the sea and drowning. When the Masters arrive, some of the girls are lucky to be chosen, but for Delphernia, she is chosen and glad to leave the scary eye of Mother Nine. Her life changes when she learns hidden secrets about her past, one wrong move and she could end up dead. It was an interesting premise, however the lack of visuals let the reading experience down for me. The world-building, I struggled to gel with. The array of characters I did like. It is a quick read, just missing a little something for me!
March 24, 2018
It is a rare thing indeed to find an author with as much command of language as Hayley Chewins. I was so floored reading this that I gasped out loud and hugged the book--I RARELY EVER HUG THE BOOK. But the imagination, the language, the poetry of the words and story, it all came together so perfectly I fell right into the cloister with Delphernia, who was such a joy. This is a story for anyone who's been pushed down and fought tooth and nail to rise. A book-friend for anyone yearning to sing, who perhaps never thought they could. This author is a new favorite, and I can't wait for everyone to read the magic of THE TURNAWAY GIRLS!
March 13, 2018
This lovely book is filled with music, music, music. It brims with it. It sings. I could get lost in the rhythm of the prose and live there forever. Simply gorgeous. 💚
May 8, 2019
RECENZJA NA KANALE [KLIK]
+ magiczny świat powieści opisany w bardzo liryczny sposób i tak naprawdę tylko cytaty najlepiej o tym świadczą
+ nie mówienie niczego czytelnikowi wprost, tylko całkowite zanurzenie w zupełnie nowy, niełatwy do zrozumienia świat
+ głębokie drugie dno tej historii, które trafnie komentuje wiele problemów społecznych współczesnego świata
+ nie lubię tego dodawać w recenzji, ale... WYDANIE! przepiękna okładka ze złoceniami prezentuje się naprawdę dobrze
- oszczędna narracja, która wprowadza chaos w opowieści, zwłaszcza pod jej koniec, wtedy książka za szybko się kończy
Serce mówi zdecydowanie 5, jednak rozum każe mi dać 4. Jak na debiut - książka jest rewelacyjna, dlatego mam ogromną nadzieję, na kolejne dzieła tej autorki, zwłaszcza biorąc pod uwagę jej ogromną wyobraźnię. Jeśli doszlifuje swój styl, może stać się jedną z najbardziej rozpoznawalnych osób piszących literaturę młodzieżową!
May 21, 2020
I'm also a book blogger: Vee_Bookish
When I started reading The Turnaway Girls, I saw the 272 pages and the larger font and thought that this would be an easy, quick read. It was not. Some of the book was difficult to read emotionally, due to the violence, while other parts just didn't quite capture my interest as much and I would like and I ended up forcing myself to read it to find out what happens.
This is a fantasy world with it's own words and rules, which for me took some getting used to. It didn't feel like a fantasy, more like a fairytale or an old folk tale of Gods and Men. The entire story is set on one island, using our sheltered heroine Delphernia as our view of the new world with it's strange rules.
The violence has to be discussed. I read Young Adult, I'm 28 and the violence in this book was still difficult to read. Within 50 pages Delphernia had been beaten, caned and had her thumbnail torn off by the ruler of the Cloister, Mother Nine. I recommend caution when suggesting this as a children's book.
There were many parts of this book I did not understand. In particular there's supposed to be men, or Masters, and the Turnaway Girls weave gold for them. However I do not recall what the gold would be used for on this small island, as we don't get to see how it is run, if there's shops or markets. The food that is mentioned gives me the idea that they live off the land.
One major drawback for me was that I left the book not wanting to know what happened to the characters next, which is very unusual for me. I always want to know if my characters are doing okay, what will happen in their future, and to not care shows how little an impact this book made on me.
When I started reading The Turnaway Girls, I saw the 272 pages and the larger font and thought that this would be an easy, quick read. It was not. Some of the book was difficult to read emotionally, due to the violence, while other parts just didn't quite capture my interest as much and I would like and I ended up forcing myself to read it to find out what happens.
This is a fantasy world with it's own words and rules, which for me took some getting used to. It didn't feel like a fantasy, more like a fairytale or an old folk tale of Gods and Men. The entire story is set on one island, using our sheltered heroine Delphernia as our view of the new world with it's strange rules.
The violence has to be discussed. I read Young Adult, I'm 28 and the violence in this book was still difficult to read. Within 50 pages Delphernia had been beaten, caned and had her thumbnail torn off by the ruler of the Cloister, Mother Nine. I recommend caution when suggesting this as a children's book.
There were many parts of this book I did not understand. In particular there's supposed to be men, or Masters, and the Turnaway Girls weave gold for them. However I do not recall what the gold would be used for on this small island, as we don't get to see how it is run, if there's shops or markets. The food that is mentioned gives me the idea that they live off the land.
One major drawback for me was that I left the book not wanting to know what happened to the characters next, which is very unusual for me. I always want to know if my characters are doing okay, what will happen in their future, and to not care shows how little an impact this book made on me.
January 21, 2019
The first thing that I noticed while reading The Turnaway Girls is how poetic every sentence flows into the next , which made a delightful unusual fictional read. I would never have thought that this was Hayley Chewins first novel. After I read the whole book I then read about Hayley Chewins who is actually a published poet. Part of the book has the title The Cloisters where nothing grows except for lung moss and half-dead tongue-fruit trees that don't sprout petals. You can't leave the cloister unless you're born in the right year and unless you're led out by a bell-crowned boy to make gold for his pocket. Delpherina undersea is a Turnaway girl and she knows music belongs to the Masters. A lovely novel full of imaginary characters where music is of vital importance.
April 6, 2019
What a beautiful book that explores empowerment, acceptance and the music and voice of the individual’s life. I especially love how the narrative sings; the writing is poetic and musical, and if you are a fan of Edgar Allan Poe’s sense of musicality, you will be mesmerised by the sound of this fantastic and fantastical gem. I will highly recommend this debut to those who need to rekindle their passions, hopes and dreams. The author has definitely written her heart out. I have felt it through the way this beauty-brimmed book has sung to me.
August 28, 2018
What a stunning book. The language is poetic, thoughtful, sparse, but so carefully crafted and emotive. Reading the entire book felt like being in the best kind of dream - where anything could happen, and you never want it to end. I would read anything by this author. What a command of language! I was really blown away by this book. I hope that everyone who reads it - young and old, is as inspired as I was - to speak up, to use my voice, to never surrender my dreams. Stunning.
June 8, 2018
Some books, like a fine wine, need to be savoured. This fantasy middle grade debut coming out in October is one of those books. Reading THE TURNAWAY GIRLS transports you to a place you’ve never been, full of rich language and images that feel so unlike your own world. It’s deep, dark and beautiful, and you should keep it on your radar.
April 23, 2020
As a child, I devoured fairy tales. The worlds were magical, but they also showed me the reality that there was both good and bad, lightness and darkness in the world. Fairy tales did not sugar coat the violence nor the importance of our choices. The older I got, the more I continued to read books that reminded me of those first fairy tales I loved. Fantastic and magical worlds created by E. Nesbitt, George MacDonald, Lewis Carroll, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Diana Wynne Jones, and Ursula K. Le Guin. Later on, I would add Mervyn Peake, Angela Carter, Neil Gaiman, J.K. Rowling, Catherynne M. Valente, and Katherine Arden. I have never lost the wonder of reading works by writers who create mythical and magical worlds that had not existed before they put pen to page. When, as a boy, I learned that people actually wrote these books, I thought no less of them than proper wizards, mages, or magicians. What they did was no less miraculous than what happened on the pages of their books.
I love to be transported to somewhere new, somewhere unimagined until that author discovered it in their own imaginations and brought those worlds into the words of stories. There is something childlike about allowing oneself to be given over to an author's creation that I have never, ever lost.
"Mother Nine says it's the wall that does it - fills the shimmer room with music and gold. But I know it's someone on the other side. I know it's a boy. A boy who was born and wrapped in scrolls of music instead of blankets. A boy with bells crowning his head, the sea a chorus of thrush spray behind him, lifting a stone-flute to his lip. Breathing songs into living."
So begins The Turnaway Girls and, like that boy with his songs, Hayley Chewins breathes this story into life. The protagonist, 12-year-old Delphernia Undersea is a "turnaway girl." What, you may ask, is a turnaway girl? A passage that takes place between Delphernia and Mother Nine, the head of the cloister where young girls take the music that is played by the Masters outside their walls and make that music into gold or "shimmer" as Mother Nine refers to it, best explains it:
Mother nine breathes ragged breaths, walking a circle about me. "Do you know, Delphernia, why I never look you in the eye?"
I stare at the ground, "You don't look at a thing invisible," I say, "You don't look at a thing that is not to be seen."
"And what of you?" She slaps the twig-switch against her palm.
My skin is sack, and I'm wriggling around inside it. "Turnaway girls are not seen - they see. Turnaway girls are not heard - they hear."
It's a true marvel for books to surprise me, to make give myself over to it so completely to the story's lyrical, almost musical style. Like the music that is turned to gold, Hayley Chewins' writing shimmers because she uses language in a way that is poetic, deep, rich, complex and vivid. I read with wonder and admiration. Delphernia may be only a turnaway girl to Mother Nine, but that's not how she views herself. Like Jane Eyre, the heroine of this novel is sees her own identity as more than her lowly situation.
In a passage that is exquisite in beauty and description, the reader begins to see Delphernia's strong inner self:
The cloisterwings sigh among half-dead leaves, waiting for me to sing to them. I loosen a dangling strip of the hollow tree's bark and press it to my tongue. It tastes of the rain that pours through the skydoor once every week when Mother Nine opens it to receive our food from the Custodian and our water from the clouds, when the cloisterwings are locked in bent-gold cages so that they cannot escape. It tastes of how it must feel to see the whole sky in one go. It tastes of having wings.
I grab one of the drooping branches and hoist myself into the hollow tree's belly, sliding down, down, down. My finger bones prickle as I settle into the joy of the dark. In the dark, I am hidden. In the dark, I can sing. In the dark, I am as much cloisterwing as girl.
It is in such a moment that Delphernia realizes she can make light-strands as the othergirls do in the shimmer-room, but she does so not with the singing of the Masters but with her own singing. This gloriously transcendent moment brings about her realization: I made this.
In creation begins identity.
Unlike the other girls, she can create not "a dead clump of gold" but she has "sung a bird with a beating heart." From the depths of her inner life, she creates life.
Creativity is a kind of magic. An author pulls from their inner selves (their imagination, their subconscious, their memories, what they have noticed, other stories they have read) and they put pen to paper or fingers to laptop keys and they start from a blank page or screen and fill them with words that draw the reader in the way stories always have since our ancestors began telling them in caves or around a fire. Stories move beyond facts to truths that can only be expressed in a story, in metaphor, in images. And, as they begin to do this, they toil and doubt themselves and question the validity of what they are doing and, at times, surprise themselves by what they just brought to the page. Something a character says or does. A twist in the tale that is unexpected to even them.
Neil Gaiman wrote in A Game of You, "Everybody has a secret world inside of them. I mean everybody. All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody - no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them, they've all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds . . . Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe."
What is it that sparks something in someone to move past their fears and dare to write about those worlds? What book or author caused a young reader to suddenly imagine, "I want to do this"? For Neil Gaiman, it was reading C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. For Hayley Chewins it was reading David Almond's amazing novel Skellig. But what moves one from imagining they are a writer to actually sitting down and writing? Of making themselves day after day when no one else will read these words, write them?
Hope.
As Hayley Chewins' wrote about on her blog:
. . . I run on hope.
Hope is the petrol I put in my tank. It's what kindles my creative fire. Hope is the thing that keeps me going. (Okay, and coffee). Bottom line is: If I'm not hoping, I'm not working.
What do I mean by hoping?
I mean that when I'm writing a book, I believe all the good things it is possible to believe about a book.
I believe my agent will love it. I believe it will sell. I believe it will find an audience. I believe people will adore it as much as I do.
It's not easy. In fact, it's pretty hard to maintain a sense of hope in what sometimes feels like a never-ending maelstrom of Horrible Things.
But I do it anyway.
Because it's the only thing I can do.
And I agree with her. Hope is the only thing that can drive someone to create when so much around them would dissuade and discourage them from doing so. From those voices in one's head that tell one that they are a fake, that they are not any good at creating because creating is for other, more creative people.
Hope is also what drives The Turnaway Girls. The hope of Delphernia to be more than she is told that she is. Her story is inventive, thrilling and utterly captivating.
I love to be transported to somewhere new, somewhere unimagined until that author discovered it in their own imaginations and brought those worlds into the words of stories. There is something childlike about allowing oneself to be given over to an author's creation that I have never, ever lost.
"Mother Nine says it's the wall that does it - fills the shimmer room with music and gold. But I know it's someone on the other side. I know it's a boy. A boy who was born and wrapped in scrolls of music instead of blankets. A boy with bells crowning his head, the sea a chorus of thrush spray behind him, lifting a stone-flute to his lip. Breathing songs into living."
So begins The Turnaway Girls and, like that boy with his songs, Hayley Chewins breathes this story into life. The protagonist, 12-year-old Delphernia Undersea is a "turnaway girl." What, you may ask, is a turnaway girl? A passage that takes place between Delphernia and Mother Nine, the head of the cloister where young girls take the music that is played by the Masters outside their walls and make that music into gold or "shimmer" as Mother Nine refers to it, best explains it:
Mother nine breathes ragged breaths, walking a circle about me. "Do you know, Delphernia, why I never look you in the eye?"
I stare at the ground, "You don't look at a thing invisible," I say, "You don't look at a thing that is not to be seen."
"And what of you?" She slaps the twig-switch against her palm.
My skin is sack, and I'm wriggling around inside it. "Turnaway girls are not seen - they see. Turnaway girls are not heard - they hear."
It's a true marvel for books to surprise me, to make give myself over to it so completely to the story's lyrical, almost musical style. Like the music that is turned to gold, Hayley Chewins' writing shimmers because she uses language in a way that is poetic, deep, rich, complex and vivid. I read with wonder and admiration. Delphernia may be only a turnaway girl to Mother Nine, but that's not how she views herself. Like Jane Eyre, the heroine of this novel is sees her own identity as more than her lowly situation.
In a passage that is exquisite in beauty and description, the reader begins to see Delphernia's strong inner self:
The cloisterwings sigh among half-dead leaves, waiting for me to sing to them. I loosen a dangling strip of the hollow tree's bark and press it to my tongue. It tastes of the rain that pours through the skydoor once every week when Mother Nine opens it to receive our food from the Custodian and our water from the clouds, when the cloisterwings are locked in bent-gold cages so that they cannot escape. It tastes of how it must feel to see the whole sky in one go. It tastes of having wings.
I grab one of the drooping branches and hoist myself into the hollow tree's belly, sliding down, down, down. My finger bones prickle as I settle into the joy of the dark. In the dark, I am hidden. In the dark, I can sing. In the dark, I am as much cloisterwing as girl.
It is in such a moment that Delphernia realizes she can make light-strands as the othergirls do in the shimmer-room, but she does so not with the singing of the Masters but with her own singing. This gloriously transcendent moment brings about her realization: I made this.
In creation begins identity.
Unlike the other girls, she can create not "a dead clump of gold" but she has "sung a bird with a beating heart." From the depths of her inner life, she creates life.
Creativity is a kind of magic. An author pulls from their inner selves (their imagination, their subconscious, their memories, what they have noticed, other stories they have read) and they put pen to paper or fingers to laptop keys and they start from a blank page or screen and fill them with words that draw the reader in the way stories always have since our ancestors began telling them in caves or around a fire. Stories move beyond facts to truths that can only be expressed in a story, in metaphor, in images. And, as they begin to do this, they toil and doubt themselves and question the validity of what they are doing and, at times, surprise themselves by what they just brought to the page. Something a character says or does. A twist in the tale that is unexpected to even them.
Neil Gaiman wrote in A Game of You, "Everybody has a secret world inside of them. I mean everybody. All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody - no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them, they've all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds . . . Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe."
What is it that sparks something in someone to move past their fears and dare to write about those worlds? What book or author caused a young reader to suddenly imagine, "I want to do this"? For Neil Gaiman, it was reading C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. For Hayley Chewins it was reading David Almond's amazing novel Skellig. But what moves one from imagining they are a writer to actually sitting down and writing? Of making themselves day after day when no one else will read these words, write them?
Hope.
As Hayley Chewins' wrote about on her blog:
. . . I run on hope.
Hope is the petrol I put in my tank. It's what kindles my creative fire. Hope is the thing that keeps me going. (Okay, and coffee). Bottom line is: If I'm not hoping, I'm not working.
What do I mean by hoping?
I mean that when I'm writing a book, I believe all the good things it is possible to believe about a book.
I believe my agent will love it. I believe it will sell. I believe it will find an audience. I believe people will adore it as much as I do.
It's not easy. In fact, it's pretty hard to maintain a sense of hope in what sometimes feels like a never-ending maelstrom of Horrible Things.
But I do it anyway.
Because it's the only thing I can do.
And I agree with her. Hope is the only thing that can drive someone to create when so much around them would dissuade and discourage them from doing so. From those voices in one's head that tell one that they are a fake, that they are not any good at creating because creating is for other, more creative people.
Hope is also what drives The Turnaway Girls. The hope of Delphernia to be more than she is told that she is. Her story is inventive, thrilling and utterly captivating.
May 18, 2021
Igazi borzongató gótikus tündérmese az Aranyfakasztók, amelynek egyik legkülönösebb eleme maga a történetszövés és nyelvezet. Hayley Chewins költészettel foglalkozott és ez az, ami kiemeli a regényt, igazán lírai és finom, sok okos megoldással, ismétléssel és összecsengő szavakkal olyan érzést kelt olvasás közben, mintha egy dallammal ismerkednénk.
Mindenesetre megadja azt a baljós hangulatot, ami miatt olyan szuggesztív lesz a mese, olvastatja magát és belebonyolódunk a motívumokba, de alig várjuk, hogy megtudjuk, mi is áll az egész mögött.
Részletesen: http://olvasonaplo.net/olvasonaplo/20...
Mindenesetre megadja azt a baljós hangulatot, ami miatt olyan szuggesztív lesz a mese, olvastatja magát és belebonyolódunk a motívumokba, de alig várjuk, hogy megtudjuk, mi is áll az egész mögött.
Részletesen: http://olvasonaplo.net/olvasonaplo/20...
October 9, 2018
*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
What an absolutely magical, heartfelt, wonderful story. I can’t begin to describe how wonderful this book is. Even as an adult, this story is so much and if I’d read it fifteen years ago, it easily would have been a favorite. I wasn’t sure how weird this was going to be, because the description is a bit strange, but it is absolutely wonderful and if you like fantasy at all, definitely give this a read, because: Wow!
Chewins has created a fascinating world in which everything has a place and function. Girls who turn away from their reflections as infants are trained as “turnaway girls,” growing up separate from the outside world to learn how to turn music into gold. Boys with a talent for music become music-makers and get to choose a turnaway girl for themselves once they become of age. There is no room for differences or otherness. On top of that, one man is trying to take complete control for himself and is doing this by cutting down everyone else. There are cautionary tales about the one who was different and didn’t conform, so she was swallowed by the sea; children are warned by this story to make sure to fall in line. Also, not only are the turnaway girls now separate from the rest of society, but their matron has been taught how to take away all their curiosity as well; who they are as individuals are literally sucked away by a woman following orders so that they can fall into line with the rest of society.
So you have the main character who is a turnaway girl; she is supposed to be silent, but she loves to sing. I absolutely loved that Chewins added a Music-Maker who decided she didn’t want to act like a boy anymore. It was such a powerful moment when the main character realized that she wasn’t the only “other” in the universe; there were people like her who didn’t fit this mold that their society had created for themselves. Even just the descriptions of the main character hiding away to sing were so poignant and moving and so relatable; I think we’ve all had those moments where we take time for ourselves just to be ourselves without having to worry about others’ judgments.
This story speaks to a deeper sense about power, identity, and the lengths people go to in order to not rock the boat or get in trouble. It’s a powerful tale that younger people will appreciate so much, made beautiful and fascinating by the narrative Chewins has woven around these issues. I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s amazing.
Also posted on Purple People Readers.
What an absolutely magical, heartfelt, wonderful story. I can’t begin to describe how wonderful this book is. Even as an adult, this story is so much and if I’d read it fifteen years ago, it easily would have been a favorite. I wasn’t sure how weird this was going to be, because the description is a bit strange, but it is absolutely wonderful and if you like fantasy at all, definitely give this a read, because: Wow!
Chewins has created a fascinating world in which everything has a place and function. Girls who turn away from their reflections as infants are trained as “turnaway girls,” growing up separate from the outside world to learn how to turn music into gold. Boys with a talent for music become music-makers and get to choose a turnaway girl for themselves once they become of age. There is no room for differences or otherness. On top of that, one man is trying to take complete control for himself and is doing this by cutting down everyone else. There are cautionary tales about the one who was different and didn’t conform, so she was swallowed by the sea; children are warned by this story to make sure to fall in line. Also, not only are the turnaway girls now separate from the rest of society, but their matron has been taught how to take away all their curiosity as well; who they are as individuals are literally sucked away by a woman following orders so that they can fall into line with the rest of society.
So you have the main character who is a turnaway girl; she is supposed to be silent, but she loves to sing. I absolutely loved that Chewins added a Music-Maker who decided she didn’t want to act like a boy anymore. It was such a powerful moment when the main character realized that she wasn’t the only “other” in the universe; there were people like her who didn’t fit this mold that their society had created for themselves. Even just the descriptions of the main character hiding away to sing were so poignant and moving and so relatable; I think we’ve all had those moments where we take time for ourselves just to be ourselves without having to worry about others’ judgments.
This story speaks to a deeper sense about power, identity, and the lengths people go to in order to not rock the boat or get in trouble. It’s a powerful tale that younger people will appreciate so much, made beautiful and fascinating by the narrative Chewins has woven around these issues. I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s amazing.
Also posted on Purple People Readers.
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August 30, 2018I'm so excited to read this book! But for now, I'm hype to share the interview I did with Hayley Chewins where she talks about how everyone who has been bullied can relate to Delphernia Undersea’s character. Read more here: https://taleoutloud.wordpress.com/201...
January 3, 2019
This delightfully feminist middle grade book was a great start to 2019. The prose is really quite lovely and the author uses metaphors masterfully to create vivid descriptions. The repetition of various motifs lend this book a quiet strength that I found really quite moving at times.
This book does require a large degree of suspension of disbelief at first but once you get into the flow of things, it becomes easier. The musical subject matter is a joy (is anyone really surprised that I loved it?)
The author succeeds in making this quite a diverse little book, with POC main characters. I also felt like an LGBTQ+ inclination was hinted at and I really hoped it would develop but I suppose it might not have been appropriate for the age of the book's target audience. I could be reading too much into it but it's where my brain went!
There were moments of surprising violence within the book, meaning it is not all sweetness and light. I thought the author struck a nice balance. Mother Nine is a great villain that readers will have no problem hating!
Overall, I'm really pleased I started the new year with this one and would recommend it to fans of whimsical writing and strong female characters, no matter their age.
This book does require a large degree of suspension of disbelief at first but once you get into the flow of things, it becomes easier. The musical subject matter is a joy (is anyone really surprised that I loved it?)
The author succeeds in making this quite a diverse little book, with POC main characters. I also felt like an LGBTQ+ inclination was hinted at and I really hoped it would develop but I suppose it might not have been appropriate for the age of the book's target audience. I could be reading too much into it but it's where my brain went!
There were moments of surprising violence within the book, meaning it is not all sweetness and light. I thought the author struck a nice balance. Mother Nine is a great villain that readers will have no problem hating!
Overall, I'm really pleased I started the new year with this one and would recommend it to fans of whimsical writing and strong female characters, no matter their age.
June 24, 2019
Pierwsza powieść poetki z Afryki Południowej, liryczna, dziewczęca, wypełniona dźwiękami – „Odwrócone” Hayley Chewins.
W „Odwróconych” uwagi czytelnika nie przyciąga wcale fabuła, nie dzieje się tu za wiele, akcja toczy się sennie i niespiesznie. Hayley Chewins postawiła na konstrukcję swojego świata – lirycznego, tajemniczego, wypełnionego złotem i dźwiękami z jednej strony, a z drugiej pełnego przemocy, dominacji, melancholii. Delphernia tęskni za czymś, czego nie zna, ale co śpiewa w jej duszy, co woła do niej z odmętów. Musi odkryć swój wewnętrzny głos, musi znaleźć odwagę, by przeciwstawić się odwiecznym prawom, odejść na własnych zasadach.
„Odwrócone” to prokobieca opowieść o poszukiwaniu swojego głosu dla dziewcząt młodszych i starszych. O buncie przeciw ustalonym zasadom, o walce o swoją tożsamość. Hayley Chewins pięknie operuje słowem – jej proza jest poetycka, a sama autorka tworzy zlepki wyrazów, nietypowe twory, które określają elementy jej świata. Takie intensywne słowotwórstwo, połączone z oniryczną, ospałą fabułą może wydać się dla niektórych czytelników zbyt dziwaczne, jednak miłośnicy nietypowych konstrukcji w fantastyce młodzieżowej mogą odnaleźć tu coś dla siebie. Dla dusz romantycznych, wrażliwych, marzycielskich.
W „Odwróconych” uwagi czytelnika nie przyciąga wcale fabuła, nie dzieje się tu za wiele, akcja toczy się sennie i niespiesznie. Hayley Chewins postawiła na konstrukcję swojego świata – lirycznego, tajemniczego, wypełnionego złotem i dźwiękami z jednej strony, a z drugiej pełnego przemocy, dominacji, melancholii. Delphernia tęskni za czymś, czego nie zna, ale co śpiewa w jej duszy, co woła do niej z odmętów. Musi odkryć swój wewnętrzny głos, musi znaleźć odwagę, by przeciwstawić się odwiecznym prawom, odejść na własnych zasadach.
„Odwrócone” to prokobieca opowieść o poszukiwaniu swojego głosu dla dziewcząt młodszych i starszych. O buncie przeciw ustalonym zasadom, o walce o swoją tożsamość. Hayley Chewins pięknie operuje słowem – jej proza jest poetycka, a sama autorka tworzy zlepki wyrazów, nietypowe twory, które określają elementy jej świata. Takie intensywne słowotwórstwo, połączone z oniryczną, ospałą fabułą może wydać się dla niektórych czytelników zbyt dziwaczne, jednak miłośnicy nietypowych konstrukcji w fantastyce młodzieżowej mogą odnaleźć tu coś dla siebie. Dla dusz romantycznych, wrażliwych, marzycielskich.
August 3, 2017
I was lucky enough to read an early draft of this book and can't express how special it is. Hayley Chewins writes with an elegance and complete surrender to fantasy that I go looking for in books by Laini Taylor and Kiran Milwood Hargrave. There is something extremely beautiful about when a writer opens up their soul and it pours onto the page into words with mystical lyricism that create images of liquid gold. This is a book about remaining true to who you are even if everyone around you is programmed a different way. Not only is it heartwarming and uplifting but it is also empowering; encouraging you to find your voice, lift it and never stop singing. It's beautiful.
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January 4, 2020I loved it! I borrowed it at the library, read it there for a few hours and then stayed up way past 1 am because I just couldn't put it down. It was awesome, and I love the way the author tied in those ideas of feminism.
April 22, 2018
Stunning.
Read
August 27, 2023DNF
March 7, 2020
Well I pretty much read that in one sitting... Its exquisite!! The book reads like a song, lyrical and beautiful. I had zero expectations and chose it purely for its pretty cover. What a surprise thought! I absolutely loved it!
March 9, 2018
This is one of the most lyrical middle grade novels I’ve ever read—each word has been chosen with purpose and the result is astonishing! I love how Delphernia stands up against the expectations of her in a very rigid society that has already decided her place. She is strong, but not without self-doubt, making her an endearing character.
March 24, 2018
This book's lilting, musical, magical prose will pull you right into Delphernia's world until you can practically taste the sea air and feel the stone walls closing in. A beautiful reminder to any reader that they can use their voice to change the world.
March 15, 2018
Musical, breathtaking prose...an empowering, feminist message...I loved every word!
March 18, 2020
The Turnaway Girls is the kind of story that feels like a fairy tale. Something old and buried. Something that could resonate in any time/history. Like a foundation. Something that has been around for centuries, like the stars myths & forgotten. But here it is, resurfaced in your hand. A treasure remembered and cherished. Something sacred and ancient.
It takes such residence in your heart that it speaks to your soul, grasps your intuition, and opens, like a key to Bluebeards chamber showing the truth. And encourages, like Orpheus charging into the underworld, to be brave. Showing, with a cloisterwing, a glimmer of shining light, the way back home to the soul self.
Every sentence sings and comes alive. Every word beats with heart and thrums with a double edged meaning. This is such a carefully weaved and intricate story - much like the Turnaway Girls threads and Delphernia's Golden birds. I'm still letting this story seap into my bones. Letting it take a soft feathered space within my heart.
Hayley, this is incredible! You are incredible!
What an inspiration. What a beautiful beautiful tale of reclaiming back our voices, of going against the grain, of answering the call to courage, and being our authentic selves. Such an empowering read. It sparked many fires within my belly. And I will try, hense forth, to conciously channel Delphernia's soul/singing throat as I go on my own journey to reclaim and trust and recover and follow the heart and answer the call to courage. To unlearn the voices not my own and sing!!!! ✨🌌💜🧚
What a masterpiece!
A new favourite book of all time!
(I am so proud to know you! In such awe and disbelief that such a kind hearted kindred spirit and masterful wordsmith helped/wants to help me with my own starry story/writing journey. Will always be spellbound and grateful beyond words.)
It takes such residence in your heart that it speaks to your soul, grasps your intuition, and opens, like a key to Bluebeards chamber showing the truth. And encourages, like Orpheus charging into the underworld, to be brave. Showing, with a cloisterwing, a glimmer of shining light, the way back home to the soul self.
Every sentence sings and comes alive. Every word beats with heart and thrums with a double edged meaning. This is such a carefully weaved and intricate story - much like the Turnaway Girls threads and Delphernia's Golden birds. I'm still letting this story seap into my bones. Letting it take a soft feathered space within my heart.
Hayley, this is incredible! You are incredible!
What an inspiration. What a beautiful beautiful tale of reclaiming back our voices, of going against the grain, of answering the call to courage, and being our authentic selves. Such an empowering read. It sparked many fires within my belly. And I will try, hense forth, to conciously channel Delphernia's soul/singing throat as I go on my own journey to reclaim and trust and recover and follow the heart and answer the call to courage. To unlearn the voices not my own and sing!!!! ✨🌌💜🧚
What a masterpiece!
A new favourite book of all time!
(I am so proud to know you! In such awe and disbelief that such a kind hearted kindred spirit and masterful wordsmith helped/wants to help me with my own starry story/writing journey. Will always be spellbound and grateful beyond words.)
April 18, 2022
“Odwrócone” są napisane niesamowicie lirycznym językiem, który cudownie wpasowują się w muzyczną otoczkę fabuły. Całość ma wydźwięk bardzo baśniowy, mimo paru zadziorków - idealny dla dzieci, ale trafiający głęboko do serc starszych czytelników. To historia o odmienności, która tworzy piękno, istocie wolności, o wadze pojedynczego głosu.
November 21, 2018
This MG novel flows with a rich music rooted deeply in its main character, Delphernia Undersea. She is one of the Turnaway Girls expected to make gold from music but she has never been able to. Instead she must hide her voice and her ability to make life with it or risk being thrown in the sea.
This book sings of finding yourself, rebellion, friendship, courage... It breathes such a unique world with unforgettable characters. This is one of my favourite reads this year and highly recommend you pick it up. It will break your heart while filling it with wonder and hope.
This book sings of finding yourself, rebellion, friendship, courage... It breathes such a unique world with unforgettable characters. This is one of my favourite reads this year and highly recommend you pick it up. It will break your heart while filling it with wonder and hope.
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