{"id":41749,"date":"2024-11-06T07:51:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T12:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeemedreader.com\/?p=41749"},"modified":"2025-11-04T10:26:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T15:26:56","slug":"the-hotel-balzaar-by-kate-dicamillo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeemedreader.com\/the-hotel-balzaar-by-kate-dicamillo\/","title":{"rendered":"*The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In<\/em> The Hotel Balzaar, Kate DiCamillo continues her magical Norendy Tales series with intriguing hints of further connections.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

*The Hotel Balzaar (A Norendy Tale) by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by J\u00falia Sard\u00e0. Candlewick, 2024, 151 pages.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Reading Level<\/strong>: Middle Grades, ages 8-10<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recommended for<\/strong>: ages 8-12<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Puppets of Spelhorst<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, published last year, was a Redeemed Reader starred review and the subject of one of our Newbery Buzz<\/a><\/strong> discussions. As the first of DiCamillo\u2019s \u201cNorendy Tales,\u201d Megan and I speculated about how the author would develop the puppets\u2019 story further. The Hotel Balzaar<\/em> doesn\u2019t answer that question\u2014in fact, it appears to take off in an entirely different direction. But within a page or two, the story commands its own space, as well as this reader\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter 1 wastes no words in getting off the ground: \u201cIn March of that year, Marta and her mother arrived at the Hotel Balzaar. They were given an attic room that contained a bed, a sink, and a battered chest of drawers.\u201d Marta\u2019s mother has taken a job as a maid in a grand resort hotel that appears to have seen better days. Where is Marta\u2019s father? Off to war, but months have passed since they\u2019ve heard of him, and Mama clearly fears the worst. Her workday begins early in the morning with a short break at noon for lunch and a late evening quit time, during which Marta is free to roam so long as she remains inconspicuous and \u201cquiet as a small mouse. You must bother no one. You must not be a nuisance, ever.\u201d Marta is obedient but curious, and soon a splendid object of curiosity arrives at the hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an old woman dressed in furs with a live parrot perched upon her shoulder. She identifies herself as \u201cCountess,\u201d but her imperious manner fades when she spies Marta spying on her. \u201cI am very fond of children. Very fond, indeed. You must come and visit us.\u201d \u201cUs\u201d includes the parrot, whose name is Blitzkoff and who, the Countess reveals, was formerly a very famous general. What\u2019s the story behind that? Marta wonders. As it happens, the Countess has stories to tell, but not about Blitzkoff (who actually seems happier as a parrot than he was as a general).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stories unfold over several visits, and they appear to have little or no connection to each other. Some of them hint that the Countess knows something about what happened to Marta\u2019s father, and others trail off without a conclusion, which frustrates the girl to no end. When Marta shows her cynical side, the Countess offers a corrective: \u201cIt takes no courage at all to doubt, Marta. And we are not beyond rescue. We are never beyond rescue . . .\u201d and it\u2019s time for another story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DiCamillo\u2019s economy in sketching characters and moods shines brilliantly here. She communicates a lot in 150 pages, complemented perfectly by stylistic illustrations that convey both whimsy and melancholy. Marta\u2019s sadness, and her anger at the sadness, is childlike, but no less moving for that, and she\u2019s rewarded by a happy ending. But what about the puppets? And the girls who loved them? The action of Hotel Balzaar<\/em> appears to take place about two generations after Spelhorst<\/em>, so might the Countess be Emily or Martha grown up and grown old? Like the Countess\u2019s tales, this novel appears to have no connection to the previous one, but the latest edition of The Tale of Despereaux<\/em> ( 2004 Newbery award) includes a passing reference to Norendy. All will be revealed, just as all the individual stories of earth will be connected one day. In the meantime, we look forward to the next Norendy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bottom Line<\/strong>: A heartfelt, quasi-magical story about stories, with a hard-won happy ending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also at Redeemed Reader:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n