Summary and Reviews of Tears of The Salamander by Peter Dickinson

Media Reviews

Booklist - Ilene Cooper Starred Review. Gr. 6-9. In this sophisticated story, Dickinson takes readers inside a volcanic mountain of fire, where a salamander sheds healing tears and excretes liquid gold....Not everything here is easy to understand the power of the salamanders and the mystical relationship they have with the mountain's fire are sometimes too esoteric to grasp. But Alfredo's relationship with the people who live under the volcano is sharp and strongly written, and the fierce beauty of the mountain and its fire will linger in memory.

Kirkus Reviews Complex characters, spectacular magical and natural outbursts, taut plotting, and atmospheric writing unite in a coruscating exhibition of storytelling. (Fiction. 11-13)

KLIATT - Claire Rosser A remarkable fantasy, exquisite, and a challenge to readers of any age....This is not going to be a popular YA book, because of its challenges, but for those readers who are fascinated by metaphysics, by music, by intricate fantasy, this is a special treat.

Publishers Weekly Thoughtful readers will find much to ponder in the afterglow of this tale of an alchemy powerful enough to transmute a handful of isolated, unhappy beings into a loving family and to change an existence scorched by tragedy into a life worth living. Ages 10-up.

School Library Journal - Renee Steinberg Gr 6-9-An intriguing, intricately woven fantasy set in Italy and then Sicily....This latest offering from a master storyteller is not an easy read, but fantasy fans will stick with it, hoping for good's triumph.