Sandwriter by Monica Hughes

What is there left to want when you're raised with every luxury? For Antia, princess and heir to the throne of two continents, it's freedom; although, she doesn't know it, yet. Sent to the remote desert continent of Roshan obstensibly to be wooed by the prince, Antia has secretly agreed to spy for her tutor, Eskoril, whom she loves. Expecting a backwards land full of flea-bitten camel riders, Antia is surprised to find a land of freedom and pride, where every gift of nature is appreciated by the people. Torn between her love for Eskoril and her growing esteem for the desert land, will she betray the secret of Roshad and its generous people?

Sandwriter is a plain, straightforward, but engaging story. I enjoyed it very much. I think of it as a modern-day fairy tale: it has a princess, romance, adventure, mystery, and a moral. And while the moral of the story is quite apparent by the end, I don't feel that Monica Hughes has banged me over the head with it. The narrator's opinions are subtly woven into the fabric of the story.

And they are this: don't be greedy. Don't take more than you need. Don't waste. Don't be selfish. Like these messages, Hughes's writing is spare but magnetic. Watching Antia gain wisdom is both enteratining and enlightening. The reader is given enough information to form an opinion and grow to sympathize with the protagonist, but not every movement and choice is analyzed.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a YA fantasy that is about more than the trials of passing through adolescence. Sandwriter has more to offer readers than the protagonist's day-to-day activities; it asks readers to consider the scope of their own lives.

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Copy source: libarary
Genre: young adult fantasy
Format: hardcopy

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