Foodie Lit
Bettina Szedlak's Annie Sky.
The need to prove oneself is a common theme in the Young Adult genre. The young character often goes on a quest, fights the dark, gains allies, confronts pain and succeeds in growing towards maturing, finding strength along the way.
Annie Sky does not volunteer to be heroic. Wandering into a slightly creepy Chinatown bookstore on a high school trip to New York City with her three best friends, Annie stumbles and falls, breaking a mirror. The bookstore is a portal to another world and the breaking of the mirror, as in many fantasies, is the catalyst to change, through self-reflection and challenge. Lacking a concept of self, especially after the death of her mother, Annie finds confidence and assurance, through serious trials and errors. The young warrior Phoenix, whom Annie meets in a world 17 million light years from Earth, is also transforming, although in some ways that are not revealed until the novel’s end.
The need to prove oneself, as author Bettina Szedlak told me, is an incredibly fitting theme for the YA genre. She blends Biblical and Classic Mythical symbols with her imagination to develop images of good and evil, of conflict and of guiding forces.
The nighttime skies have always fascinated Bettina. She adds a reverence for the galaxies in this novel. She shared, “In my grandmother’s little town in Hungary, nighttime unveils the celestial river of the Milky Way. I was smitten with astronomy as a child and that interest hasn't waned over time, even though I'm still just an armchair enthusiast. There's something mesmerizing about gazing upward into the infinite stretch of the universe; its untouched splendor, something we humans haven't been able to alter. That makes it magical.
Bettina’s early years were spent in Hungary, much in as she describes it “rustic simplicity.” Unlike the children of today, there were no cell phones or video games. At her grandmother’s, she lived with dirt floors, no indoor plumbing or running water. Bettina played outside, her days filled with “the raw beauty” of nature.
She wrote, “Summers were spent nestled among rolling hills and towering pines. We’d help our grandparents with their sheep, eat grapes right from the vine and pick mulberries from our trees. That kind of stripped-down existence leaves a mark on your soul; it’s something that still influences me today…. There's no denying that my upbringing in Hungary has left an imprint on the fabric of my novel.”
Transformation in times of challenge is always inspiring. There is no doubt that Annie’s Sky will capture the imagination of young and more mature adults. Even in maturity, humans continue to be challenged and how we meet those trials determine our journeys and our destinations.
The beginning of the novel has Annie celebrating her 16th birthday. To help Annie celebrate, I have created a Lady Grey Lavender Tea Cake with Raspberry Filling. A birthday cake fit for a heroine!