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The Cup of Mari Anu
Yvonne Owens. Illustrated by Kevan Lane Miller. |
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The Cup of Mari Anu
by Yvonne Owens
Review by Joanne Gregory
Grade 7 Arthur Ford School
London, Ontario
March 18, 1996
The Cup of Mari Anu was an exciting book. A great adventure. Kevan Lane miller was a great illustrater Yvonne Owens used different kinds of describing words.The story was not long.It is a perfect length for someone who needs a short chapter book. The story was all that you could think of for a story like this.I thought The Cup of Mari Anu was a exciting book but it was a little bit boring by the end. Over all the book was really good.
The Cup of Mari Anu by Yvonne Owens
Reviewed by Brad Wingate and Chris Murray
Caledonia Regional High School
Hillsborough, N.B.
March 18, 1996
We felt the title was very appropriate for this type of story.We felt that the audience best suited for this story was grade four to six, and would be enjoyed by both boys and girls. The lesson to be gained from this story was useful showing the importance of taking responsibility and suffering the consequences. The choice of charcters to show this lesson was excellent. We enjoyed the events which led to the solution of the problem. This book would really be best for readers in grade four to six.we liked it. It is a fun book to read.
We give it a ten!
The Cup of Mari Anu by Yvonne Owens
Review by Chelsea Bussoli
Grade 7 Niakwa Place School
Winnipeg, Manitoba
March 25, 1996
This book is about an ancient tribe called the People of Mari Anu. The mystic tribe lived in a high desert valley, where tlhey worshipped Mari Anu, their goddess in a small temple grotto near the river.
The temple of Mari Anu was served by one priestess whose position whose position was life-long. The priestess had chores to carry out, like feeding the silver moon fish in the river and taking care of the sacred pool. When the priestess passed on to the other world, a new priestess would be chosen from among the people.
In the temple was the tribe's most sacred object. It was the cup of Mari Anu, a silver goblet inlaid with precious stones. Here a deep underground spring bubbled up from the rock, filling the cup of Mari Anu till it overflowed.
The priestess also had the job of positioning the cup, cleaning the pool of debris, and leading the people in Mari Anu's rituals.
Years passed by. The cup continued to bless the people with abundance, health, beauty and long lives. Traders came from near and far to see the tribe's works, such as pottery, paintings, beaten gold and many other artifacts. Eventually, they grew careless and forgot to bring the priestess in the temple food and supplies. The goddess' rituals were also forgotten.
Soon the old priestess died. The tribe knew they had to choose a new priestess, but there were few women who wanted the position and fewer parents who wanted to lose a daughter. But there was one three-year old child whom no one wanted. She had been born mute, so the people gave her to the temple.
The Cup of Mari Anu by Yvonne Owens
Review by Darcy Cameron
Secondary I Baie-Comeau High School
Baie-Comeau, Québec
April 2, 1996
This story is about a little village that has a Goddess who gives them long life and an eternal spring. When they forget about her, the cup disappears. They search for a candidate to replace her. The candidate they find is unusual since she is mute.
This story was well written. Usually I prefer stories that are written so toy can really feel the pains and joys of a character. This one was telling about such a character and the people surrounding her. I was moved in the same way as the other characters, but maybe even a bit more.
The story was very exciting. You always had something to look forward to at the end of each chapter. The vocabulary was a bit hard but it was so well written that you knew right away what each word meant. You could understand it from the context of the sentences.
I recommend this book to every secondary student who wants to read a very well written book. It was very exciting.
The Cup of Mari Anu
By Yvonne Owens
Report by Joey Wiggs, Grade 7
Range Lake North School
Yellowknife, NT
April 10. 1996
Setting
The story begins when an African tribe, LuSin and her black dog travel out
into the wilderness towards the sun. They come to the sea and then go on a
boat. Then they arrive at a town on the other side of the world. At the end of
the story LuSin returns to the African village.
Characters
LuSin is the main character of the story. She was born mute and had black
hair. Her eyes were a light amber colour. She tamed a jackal and loved him
like a brother.
Amma taught LuSin all she knew about being a priestess and accompanied her for the early part of the journey. She has reddish-brown hair. She and LuSin loved each other like mother and daughter.
Mara was a slave child that LuSin found after the sailers' boat she was on sank. She did not speak the language LuSin knew but they managed. Mara stayed at the town they found.
Plot
The village worshipped a water god named Mary Anu. Soon the priestess died and
they choose LuSin as their new priestess. Amma taught LuSin. LuSin soon tamed
a wild dog. On LuSin's 5th birthday the cup that symbolized Mary Anu
disappeard.
LuSin, Amma, and some of the villagers travelled towards the setting sun for many months. Along the trip, Amma passed on to the "otherworld" of Mary Anu. Soon they came to a sailor town. The dog stayed but LuSin dressed up as a boy and boarded a sailing ship. On the way they picked up some slaves. In the middle of the ocean the boat was caught in a storm and sank from hitting a rock. LuSin got one of the slaves to safety.
LuSin called the girl Mara. LuSin needed food and she found a wolf that gave LuSin a rabbit. They followed the wolf. The wolf stayed away from humans. The wolf brought them by the shore where they saw a boat. The boat came over and the people inside took them to their village. They stayed awhile. Mara found some people who adopted her. The wolf stayed with LuSin who found the cup.
The people from the village gave her a moon boat. Then LuSin and the wolf sailed back to LuSin's hometown. When LuSin got back she put the cup in the temple and the water came back. And they all lived happily ever after.
My Impressions
I thought that the story was well written and all the events made sense. I
also liked the story because it was magical. This was not just a journey to
find a cup but a journey in which the characters also found themselves. On a
scale from 1-10 I would give this story a 10.
The Cup of Mari Anu by Yvonne Owens
Review by Caitlin Moorcroft
Riverdale Junior Secondary
Whitehorse Yukon
May 16, 1996
I thought that" The Cup of Mari Anu" was a very complex and a brilliantly written story. I have read other books by the same auther and found them just as good as this.
This book was about a young girl who grew up and travelled around the world out of respect for her almost forgotten goddess and who taught others her respects. Yvonne Owens is a very talented writer.
I found The Cup Of Mari Anu very interesting and intriguing. I liked that it is based on the trials and errors that you go through when growing up into adult hood. I enjoyed the adventures that LuSin experienced, and I could really relate to all the growing up that LuSin had to go through to find all the different parts of herself. I think that Ms. Owens could have left out the 'And no-one molested her' in the story.
I found that Kevan Lane Miller did a wonderful job in illustrating Yvonne Owens' words and concepts. I think that Yvonne Owens did a very good job with this book and I hope that the rest of the series is as good as this book.
Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364