Gypsy Rizka

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Overview

Master storyteller Lloyd Alexander centers his newest tale around a clever, engaging gypsy girl who, with her feline sidekick, is always at the center of everything. Jaunty, outspoken, and unable to suffer fools, Rizka is the kind of person everyone in town has strong feelings about--she is either loved or despised. Since no one can ever get the better of her, certain "respectable" citizens of their small old-world hamlet want to rid the town of the troublemaker. If only someone had the brains to think up ...
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2000 Mass Market Paperback This is a Perma-Bound / Library Binding Edition A brand-new, unused, unready copy. American Classroom Libraries has over 30, 000 childrens books in ... stock. We Ship Daily! Read more Show Less

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More About This Book

Overview

Master storyteller Lloyd Alexander centers his newest tale around a clever, engaging gypsy girl who, with her feline sidekick, is always at the center of everything. Jaunty, outspoken, and unable to suffer fools, Rizka is the kind of person everyone in town has strong feelings about--she is either loved or despised. Since no one can ever get the better of her, certain "respectable" citizens of their small old-world hamlet want to rid the town of the troublemaker. If only someone had the brains to think up something that could do the trick. Laced with laughs throughout, the novel is told through episodically linked chapters about the absurd inhabitants of the town and their interactions with Rizka. Full of foibles, farce, fun-poking, and buffoonery, it is high comedy as much as a celebration of Rizka's brains and brassiness, her flouting of conventions, and her own brand of magic. Despite the foolishness, the book is infused with Alexander's recognition and respect for the rich and good heart of its main character and the human truth of accepting others' differences.

Living alone in her wagon on the outskirts of a small town while waiting for her father's return, Rizka, a Gypsy and a trickster, exposes the ridiculous foibles of some of the townspeople.

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Editorial Reviews

Horn Book Magazine
A comic opera of a tale, set in a traditional storybook village where most folks are well meaning, where the one real villain is the overweening Chief Councilor Sharpnack, and where the local outcast-the girl Rizka-is a trickster hero, whose mischief benefits the meek and needy even more than herself. It's Rizka who makes the feuding parents of a Romeo-and-Juliet couple believe the lovers are in terrible danger, so that the parents vow mutual forgiveness if only their children turn up safe; Rizka who lures the seamstress's unwanted suitor to her window so that the good lady can douse him with cold water; Rizka who, time and again, dramatizes the meanness of Sharpnack, who wants to drive her out of town simply because she's too clever and a gypsy. Sharpnack, in fact, is the quintessential small-minded prosecutor/judge. Prejudice and vituperation mar his every act; his policy is to "deny that anything happened, then issue official reassurance it won't happen again." He judges on the flimsiest of evidence and legal grounds. When a mistral-like wind, the "zipple," sets people to quarreling, he sends them to jail for name-calling and thus is caught in his own trap: Sharpnack's epithets are the most abusive of all. The message is evident, but far from pedantic; it's delivered in scenes of broad slapstick that effervesce with mind-tickling repartee. Rizka herself is splendidly quick-witted; the wild convolutions of her plots against the foolish or unjust are a delight. She's also vulnerable enough so that it's quite touching when she finally wins her neighbors' affection and thanks. Vintage Alexander: lively, satirical, and with a core of pure gold.
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
This story of a sharp-witted street urchin, "rich with comic exaggeration and the folksy cadences of a tall tale, brings to mind the author's lighthearted Vesper Holly books rather than his more serious-minded Westmark trilogy," wrote PW. Ages 10-14. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Children's Literature - Sharon Salluzzo
Because she was half-gypsy on her father's side, dressed peculiarly, and was different from the other townsfolk, they wanted to get rid of Rizka. She wouldn't leave, however, because she was waiting for her father to return. In the meantime, she continued to outwit the pompous citizens of the town with her matchmaking, cures, and the "chicken-guy." When the gypsies return they bring the news that Rizka's father is dead. She must then make a decision whether to travel with the gypsies or stay with the people she knows in Greater Dunitsa. What comprises a family, and appearances vs. reality are two themes explored in this delightful romp. The feisty heroine has a keen mind, a kind heart and an interesting perspective of fair play. The story is full of humor and thought-provoking phrasing.
School Library Journal
Gr 5-8-Master storyteller Alexander has another winner in this story of Rizka, a young Gypsy living alone in her wagon on the outskirts of Greater Dunitsa while awaiting the return of her father. Her irrepressible and quick-witted style of helping the townspeople exposes their ridiculous foibles as she tricks them with ruses that create hilarious situations yet turn out for the best. Rizka has her finger in everything: runaway lovers; floods; magical caves; and the dreaded Zipple, a relentless breeze that drives the citizens a little crazy. While she evokes either adoration or aggravation in the town, at the book's conclusion, when the Gypsies finally return but with news of her father's death, Rizka learns the real meaning of family and community. Much in the novel is familiar in structure, characterization, style, and theme to previous works by Alexander: an imaginary land; an array of wonderfully exaggerated characters; events as a series of comic twists and turns; and humor that is farcical, satirical, tongue-in-cheek, and often derived from playing on words. But what is most quintessential Alexander is the creation of a strong heroine adept at triumphing by her wits. What is less familiar here is the plot. Gypsy Rizka reads like a series of vignettes, driven less by a strong story and a thematic wrestle between good and evil than earlier novels. Rizka is cut from the same cloth as the bright and brassy Mickle from the "Westmark" trilogy and the plucky star of the five titles in the "Vesper Holly" series. Fans will be delighted.-Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
Georges T. Dodds
Lloyd Alexander has been writing some of the best American children's literature for the past 35 years....but upon reading Gypsy Rizka I have certainly rediscovered the charm of his work...Gipsy Rizka is a wonderful farce about an orphan half-gypsy girl who cons and manipulates the lives of the quirky and frequently foolish inhabitants of the small town of Greater Dunitsa...This sort of children's literature harkens back much more to fairy tales and some forms of humorous Eastern European literature of one-upmanship and the absurd, than to the large proportion of modern children's literature which deals with a child's place and problems in modern society.
— SF Site
Kirkus Reviews
This tome from Alexander (The Iron Ring, 1997, etc.) showcases all the elements of a farce as mayors and councilmen, gypsies and ragamuffins supplant kings and princes, warriors and magic cats. Episodic chapters resemble short skits as the orphaned gypsy girl Rizka, with intentional but lighthearted mockery, merrily exposes the townspeople of Greater Dunitsa for all their quirks and quixotic notions. She is soothsayer, matchmaker, and healer rolled into one. With a glint in her eye and a trick up her sleeve, the quick-witted Rizka can make grown men cluck like chickens, believe in town hall ghosts, or stuff herring down their pants in an effort to grow smarter, all "in the name of civic duty." For a stretch, the plot is more of the same, pitting Rizka against the evil Chief Councilor Sharpnack, who seeks only to rid the town of the "pestilential Gypsy vixen" and her impudent cat Petzel, "the only blot(s) on the town's reputation." In a series of "carefully managed coincidences," snowballing plot elements land many of the bumbling government officials in their own jail. All comes right again, for as Rizka has wound her way into the lives of the townspeople, she has also found her way into their hearts. Alexander has a flair for finding the comedic in his pageant of characters, while his chain of absurdities reveals a truth or two about the human condition along the way. (Fiction. 10-14)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780141309804
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
  • Publication date: 11/28/2000
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 208
  • Age range: 8 - 12 Years
  • Product dimensions: 5.12 (w) x 7.78 (h) x 0.63 (d)

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Sort by: Showing 1 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 10, 2001

    It Was an Awesome Book!!!!!!

    I really liked this book. I've never acctually read one of Lloyd Alexander's books before. At first it looked kinda boring but once u got into the book it was awesome! The book is about a girl named Rizka she is half-gypsy which she got from her fathers side then she is half city girl from her mom. Rizka dressed pretty diffrent and the towns people wanted to get rid of her, but she didnt want to leave because she was waiting for her father to return to the town (Greater Dunista.)During that she was matchmaking, making cures for people and dealing with Sharpnack. Then the gypsies returned with the news that her father had died she had to chose whether to travel with the gypsies or stay with the people she knows in greater dunista.

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