I, Coriander by Sally Gardner ages 9-12 288 pages Dial August 2005 Hardcover     Growing up in the 1643 England of Oliver Cromwell, Coriander Hobie resides in a comfortable house on the Thames. Eleanor, her mother, is a renowned London healer, best known for her abilities with herbs and foresight in matters of the heart. Coriander’s father is a merchant who deals in ships and their cargo. When her mother falls ill and ultimately dies, is sorcery to blame? Who will explain the talking crow that comes to her in dreams, or the old woman with two faces? What world is it that exists in the wedding portraits painted of her parents? In her father’s grief, he is convinced to marry the pious and crafty Maud Leggs, who brings a new sibling to Coriander named Hester. Maud has only her ferocious appetite and Puritan values to recommend her, and things are made virtually impossible for Coriander upon the arrival of the minister Arise Fell. I, Coriander is a lovely historical fiction/fairy story. The characters are well-developed, the description of setting is lush and the reality of 1600s England is blended well with the supernatural. This is an easy, one- to two-day read with some twisting of plot thrown in to keep a reader expecting more.     web reviews   Anne Pepper/2005 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)