Sweep

Starred review from July 9, 2018
A chimney sweep disappears from a London rooftop, leaving six-year-old Nan Sparrow alone, save for a hat and a lump of mysteriously ever-warm charcoal—her char. To survive, Nan joins a gang of “climbing boys” owned by the abusive Wilkie Crudd. By age 11, she is the finest sweep of them all, but following a brutal chimney fire, she discovers that her char has become a golem, which she names Charlie, and that he has saved her life. As the two hide from Crudd, Nan grows to love Charlie and his particular brand of magic, and she learns that golems are, by nature, ephemeral: if Charlie can flame up, he can almost certainly flame out. A cast of fully fleshed (and sooted) characters contribute texture and community, and Auxier (The Night Gardener) mixes moments of triumph and pure delight (new snow, rooftop vistas) with dark, Dickensian themes (child labor, sickness, poverty). Told in two allusive sections—“Innocence” and “Experience,” after Blake’s volume—that pivot between Nan’s past and present, this dazzling, warmhearted novel contemplates selflessness and saving, deep love and what makes a monster. Ages 8–12. Agent: Joe Regal, Regal Hoffmann & Assoc.

August 1, 2018

Gr 5-8-A stunning historical fantasy novel about the power of friendship, our potential for courage, and the beauty of remembering loved ones, set in Victorian England. Nan is one of the many child sweeps who have the dangerous job of cleaning chimneys. She wakes one morning to find her beloved father figure, the Sweep, gone, a lump of char in his place. Years later, Nan gets caught in a chimney fire and is rescued by the char, who springs to life as a Golem named Charlie. Nan soon befriends a young teacher named Miss Bloom, from whom she learns that Golems no longer live after their purpose is served. When a young sweep dies, Nan, her fellow sweeps, and Miss Bloom organize a protest on May Day to reveal the dangers of their job to the general public. Meanwhile, Nan realizes the Golem's true purpose and with it, the difficulty of letting go. Auxier phenomenally weaves historical facts and fantasy. While the feats of these child sweeps seem incredible, Auxier provides back matter in the form of historical notes to clarify fact from fiction. Nan's strong yet vulnerable personality will appeal to readers, and a realistic set of secondary characters add depth to the plot. The novel's structure is a nod to William Blake and will delight teachers and librarians. VERDICT Excellent writing and skillful integration of historical fact with compelling characters make this a must-buy where middle grade fantasy is in demand.-Amy McInerney, Falmouth Elementary School, ME

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2018
A young chimney sweep gathers an unusual family around her in this bittersweet historical fantasy of love and loss.Eleven-year-old Nan Sparrow's only legacies from the Sweep, her beloved mentor, are his hat and a strange lump of charcoal. After her fiery near death lets her escape her abusive master's control, this "char" awakens into a protective golem she names Charlie. Alas, Victorian London, however magical, is not kind to "climbing boys" of any gender--nor to monsters, nor to any of the odd lot of outcasts that Nan befriends. Auxier (The Night Gardener, 2014, etc.) turns his imaginative whimsy and lyrical prose to a real historical horror; while never gratuitous, he does not shy away from the appalling conditions under which children labor, nor does he ignore the sacrifices and struggle to abolish the practice. The inclusion of two (possibly three) Jewish characters suggests the intertwining of anti-Semitism and class exploitation, while references to such authors as William Blake, Daniel Defoe, and Mary Shelley demonstrate how literature could fire imaginations and highlight oppression. But the vivid characters--tough, whip-smart Nan; lovable, childlike Charlie; their engaging companions; even the marvelously Dickensian villains--prevent the story from becoming either dry history lesson or political screed. As Nan painfully, tentatively, haltingly permits love to make her vulnerable, she also gains strength and purpose: "We are saved by saving others."As heartbreaking as bleak midwinter--and as hopeful as early spring. (author's note, historical note) (Historical fantasy. 8-12)

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Starred review from August 1, 2018
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* Victorian London is often magically made over in novels, and Auxier (The Night Gardener, 2014) uses Jewish folklore as kindling for his wondrous, yet at times grim, story of Nan Sparrow, one of London's cadre of child chimney sweeps. Nearly 12, she works for the heartless Wilkie Crudd, who is nothing like the fatherly Sweep, who taught Nan to climb a chimney better than any boy. Though the Sweep disappeared five years ago, she still dreams of him and keeps the warm lump of charcoal he left behind in her pocket. On a routine job, Nan gets stuck in a flue and is saved by the Sweep's coal, which reveals itself to be a golem. Nan lets Crudd believe she died and hides with the golem, Charlie, in an abandoned house. At first, the freedom is blissful, but as Charlie grows larger, Nan becomes concerned about keeping him safe?though Nan is the one who needs protecting. Auxier wipes away the grime from a bleak chapter in history where children were forced to work dangerous jobs that claimed many lives. He questions what makes one a monster and applauds helping others, activism, education, earthly marvels, and the possibility of magic. Nan's fiery personality will attract readers like moths, and Auxier's unusual blend of mythology and history will keep them transfixed.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2019
When child chimney sweep Nan Sparrow gets stuck in a flue and nearly dies, she is saved by a "soot golem." Nan and the kind, gentle "Charlie" escape from her cruel master and make a home in an abandoned mansion. Weaving together strands of Jewish folklore, Blake's poetry, Frankenstein, child-labor reform, and magical realism, Auxier crafts a beautiful, hopeful story from the ugly realities of nineteenth-century British life.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from November 1, 2018
As a climbing girl in Victorian London, forced up into dangerous, narrow chimneys to sweep out the soot for her abusive master, Wilkie Crudd, Nan Sparrow leads a miserable life. But she has precious memories of the Sweep, the man who cared for her?told her stories and gave her food, made her believe in magic and kept her warm?until the morning he vanished five years earlier. The Sweep left Nan two things: his hat and a small lump of heat-radiating soot she calls the char. One day, she gets stuck in a flue, and her nemesis Roger cruelly lights a fire to give her the motivation to free herself. Nan nearly dies, but when she regains consciousness, she finds that the char has saved her. The fire has awakened the soot creature; he and Nan escape from the cruel Crudd and secretly make a home in an abandoned mansion, where Nan works to protect the kind and gentle Charlie. As he grows to monstrous proportions, Nan must hide him from view and thus from harm, with the question always in her mind: Had she saved Charlie? Or had Charlie saved her? Her mudlark friend Toby tells her: That's how it works, doesn't it? We are saved by saving others. Weaving together strands of Jewish folklore (Nan calls Charlie a soot golem ), Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, Shelley's Frankenstein, the history of child-labor reform, and his own threads of magical realism, Auxier crafts a beautiful, hopeful story out of some ugly realities of nineteenth-century British life. anita l. burkam

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)