The Hotel Balzaar

Starred review from July 15, 2024
While white-cued Marta Buchelli’s mother works as a maid in the Hotel Balzaar, Marta ponders the art in the hotel’s once grand lobby, yearns for her soldier father’s return, and stays out of sight and quiet as a mouse. Despite her efforts, she is noticed by a countess accompanied by green-feathered parrot Blitzkoff (“once a man who was a very great general”). The countess invites Marta to her room, where the adult regales the child with seven tales that contain details and phrases that spark recognition in Marta. Some of the stories seem to be about the countess herself, while others recount Blitzkoff’s apparent past as a circus performer; all pay reverence to the power of light to turn the world “into a mellow, forgiving place,” reminding Marta of the words in her father’s last letter: “Tell me where you see the light seep through.” In this follow-up to The Puppets of Spelhorst, DiCamillo showcases the capacity for storytelling to soothe and inspire hope in a pithy, nuanced tale peppered with gentle humor and enduring grace. Striking illustrations by Sardà (Godfather Death) recall woodcutting and elegant art deco line art. Ages 7–10.

September 1, 2024
In this second volume in DiCamillo's projected trio of novellas (beginning with The Puppets of Spelhorst, rev. 9/23), Marta lives in the attic of a grand hotel where her mother works as a cleaner. Mother and daughter lead anxious, constricted existences as they wait, powerless, for news of Marta's father, away fighting in the Great War. But Marta's life becomes more interesting when an elegant, elderly countess (complete with parrot) checks into the hotel and seeks out her company as an audience for her stories. The six tales the countess recounts are mysterious, peopled with nuns, soldiers, kings, foxes, and circus performers. In each there are echoes of Marta's life and predicament, and in each is a portent of hope. The countess disappears before she relates the seventh and final story. But all is well as that last tale, encompassing all the others, plays out in action as Marta's father returns. The flavors of this novella -- the sorrows of war and the consolations of story -- are given sharp specificity in the black-and-white drawings. In the main narrative, Sarda creates the grandest of art nouveau hotels, all decorative pattern and dramatic swoop. In the embedded stories she uses a simpler style, reminiscent of medieval woodblocks. The total effect is generous, rich, and inviting. Sarah Ellis

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 1, 2024

Gr 2-5-A return to Norendy in this enchanting follow-up to The Puppets of Spelhorst. At the Hotel Balzaar, every day is the same for Marta. While her mother works as a cleaner, Marta quietly and invisibly explores. She enjoys chatting with the bellman, watching the cat and mouse run in circles on the grandfather clock, and daydreaming in front of the painting over the fireplace featuring a single angel's wing. Her explorations just barely take her mind off of her father, a soldier who's been missing for over a year. One day, a glamorous and mysterious countess checks into the hotel with her parrot, and Marta's days find new excitement. The countess has stories to share, but these often leave Marta with more questions than answers. She begins to wonder: is the mystery of her father hidden within these tales? Will she ever see him again? Marta must simply listen patiently to find out. This second entry in DiCamillo's "Norendly Tales" trilogy features charming black-and-white drawings from Sard� that bring the magic to life. Tied to the first volume with shared themes of love and loss, hope and despair, and darkness and light, this original fairy tale tells its own unique story, ultimately leaving readers with a hopeful message that "there must be more light." VERDICT Just as endearing as the first book, this follow-up is sure to leave readers eager for the next volume. Enthusiastically recommended for libraries everywhere.-Elizabeth Blake

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2024
A mysterious hotel guest tells stories to a maid's child. It's been a long time since the last letter arrived from Marta's soldier father; without him, Marta and her mother have landed in the attic room of the Hotel Balzaar, where her mother works as a maid and Marta must be always unobtrusive. But when a flamboyant elderly countess with a parrot arrives, the new guest spots Marta right away and insists the child come to her room to hear stories. The stories enchant and frustrate Marta in equal turns, being both compelling and ending in places that leave her unsatisfied. But the stories also seem interconnected in ways that inspire Marta to examine them for deeper meaning. Pieces of the fablelike stories relate to Marta--especially to her father. Marta's holding out in her belief that he will return to them one day, and she finds the more magical takes on reality offered by the countess's stories reassuring in the face of her life's ambiguities. Readers, too, will enjoy piecing together the connections among the stories and will be encouraged to seek deeper truths about people and the world around them. The vintage, baroque artwork features bold, confident lines that capture the timelessness of both Marta's story and the countess's tales. Characters present white. A delightful, thoughtful escape to a magical world.(Fantasy. 7-10)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from October 15, 2024
Grades 2-4 *Starred Review* DiCamillo adds a second title to her Norendy Tales chapter-book series with this quietly magical story of Marta, who lives with her mother in the attic of the Hotel Balzaar. Her mother, a maid there, reminds the young girl every morning to be quiet as a mouse as she moves about the hotel. Marta dutifully obeys until, one morning, a dramatically attired older woman arrives with a green parrot perched on her shoulder. The woman (a countess!) notices Marta and invites the girl to come to her room. Marta can't resist the countess' entreaty and finds herself audience to a series of tales, doled out on consecutive days. A flurry of questions ignites in Marta, always batted away by the countess: "In the end, it doesn't matter. What matters is the story. What matters, you see, is that the story gets told." Any reader of DiCamillo knows she adores a story about storytelling, and here she settles into her theme with the ease of one who's mastered her trade. The countess' stories are flecked with details that feel plucked from Marta's own life, specifically the disappearance of her soldier father, and the book's big draw is seeing how DiCamillo brings these seemingly disparate threads into a unified narrative. Stylized line drawings by Sard� add just the right ambiance to this worthy stand-alone companion to The Puppets of Spelhorst (2023).

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2024
In this second volume in DiCamillo's projected trio of novellas (beginning with The Puppets of Spelhorst, rev. 9/23), Marta lives in the attic of a grand hotel where her mother works as a cleaner. Mother and daughter lead anxious, constricted existences as they wait, powerless, for news of Marta's father, away fighting in the Great War. But Marta's life becomes more interesting when an elegant, elderly countess (complete with parrot) checks into the hotel and seeks out her company as an audience for her stories. The six tales the countess recounts are mysterious, peopled with nuns, soldiers, kings, foxes, and circus performers. In each there are echoes of Marta's life and predicament, and in each is a portent of hope. The countess disappears before she relates the seventh and final story. But all is well as that last tale, encompassing all the others, plays out in action as Marta's father returns. The flavors of this novella -- the sorrows of war and the consolations of story -- are given sharp specificity in the black-and-white drawings. In the main narrative, Sarda creates the grandest of art nouveau hotels, all decorative pattern and dramatic swoop. In the embedded stories she uses a simpler style, reminiscent of medieval woodblocks. The total effect is generous, rich, and inviting.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)