A fantasy novel by Stephen Evans
Buy the Book:
Your favorite local bookstore
Bookshop.Org
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
An “engaging modern-day fairy tale.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Whose Beauty is Past Change by author and playwright Stephen Evans tells the coming of age story story of Lissa, a young girl who journeys through beautiful distractions to find herself, and her future in a fantastic undersea realm.
While visiting Key West, Florida, with her father (a professor of poetry), Lissa falls into the Gulf while watching a beautiful sunset. Unable to return to the surface, she learns she has been called to follow a golden path to Kwest, the undersea realm where sunsets are painted.
To guide her along the path, she encounters the charming creatures of the reef: dazzling Glam-Mer, the clownfish; wise Pri-Mer, the sea-turtle; ponderous Boo-Mer, the manatee; giddy Skim-Mer, the dolphin, and cantankerous and creative Glim-Mer, the giant oyster.
Finally, Lissa reaches Kwest, the luminous undersea realm where sunsets are painted. Using what she has learned of art and poetry from her parents, she proves she belongs in Kwest. There she is offered a choice: to return to the surface or remain forever as a painter of sunsets. She chooses to stay, and is transformed into a mermaid. But she has one request: a special message to her father – a sunset of her own design.
Intended to inspire and encourage young poets and artists, the book quotes major poets such as E. E. Cummings, Emily Dickinson, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Blake, Wallace Stevens, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and John Keats.
For advanced middle-grade and YA readers.
Publishers Note: This book was previously published under the title Painting Sunsets.
Print ISBN: 9781953725394
Epub ISBN: 9781953725394
What the Critics are Saying:
An “engaging modern-day fairy tale.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Aiming to inspire young artists, this fantasy story hits its mark, conveying that art is essential to everyday life and that beauty is everywhere for those who take the time to look at the sunset and listen for the artistry that can be unleashed by the written word.”
—Foreword Clarion Reviews
“Stephen Evans imaginative young adult fantasy invents a vivid, perpetually lit world that abounds in swirls of luminescence and kaleidoscopic color. Above all, Evans’s elegant prose emphasizes the aesthetic value of art and the act of creation. Painting Sunsets’s fantasy elements are spot on, and the novel’s coming-of-age narrative will be equally engaging to YA readers.”
—BlueInk Reviews, Starred Review
Excerpt:
Lissa sat back cross-legged on the golden sand, which even in the coral cavern was marvelously soft, and tried to figure out what to do. But she kept getting distracted, because the cavern was alive with strange creatures, animals and plants (and sometimes Lissa wasn’t sure which was which), in stunning colors and wild shapes, all drifting in graceful, coordinated movement like a luminous ballet. Lissa was so taken by the sight that she forgot all about trying to move ahead, and instead sat contentedly watching. It was like living inside an exotic aquarium, and a spectacular one at that.
Lissa stared and stared, dazzled by the variety and beauty around her. Finally, after she didn’t know how long, she stood and brushed the sand from her pants.
“I suppose I must be going. Though I cannot see how,” said Lissa.
“Why ever would you want to?” said the island, opening its huge brown eyes.
“Excuse me,” said Lissa. “I didn’t mean to wake you. That is, I didn’t know an island could sleep. Or wake. Or see. Or speak.”
“I am not an island,” said the island. “I am a manatee. Eons ago, my ancestors, the elephants, left the land and returned to the sea, as you are doing now. I am a mammal just like you,” said the manatee, “though a bit larger.”
“More than a bit,” said Lissa. “Though it is hard to be sure how much bigger since I cannot see all of you at once.”
“Good point,” said the manatee, raising a gigantic paw as large as Lissa herself. The wake of its passing raised Lissa a few inches off the seabed.
“How do you do? My name is Boo-Mer,” said Boo-Mer.
“I am Lissa,” said Lissa, settling herself back to earth.
“I am so pleased to share this beauty with you, Lissa.”
“Thank you. Thank you very much. I am very pleased to be here, but you see, my father doesn’t know where I am or if I am safe.”
“Oh dear,” said Boo-Mer.
“So you see, it is very very nice to meet you and share this very very beautiful place, but I really must be going. Though I cannot see how at the moment. I was wondering if you could move at bit left or right, so I can squeeze by you.”
Boo-Mer blinked several times, as if pondering the situation.
“I don’t think that would work,” said Boo-Mer said finally.
“Are you stuck too?”
“I don’t know. Once in a while I spin up just long enough to take a breath. So perhaps I could leave, if I wanted to. But it is so very beautiful here, I have never wanted to. Look at the colors dancing and shimmering. Is this not the most beautiful sight you can imagine?”
You Might Also Like:
https://www.istephenevans.com/theislandofalways
