Queens of All the Earth

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Description

As her freshman classmates move into dorms at Cornell University, Olivia Somerset suffers a nervous breakdown. Big sister Miranda decides the sisters should fly off to Barcelona for some "vacation therapy". When a mistake at their Barcelona hostel leaves the Somersets in a large co-ed dorm room, Olivia and Miranda are saved by kindly Mr. Brown and his son Greg. But while Olivia feels an instant connection with brooding Greg Brown, Miranda sides with fellow guest and cocky American travel writer Lenny: The Browns are just plain weird, and must be avoided at all costs. Inspired by E M Forster's classic novel "A Room with a View", debut author Hannah Sternberg's Queens of All the Earth is a poetic journey of young love and self-awakening set against the beauty of Catalonia. Adults and teenagers alike will be riveted and moved by this literary coming-of-age novel about the conflicting hearts and minds of two very different sisters.

Reviews

An ambitious effort to whip up a new take on an old story." -Kirkus Reviews With its stunning imagery, beautifully developed characterization, and satisfying conclusion, this novel will appeal to readers who savor fine writing over fast-moving action. -VOYA Some teens may find the lengthy descriptions and the poetry distracting, but others may enjoy Sternberg's knack for making Barcelona sound like an enchanting place in which to fall in love. -School Library Journal (Shannon Seglin, Patrick Henry Library, Vienna, VA) Sternberg takes a charming and still-popular classic and retells it with grit and soul, making it not only relevant but compelling for today's young readers. -Susanne Dunlap, Author of the YA novel The Musician's Daughter, a Bank Street Children's Book of the Year There was a wonderful languid pace to this book that drew me right in, getting totally lost in Hannah Sternberg's wonderful depiction of Barcelona. It's a bit of a cliche to say: 'It really feels like you are there, smelling the smells, feeling the breeze in your hair, and watching the hills drift past your coach window.' But that is exactly what it felt like. It'd be the perfect read for a late-spring/early-summer Sunday afternoon in the garden. -Bart's Bookshelf

Author Bio

Hannah Sternberg has had extensive experience writing both fiction and nonfiction. In 2009, she received a B.A. in Film and Media Studies and Writing Seminars from Johns Hopkins University, which she attended on a full scholarship. She's been published in the Hopkins student literary magazine, the student newspaper, and the JHU Film Society's annual journal. She had an article published in The Weekly Standard magazine, and several of her articles on film adaptations of books have appeared in The Historical Novels Review. Before college, she won honourable mention in a national playwriting contest. Born in Baltimore and raised between there, Rutland, VT, and Lancaster, PA, Hannah currently lives and works in Washington, D.C. Queens of all the Earth, written when Hannah was only 19, is her first published novel.