Spin by Rebecca Caprara

Abstract

Reviewed by: Spin by Rebecca Caprara Fiona Hartley-Kroeger Caprara, Rebecca Spin. Atheneum, 2023 [400p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781665906197 $19.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781665906210 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 8-12 Arachne, publicly derided for her oddly shaped legs and awkward gait, learns the craft of weaving from her mother and gradually finds her voice through her art. After Arachne’s beloved younger brother and then her mother die, and her only friend, Celandine, is raped, Arachne and Celandine leave their homes to seek a new life together. Arachne’s sublime weaving and insistence on her own worth attracts the attention of the goddess Athena, leading to a contest that Arachne cannot win but that she is determined to use as a venue for truth-telling. Impelled by her feelings for Celandine and her fury at the way women are treated by men and gods, Arachne weaves a tapestry that indicts the sexual violence committed in foundational myths. [End Page 216] Supplementary material such as historical and literary notes and a glossary would have been welcome, considering this verse novel draws from a plethora of Classical literary influences, including myths from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, references to the Trojan War and its aftermath, and direct sampling of Sappho. Nevertheless, the book is an impressive feat of storytelling and a fine contribution to the ongoing re-examination of the contemporary Western world’s Classical roots. Its pointed, free verse reshaping of old myths would counterpoint well with Elliott’s Bull (BCCB 02/17), but the focus on naming rape and speaking out against sexual violence will also make this a logical companion to McCall’s Echoes of Grace (BCCB 06/22) or this month’s Big Picture, Enter the Body. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois