Dusssie
by Nancy Springer
by Nancy Springer
DUSSSIE by Nancy Springer
Category: Fantasy
Age Recommendation: Grades 6+
Release Date: 10/2/07
Publisher: Walker Books
Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger
Rating: 5 Stars
Every young girl looks forward to the day she will “become a woman” with much excitement and some trepidation. But
when thirteen year-old Dusie gets her period, she has more to fear than simply feeling fatter, or wondering if the boys
will be able to tell. She has sprouted snakes on top of her head! Twenty-seven of them, to be exact.
Now she knows why her artsy mother has always worn a turban upon her head. Why didn’t her mom warn her? She’s
so angry with her mother, yet desperately needs her. She turns that anger on Troy, the boy with eyes of tarnished silver
who is simply flirting by trying to touch her hair. Her snakes strike out to protect her with disastrous results. They turn
him to stone!
Dusie confides in an old man named Cy, who offers to help. He creates a potion that will kill her snakes without harming
Dusie. But does Dusie still want to get rid of them? Can she ever find true love with a head full of snakes? Does she
need them to help her undo the damage they’ve caused? Dusie gets to know each of her snakes, and, in the process,
learns more about herself.
DUSSSIE by Nancy Springer is a creative novel which plays with the coming of womanhood in a delightfully
unexpected way. If Dusie can find her way through the mysterious changes of puberty, surely a mere mortal reader can.
This was a fast, pleasurable read, one I recommend to all young ladies coming of age. If your head gets that crawly
feeling, it just might be snakes!
Category: Fantasy
Age Recommendation: Grades 6+
Release Date: 10/2/07
Publisher: Walker Books
Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger
Rating: 5 Stars
Every young girl looks forward to the day she will “become a woman” with much excitement and some trepidation. But
when thirteen year-old Dusie gets her period, she has more to fear than simply feeling fatter, or wondering if the boys
will be able to tell. She has sprouted snakes on top of her head! Twenty-seven of them, to be exact.
Now she knows why her artsy mother has always worn a turban upon her head. Why didn’t her mom warn her? She’s
so angry with her mother, yet desperately needs her. She turns that anger on Troy, the boy with eyes of tarnished silver
who is simply flirting by trying to touch her hair. Her snakes strike out to protect her with disastrous results. They turn
him to stone!
Dusie confides in an old man named Cy, who offers to help. He creates a potion that will kill her snakes without harming
Dusie. But does Dusie still want to get rid of them? Can she ever find true love with a head full of snakes? Does she
need them to help her undo the damage they’ve caused? Dusie gets to know each of her snakes, and, in the process,
learns more about herself.
DUSSSIE by Nancy Springer is a creative novel which plays with the coming of womanhood in a delightfully
unexpected way. If Dusie can find her way through the mysterious changes of puberty, surely a mere mortal reader can.
This was a fast, pleasurable read, one I recommend to all young ladies coming of age. If your head gets that crawly
feeling, it just might be snakes!