What would you do if one of your family members became really sick? So sick, in fact, that they could not care for themselves and needed everything to be done for them. Would you be able to take care of this person, and not give up on your dreams? Well this is what Sky has to go through in the third stravaganza book by Mary Hoffman called City of Flowers. In this installation, another teen from modern day London, England finds himself whisked away to a strange parallel world called Talia, which is similar to our Italy. But this time there is a lot of danger in store for the stravaganti being threatened by the vengeful Duke Niccolo.
In England, a young colored boy named Sky Meadows (go ahead and laugh at his name) takes care of his sick mother. I’m still not sure what is making Rose Meadows so sick, but it seems to have good days and, on bad days, she can’t even get out of bed. But Sky had learned to make dinner and wash dishes and do all the chores in the house and take care of his mother without complaining. Sure he wants to be more normal, but he knows he has to take care of Rose. Sky’s father, as you’ve probably noticed, is not around. He is a famous rock star in America whop sky has never, and never wants, to meet. But his mother insists that he should see him sometime.
When Sky finds a small perfume bottle, he is intrigued by it and takes it home. That night he falls asleep with it in his hands and is amazingly transported to Talia. He wakes up in Saint-Mary-Among-the-Vines, a friary in the city of Giglia, known for its flowers, perfumes and the powerful ruling di Chimici family. He is awaken and soon meets Brother Sulien, the head friar, who is his stravaganti instructor. He throws on a novice robe and Sulien gives him the Talian name closest to Sky, which is Celestino, to go by when he’s in Talia. Sky goes along with it because he thinks it’s a dream, until the people in Talia mention things that they shouldn’t know.
The next day, sky sits at the same table as Nick Duke and Georgia O’Grady, two former stravaganti who have since given it up. When they are alone, she quickly mentions nick’s Talian name and surprises Nick and Georgia. They meet up after school to talk about it. Sky reveals that he went to Giglia, Nick’s city, and nick asks him a lot of questions. He learns that Lucien Mulholland, a boy from their school who died of cancer a few years ago, is in fact not dead at all. He is alive in Talia, in the lagoon city of Bellezza, and will be coming to Giglia very soon. Sky is very interested in meeting him.
This is another good installment in the Stravaganza series by Mary Hoffman. This time around though, there are some interesting characters, along with old ones. Enrico, or the Eel as he’s known by, is still spying for the duke Niccolo, with his young apprentice Sandro, an orphan boy. Sandro quickly bonds with Sky and after a few events like the Duke’s poisoning and the murder of someone important, he learns where his loyalties lie. Sky has also met Gaetano, the Duke’s son, and good friend to the stravaganti. Gaetano asks how Georgia and Nick are, and after some bad things happen, he decides to teach Sky and Luciano how to fence. Trust me; this will come in handy sometime.
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