(YA) Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey + Recipes!

     No, Skin Hunger is not about zombies and I'm not featuring any cannibalistic recipes; unless you're a chicken. (Scroll down for recipes.)
     Skin Hunger is the first book in the YA fantasy trilogy A Resurrection of Magic by Kathleen Duey and was a 2007 National Book Award finalist. The second book, Sacred Scars, was released in 2009 and the last book is coming soon. Kathleen is also the author of over 80 books for youth including picture books and middle-grade novels.

(Amazon link)

(From Goodreads)
     Sadima lives in a world where magic has been banned, leaving poor villagers prey to fakes and charlatans. A "magician" stole her family's few valuables and left Sadima's mother to die on the day Sadima was born. But vestiges of magic are hidden in old rhymes and hearth tales and in people like Sadima, who conceals her silent communication with animals for fear of rejection and ridicule. When rumors of her gift reach Somiss, a young nobleman obsessed with restoring magic, he sends Franklin, his lifelong servant, to find her. Sadima's joy at sharing her secret becomes love for the man she shares it with. But Franklin's irrevocable bond to the brilliant and dangerous Somiss traps her, too, and she faces a heartbreaking decision.
     Centuries later magic has been restored, but it is available only to the wealthy and is strictly controlled by wizards within a sequestered academy of magic. Hahp, the expendable second son of a rich merchant, is forced into the academy and finds himself paired with Gerrard, a peasant boy inexplicably admitted with nine sons of privilege and wealth. Only one of the ten students will graduate -- and the first academic requirement is survival.
     Sadima's and Hahp's worlds are separated by generations, but their lives are connected in surprising and powerful ways in this brilliant first book of Kathleen Duey's dark, complex, and completely compelling trilogy.

Read a sample of Skin Hunger!

     Skin Hunger features haunting, very effective prose. The style and efficiency of the writing paints clear pictures of the setting and characters. The fact that there are two main characters, one told from a third person point of view, the other in first person, does not detract from or confuse the story. Instead, an intricate web of plot is created that works under your skin and leaves you pining for the next book in the series. At first, I wasn't sure the title really fit a fantasy book with a medieval-type setting, but as I made my way to the end of the story, I finally understood why the title, Skin Hunger, is absolutely perfect in a most mind-opening way. ((And just FYI, there are mentions of boy parts and instances of bad language, though honestly, I wasn't bothered by this because the occurrences fit the situations.))
     Within the pages of Skin Hunger food plays a prominent role. Below are three recipes associated with different characters from the book.

Sadima's Chicken & Rosemary Dumplings

That evening Franklin was delighted with the chicken and rosemary dumplings she made. He pretended to eat like a starving man for the first few bites, making her laugh.

--Skin Hunger, chapter 19

(image from Food, Family, Finds)

Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 49oz can of Chicken Broth
1 26oz can of Cream of Chicken
1 cup celery, diced
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1 12oz bag of frozen Fresh Mixed Vegetables
2 cups Bisquick Original Mix
3/4 cups milk
2 TBS fresh chopped rosemary
Directions:
In a large pot over high heat, add chicken broth, celery, poultry seasoning and chicken.
Boil for 40 minutes until cooked through and fork tender.
Reduce heat to medium and add cream of chicken and mixed vegetables.
In a medium bowl, use your fingers to combine Bisquick, milk and rosemary until a dough ball forms.
Drop 1 inch balls of dough onto soup mixture and cook for 10 minutes.
Cover and continue to cook for an additional 10 minutes.

(Recipe from Food, Family, Finds)

Garrard's Fish Stew

"Fish stew? In a broth?"

He nodded. "Thin, reddish broth. It was wonderful. Onions. Potatoes."

--Skin Hunger, chapter 34

Ingredients:

3/4 c. olive oil
6 lg. onions, sliced
6 lg. peeled tomatoes or canned equivalent
1 bunch parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
3 lbs. different small fish and shell fish (such as flounder, bass, perch, whiting, shrimps, clams, etc.)
6 med. potatoes, sliced
Toast
Directions:
Pour oil into a casserole or Dutch oven over low heat.
When hot, add onions.
When these are soft, add tomatoes, parsley, and salt and pepper.
Let simmer for about 15 minutes.
Put in a layer of sliced fish, boned and skinned if preferred, then potatoes and remaining fish.
When fish and potatoes are cooked through, serve at once from the same casserole over slices of toasted bread.

(Recipe from Cooks.com)

Hahp Loves Celia's Griddlecakes

...I switched the image in my mind to a plate of griddle cakes, steaming, the odor of maple syrup and sweet butter and the sound of the batter on the hot skillet and the way the air began to leave the dough the moment they were laid on a plate, like a sigh.

--Skin Hunger, chapter 32

Ingredients:

(image from Martha Moments)

2 1/2 c. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. sugar
1 egg yolk
2 c. milk
3 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg white, beaten stiff
Directions:
Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar.
Beat egg yolk; mix in the milk.
Add to flour mixture, stirring only until smooth.
Stir in melted butter and vanilla, then fold in beaten egg white.
Pour batter onto heated griddle and cook each side until golden brown.

(Recipe from Cooks.com)

And if you really want to be true to Hahp from the story, serve these pancakes with some form of apples.

Places to visit Kathleen:

* Website

* Blog

* Facebook

* Twitter
* Goodreads