This vibrant, intergenerational tale is nothing short of magical
A celebration of grandparents’ wisdom, cross-cultural friendship, and the idea that nothing is impossible.
In present-day Oaxaca, young Mateo visits his Grandpa Teo in his ancestral Mixteco hometown, the Hill of Dust, for the summer. Grandpa Teo shows Mateo a shiny string of coins and begins a story “of marvels. Of impossible fortunes....Of a girl who gathered power from storms and sang back the dead.” The lyrical narrative then rewinds to the 1950s, when a young Teo—a grandson of the village’s healer—first meets “Gypsy” girl Esma, who arrives with her family’s caravan to sing, show movies, read fortunes, and change his life. Taken with her beautiful voice and "aliveness," Teo strikes up a friendship with “Queen of Lightning” Esma that her fortuneteller grandmother predicts will not only last a lifetime, but also extend to their own grandchildren. Each year, the Romany return, and Teo and Esma resume sharing secrets, rescuing wounded animals, and even saving each other's lives. Inspired by the author’s time living among the Mixteco, the heartfelt story shifts between timelines to reveal how Teo and Esma form a bond on the Hill of Dust that neither prejudice, time, nor distance can break. Backmatter includes a lengthy note that discusses the Mixteco and the Romany as well as glossaries and pronunciation guides for Mexican Spanish, Mixteco, and Romany words and phrases used in the text.
This vibrant, intergenerational tale is nothing short of magical . (Magical realism. 8-13)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-80084-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
A warm bundle of holiday cheer.
In a funny, feel-good tale, 12-year-old twins separated at birth meet by chance and try to pull off a family switch during the December holidays.
The girls, who are cued white, agree that it would be a delicious prank, but each has a personal motive, too: Aviva Davis, who was adopted by a culturally Jewish mom and a Black dad who was raised Christian, wonders what it’s like to celebrate Christmas. Budding author Holly Martin, who was adopted by a white-presenting single mom, sees a golden opportunity to gather experiences for a school writing assignment about facing her fears. In a plot as sweet as a Hanukkah jelly doughnut and twisty as a Christmas cinnamon roll, the pair just manages to bail one another out of a string of sticky situations—both hilarious and otherwise. They both learn something of the customs and meaning of the two holidays while working through tears and laughter—not to mention conflicts sparked by their very different personalities. Everything culminates in a holiday performance at a local senior center that will have readers rising up to cheer them on. Though their history remains tantalizingly mysterious, for the protagonists, who narrate alternating chapters, it’s mission accomplished and more: Aviva emerges feeling more secure in her Jewish identity, while anxious Holly discovers unexpected depths of courage.
A warm bundle of holiday cheer. (song lyrics) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781250360670
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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