Philosophy and fantasy mingle with mixed results.
Life and Death’s annual game leaves a girl’s life in the balance as magical realism meets other-world fantasy in this novel set in Oaxaca.
Eleven-year-old Clara’s destiny is forever changed when a small silver thread, borne on a breeze, marks her in a game between Life and Lady Death, who prefers to be called Catrina. Unbeknownst to Clara, the mysterious happenings around her are being dictated by the cards in a game of Lotería. The sudden loss of her aunt seems an especially cruel twist of fate, but when her grieving younger cousin disappears into the night, she knows it is up to her to save him. Though the story begins in the Latin American tradition of magical realism, it veers into full fantasy when Clara crosses through the mysterious portal into Aztlán. Aztlán presents as a Mesoamerican fantasy realm based loosely on the mythic home of the Aztecs, with echoes of Oz, Wonderland, and Narnia. It’s full of challenges to be faced as Clara tries to locate and rescue her cousin. All along, Life and Catrina play their cards and debate over free will. Does Clara have any choice in what happens next, or is all that transpires simply fate? Though the metaphors are often stretched and the philosophical debates can grow tiresome, there is enough mystery to keep readers going. The end is abrupt and bittersweet, not unlike life. Exquisite illustrations greatly enhance the text.
Philosophy and fantasy mingle with mixed results. (author's note, reader's guide) (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-17696-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
Remarkable.
A “half-Chinese and half-white” girl finds her place in a Little House–inspired fictional settler town.
After the death of her Chinese mother, Hanna, an aspiring dressmaker, and her White father seek a fresh start in Dakota Territory. It’s 1880, and they endure challenges similar to those faced by the Ingallses and so many others: dreary travel through unfamiliar lands, the struggle to protect food stores from nature, and the risky uncertainty of establishing a livelihood in a new place. Fans of the Little House books will find many of the small satisfactions of Laura’s stories—the mouthwatering descriptions of victuals, the attention to smart building construction, the glorious details of pleats and poplins—here in abundance. Park brings new depth to these well-trodden tales, though, as she renders visible both the xenophobia of the town’s White residents, which ranges in expression from microaggressions to full-out assault, and Hanna’s fight to overcome it with empathy and dignity. Hanna’s encounters with women of the nearby Ihanktonwan community are a treat; they hint at the whole world beyond a White settler perspective, a world all children deserve to learn about. A deeply personal author’s note about the story’s inspiration may leave readers wishing for additional resources for further study and more clarity about her use of Lakota/Dakota. While the cover art unfortunately evokes none of the richness of the text and instead insinuates insidious stereotypes, readers who sink into the pages behind it will be rewarded.
Remarkable. (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-328-78150-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Warm, delicious and filling.
What do you get when you take some scrumptious pie recipes, stir in a mix-up of a mystery involving an overweight cat and a legacy, then add a sly satirical nod to the Newbery Medal? This irresistible confection.
In 1955, 10-year-old Alice’s beloved Aunt Polly, the peerless “Pie Queen of Ipswitch,” who has always given away the extraordinary products of her oven simply because it makes her happy, dies. She bequeaths her incomparable piecrust recipe to Lardo, her cat—or does she?—and leaves Lardo to Alice. Thus the stage is set for a rich, layered and funny tale about friendship, family relationships and doing what’s right. The characters are wonderfully drawn. While doing her best to carry on Aunt Polly’s legacy, trying to figure out how to wrest the secret from the cat, dealing with a nefarious woman poking around town and learning about the renowned “Blueberry Medal,” which everyone in town is trying to win, Alice draws closer to her mom, a resolution Aunt Polly would have cherished. Alice and her family eventually discover the solution to the mystery in a plot twist that is both comical and plausible. An epilogue, set in 1995, is deeply poignant and gratifying. In addition to the beautifully wrought story, readers will savor and want to attempt the 14 recipes, each of which precedes a chapter.
Warm, delicious and filling. (recipes, pie credits) (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-545-27011-3
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
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