Heartbreaking, uplifting, and absolutely beautiful.
In this reimagining of Russian tales of Baba Yaga, Yagas act as benevolent Guardians of The Gate between the worlds of the living and the dead.
Orphan Marinka descends on both sides from the first Yaga, whose house plied the Russian steppes. Her grandmother Baba, who is also a Yaga, is training her to take over this important job when the time comes. But the 12-year-old doesn’t want to be a Yaga. A Yaga’s life is secret and lonely; her (or his) only friends are the dead who stop in nightly for a celebration of their lives before the Yaga guides them back to the stars from whence they came. Then two life-changing events happen in succession: Marinka learns a devastating truth about her life and Baba disappears. Marinka has to find a way to get Baba back, but her plan may change everything forever. Anderson has fully and lovingly developed her Yaga mythology. Although the Yaga story originates in Eastern Europe, these Yagas travel all over the world to guide the dead. Marinka’s story takes her to England’s Lake District, an unidentified desert, a marketplace in North Africa, and to the Russian steppes. Yagas are kind, and their chicken-legged houses aren’t merely a means to get from place to place. They are sentient creatures, expressing emotion and magically meeting their inhabitants’ needs. Some diversity is implied based on location, and Marinka’s Russian descent likewise implies that she is white.
Heartbreaking, uplifting, and absolutely beautiful. (Fantasy. 8-13)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-20996-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This delightful debut welcomes readers in like a house filled with love.
A 13-year-old biracial girl longs to build the house of her dreams.
For Lou Bulosan-Nelson, normal is her “gigantic extended family squished into Lola’s for every holiday imaginable.” She shares a bedroom with her Filipina mother, Minda—a former interior-design major and current nurse-to-be—in Lola Celina’s San Francisco home. From her deceased white father, Michael, Lou inherited “not-so-Filipino features,” his love for architecture, and some land. Lou’s quietude implies her keen eye for details, but her passion for creating with her hands resonates loudly. Pining for something to claim as her own, she plans to construct a house from the ground up. When her mom considers moving out of state for a potential job and Lou’s land is at risk of being auctioned off, Lou stays resilient, gathering support from both friends and family to make her dream a reality. Respicio authentically depicts the richness of Philippine culture, incorporating Filipino language, insights into Lou’s family history, and well-crafted descriptions of customs, such as the birdlike Tinikling dance and eating kamayan style (with one’s hands), throughout. Lou’s story gives voice to Filipino youth, addressing cultural differences, the importance of bayanihan (community), and the true meaning of home.
This delightful debut welcomes readers in like a house filled with love. (Fiction. 8-13)Pub Date: June 12, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-1794-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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