THE MIME

In Tutalo’s fantasy novel, a young girl faces off against a nefarious magician who’s trapped her in a dream world of his own design.

Eleven-year-old Florina hasn’t spoken since she lost her parents. In fact, she hardly communicates at all, much to the chagrin of school bullies, her grumpy teacher, and even Señora Mochado, the woman who took the girl in. Florina is ecstatic when she comes across a journal belonging to her father, Manolo. He and Florina's mother, Marisol, had been street performers—a mime and his singing muse—in Oaxaca, Mexico, where Florina still lives. Also among her dad’s things is an object coveted by a diabolical illusionist; once he gets it, he completes a magic spell that smashes reality and dreams together. Florina winds up in a “deep slumber” and awakens stuck inside a dream, with the city in ruins. It’s the Trickster’s world—he’s stolen artists’ and performers’ talents to ensure he has the best act in all of Mexico. The tween girl finds her voice and traverses a dark world of shadow creatures, with the Trickster always watching. A band of allies slowly forms, including a mime who’s lost his voice, a musician whose audiences boo him off the stage, and the assistant to an inexplicably missing performer. The Trickster challenges Florina to a game in which he’ll surely live up to his name and attempt to fool her. With luck and perseverance, however, Florina could win—and possibly right all the wrongs he’s done and return the purloined talents and voices to their rightful owners.

Tutalo’s story is not without its dour moments—nearly everyone berates Florina for her “selective mutism,” and the buildings in the dream-version of Oaxaca are sadly “disheveled and covered with debris.” Nevertheless, the vibrant cast brightens the general gloom. The supporting characters include, among myriad others, death-defying acrobatic brothers Piddle Pat Dee and Tittle Tat Dee; the mysterious Tarot card reader, Valentina; and Sandro Socorro, a “lanky, grungy tramp-dressed puppeteer” who is one of the first people to show Florina kindness. Several characters, including a villain, boast enthralling backstories, complete with “meet cutes” and origins for their various acts. The narrative, with shades of both Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Edgar Allan Poe’s macabre works, takes readers through a harrowing adventure of magical menaces, seemingly natural perils, and potentially dangerous mechanical things. The theme of finding one’s voice, be it literal or metaphorical, truly drives the novel and demonstrates how powerful even just one voice can be. All of this is relayed via the author’s crisp, sublimely fluid prose: “Inside the wide, vast theater, beams of moonlight shone in through the gaps and openings in the cathedral-like high ceiling… As Florina walked down the aisle toward the stage, she wrapped her arms around herself and peered back over her shoulder.” Sánchez’s digital black-and-white illustrations offer elegant depictions of such sights as Florina’s parents on stage, a shadowy encounter in the woods at night, and the ever-increasing cast of motley characters.

A sincere and lyrical otherworldly tale of family and formidable pluck.