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THE SECRET OF THE PURPLE LAKE

Name: THE SECRET OF THE PURPLE LAKE
Author: Yaba Badoe
ISBN: 978-1-911115-31-1

by Yaba Badoe ; illustrated by Gbolahan Adams ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 24, 2018

A disappointing affirmation of the status quo

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Five intertwined short stories all involve journeys that rarely conclude at home.

In “The Fisherman’s Daughter,” set in the Ghana Empire, Ajuba prefers fishing with her father over helping her mother. When Ajuba’s father dies at sea, Nana, the wise woman, says the sea also wants Ajuba. The villagers give her to the sea, where she must accomplish several monumental tasks and return her father’s bones to the village. Eventually Ajuba becomes a Mami-Wata—a mermaid. Aspects of this tale are further explored in the volume’s third and fourth tales, and the second and fifth tales similarly connect. Despite fantastical plots, the places are real—and all over the place: Ghana, Senegal, Scotland, the California coast, etc. Despite this, the stories fail as world stories, as gender and cultural stereotypes abound: the Norse king’s masculinist insistence on bearing a son prompts him to mistreat his wife; the Cherokee Indian who comes to Orkney to woo a princess arrives with a troupe of dancing bears and leaves in a magic canoe; and a Sikh prince from India wears a “fat orange turban” and a cashmere rug. In the end, compulsory heterosexuality reigns, and even the women who seem to have options don’t. The watercolor images will help readers imagine the unimaginable plots, but they add little to the stories.

A disappointing affirmation of the status quo . (Fantasy. 9-12)

Pub Date: April 24, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-911115-31-1

Page Count: 122

Publisher: Cassava Republic Press

Review Posted Online: March 4, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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90 MILES TO HAVANA

by Enrique Flores-Galbis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 3, 2010

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After Castro’s takeover, nine-year-old Julian and his older brothers are sent away by their fearful parents via “Operation Pedro Pan” to a camp in Miami for Cuban-exile children. Here he discovers that a ruthless bully has essentially been put in charge. Julian is quicker-witted than his brothers or anyone else ever imagined, though, and with his inherent smarts, developing maturity and the help of child and adult friends, he learns to navigate the dynamics of the camp and surroundings and grows from the former baby of the family to independence and self-confidence. A daring rescue mission at the end of the novel will have readers rooting for Julian even as it opens his family’s eyes to his courage and resourcefulness. This autobiographical novel is a well-meaning, fast-paced and often exciting read, though at times the writing feels choppy. It will introduce readers to a not-so-distant period whose echoes are still felt today and inspire admiration for young people who had to be brave despite frightening and lonely odds. (Historical fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2010

ISBN: 978-1-59643-168-3

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Review Posted Online: June 14, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2010

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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STARRY TALES

by Geraldine McCaughrean & illustrated by Sophy Williams ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001

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McCaughrean maintains the dizzyingly high standards of The Golden Hoard (1996) and its sequels with this thematic collection of sky myths and legends. Associated with cultures as diverse as Ancient Rome and the Cook Islands, the 15 tales explain, among other things, rainbows, thunder, falling stars, the origin of night, and why the sun and moon live far apart. Whether love stories, tragedies, accounts of heroic deeds or trickster tales, all are likely to be new to young readers, even those as widely told as “Orion’s Downfall” and the Chinese “Bridge of Magpies.” McCaughrean retells them with characteristic vigor: “With sulfur from the hot springs, with magma from the volcanoes, [the gods] fashioned a foe to send against Orion: an insect that wore its skeleton on the outside for armor, a creature the color of rage and venom . . .” Williams’s indistinct, ordinary-looking figures seldom capture the tales’ drama, and while McCaughrean closes with comments on each story, there are no specific source notes. Still, this extends the scope of such Native American gatherings as Gretchen Mayo’s Star Tales (1987), and readers will be captivated by the range of visions here. (Folktales. 9-12)