Summer of the Mariposas - Softcover

Guadalupe García McCall

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1620140101 ISBN 13: 9781620140109

Publisher: Lee & Low Books, 2012

Synopsis

When Odilia and her four sisters find a dead body in the swimming hole, they embark on a hero's journey to return the dead man to his family in Mexico. But returning home to Texas turns into an odyssey that would rival Homer's original tale. With the supernatural aid of ghostly La Llorona via a magical earring, Odilia and her little sisters travel a road of tribulation to their long-lost grandmother’s house. Along the way, they must outsmart a witch and her Evil Trinity: a wily warlock, a coven of vicious half-human barn owls, and a bloodthirsty livestock-hunting chupacabras. Can these fantastic trials prepare Odilia and her sisters for what happens when they face their final test, returning home to the real world, where goddesses and ghosts can no longer help them? Summer of the Mariposas is not just a magical Mexican American retelling of The Odyssey, it is a celebration of sisterhood and maternal love.

About this title

About the Author:

was born in Mexico and moved to Texas as a young girl, keeping close ties with family on both sides of the border. Trained in Theater Arts and English, she now teaches English/Language Arts at a junior high school. Her poems for adults have appeared in more than twenty literary journals. McCall is an up-and-coming talent whose debut YA novel, Under the Mesquite, won the Pura Belpré Award and was named a Morris Award finalist. McCall lives with her husband and their three sons in the San Antonio, Texas, area. You can find her on the Web at guadalupegarciamccall.com.

From Booklist:

After Odilia, 16, and her four younger sisters find a body floating in the river, they drive across the Mexican border to return the drowned man home. Their real mission, though, is to get to Abuelita’s house and find their father, who abandoned Mamá and his daughters a year earlier. In true mythic style, the girls encounter heroes and monsters on their perilous, sometimes gruesome journey, including attacks by a coven of winged witches and creatures from Mexican folklore. After falling under the enchantment of an evil sorceress and an ancient fortune-teller, they are saved by Llorona, who looks monstrous but is the protector of the Azteca people and shows the five sisters their way. Just as compelling as the vivid fantasy is the realism, especially the standoffs and reconciliations among the caring sisters, and the final shocking truth about their father and themselves is far from a sweet resolution. Readers will be drawn by the contemporary family drama and the magic, and they’ll appreciate the author’s note that discusses the story’s roots in Mexican folklore and The Odyssey. Grades 7-12. --Hazel Rochman

About this edition

• Publisher: Lee & Low Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1620140101
• ISBN 13: 9781620140109
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384