Lowe, Mari. Aviva vs. the Dybbuk. Levine Querido, 2022.
$17.99. 9781646141258 Gr 3-7.
This book explores grief in a unique way and gives insight
into Orthodox Jewish culture and folklore. The glossary in the back is helpful
because a lot of repeatedly used words will be unfamiliar to many readers. The
tone is mostly dark and sad, with Aviva dealing with her grief, her mother’s
grief, and ill-treatment from her peers. I’m not sure if many 8-year-olds have
the patience to sit with that kind of sadness for a whole book, but the element
of the dybbuk, a mischievous ghost from Jewish folklore, adds an element of
something different. Aviva’s world of the mikvah and her school feels real, and
readers will quickly find themselves swept up in her problems. What makes this
an important book is its honest depiction of loss and the struggle to
continuing engaging in the world when you’ve hit your lowest point, as well as
its depiction of a Jewish community that unapologetically brings readers right into it without feeling
the need to “explain” it. Children can learn a lot about tolerance and empathy
from this story of Aviva and her mother still struggling five years after her
father’s death. Although not all children may relate to this loss, they will
relate to the tenuousness of peer interactions in the middle grade years and
the difficult realization that parental figures are not infallible.
In terms of the fantasy/paranormal element, the dybbuk is integrated seamlessly into Aviva’s story, causing conflict and yet also helping her, and always believable. The powerful realizations about the dybbuk and Aviva’s father’s death are left till close to the end, which makes the plot structure effective. The climax and resolution are incredibly moving. As anti-Semitism increases around the world, this feels like an important book to have on a library shelf.
Higuera, Donna Barba. The Last Cuentista. Levine Querido,
2021. $18.99. 9781646140893 Gr 5-9.
This book is a Newbery Medal winner, and after reading it,
I’m not surprised. It is simply stunning. Science fiction is not my comfort
zone at all, yet I was immediately entranced by Higuera’s writing style. The
plot is emotionally engrossing from the very beginning, and the stakes stay
almost unbearably high for the entire book, a feat I rarely see accomplished
even in adult novels. In 2061, a comet is about to hit Earth. Petra Peña and
her family, along with other select few families, are being evacuated into
space. This will require them to be in “stasis” for hundreds of years, and when
they emerge, they will begin life anew on a planet called Sagan. Without giving
too many plot points away, I’ll just add that the plan changes when a group
called The Collective gains power and wants to erase differences between people
as well as memories and knowledge from the past. When Petra wakes up from
stasis, she still remembers the past, her family, and her goal of being a
cuentista, a storyteller, like her grandmother before her. She must decide what
she can do to save Earth’s stories, not to mention her own life. Because the
novel is set in the future, most readers won’t have a problem accepting the
technological and scientific advances that make the plot possible. Higuera
weaves together futuristic outer space with the folklore that Petra’s
grandmother taught her to love. Petra’s memories demonstrate the lessons her
family taught her, and her dreams allow us to enter a more symbolic world,
where el conejo from her grandmother’s stories leads Petra through imagination
and memory.
Readers will certainly be putting themselves in Petra’s
place as asking themselves “If I had to leave home, what stories and memories
would I take with me?” The theme of honoring our past and telling our stories
is eloquently expressed, especially as Petra grows as a storyteller, sharing
tales with other children on the spaceship. In one memorable quotation, Petra
thinks “I can’t tell if she’s trying to forget, or to remember. Maybe stories
are there to help us do both. I know stories can’t always have happy endings.
But if there are chances for us to do better, we have to say out loud the parts
that hurt the most.” There is also a theme of celebrating differences and
culture, rather than all being the same, a theme that readers will be able to
relate to today. Most moving is the theme of love and family, and the idea that
we always carry our loved ones with us. Higuera’s language is poetic and
descriptive, vividly depicting life on a spaceship as well as the more
figurative world of Petra’s dreams. I also love the way she incorporates the
Spanish language fluidly into Petra’s thoughts and speech. This novel has a
dystopic feel and is grim at times, yet the power of love and storytelling is
always present.
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