★ 08/23/2021
The second novel by Lipan Apache author Little Badger (Elatsoe ) is a smartly intertwined, shifting-perspective story about two characters in worlds that diverged thousands of years ago: Earth-living Nina, who is nine, and Reflecting World–living Oli, 15. With a basis in Apache stories, this sharply told speculative novel details Nina’s lineage from her great-great-grandmother Rosita, who has just passed away; her grandmother, who’s inherited some of her Reflecting World ancestors’ healing powers; and her bookstore-owning father, who distributes books to Reflecting World visitors in human form. Oli, a cottonmouth snake of the Reflecting World, has recently left his mother’s home and made friends in wolf sisters Rise and Reign as well as sweet, silent frog Ami. But when Ami grows ill, Oli knows the cure is on Earth—where he meets and helps Nina with her own problems. Fun, imaginative, and deeply immersive, this story will be long in the minds of readers. Ages 12–up. (Oct.)
"Both authentic and original. Strong, subtle worldbuilding allows readers to immerse themselves in Nina’s near future world of increased climate change and advanced social media technology and in Oli’s magical world of spirits, monsters, and old stories come to life.” —The Hub (a YALSA Blog)
11/01/2021
Gr 7–10— Little Badger's sophomore effort is an atmospheric, world-straddling, dual-narrative tale laced with themes of climate change, family, and identity. Nina is a Lipan girl living in Texas, a budding documentarian working to find her voice. As she hones her videos over the years, she also works to decipher tales of her family's history—stories full of animal people and the Reflecting World. Oli is a young cottonmouth, sent away by his mother to find his own way. Lost and beset upon by monsters, he eventually makes a home on the banks of a bottomless lake, where he befriends a frog and two coyote twins. When Oli's frog friend and Nina's grandmother are endangered because of climate troubles on Earth, their lives intertwine. Magic and monsters combine with internet stardom and hurricane warnings to create a wonderful fable set in modern-day Texas. Following traditional Lipan Apache storytelling structure, this is an entertaining and illuminating look at how traditions and magic can exist in the modern world. Oli and his friends are delightful to read about, while Nina's human concerns and love for her grandmother shine. VERDICT A modern-day fable with real-world significance, perfect for magical realism fans and fantasy lovers alike.—Elissa Bongiorno, Washington, DC
Shaun Taylor-Corbett and Kinsale Hueston give lively, animated performances in this fantasy celebrating friendship and the power of storytelling. Hueston voices Nina, a Lipan Apache teenager who is fascinated by her great-great-grandmother’s stories about the time when the human world was joined with the spirit world. Taylor-Corbett voices Oli, an animal-person from the spirit world who takes the form of a cottonmouth snake who then shape-shifts into human form. While visiting earth in search of a cure for his sick friend, he meets Nina. Hueston’s voice is bubbly and energetic, making Nina sound just like an excited teenager. Taylor-Corbett imbues his voice with an otherworldly wisdom, capturing both Oli’s youth and his non-human magic. L.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
NOVEMBER 2021 - AudioFile
★ 2021-07-13
When Nina was 9, her Great-Great-Grandmother Rosita told her a story in Spanish and Lipan Apache. Using dictionaries to painstakingly make sense of the garbled transcription app results, Nina uncovers a mysterious story about Rosita’s sighting of a fish girl in her well, long after the joined era when animal people still lived on Earth. Nina uploads her musings about her family’s stories to the St0ryte11er video platform. In the Reflecting World, innocent Oli, a cottonmouth snake person, reluctantly leaves home, settling down and befriending ancient toad Ami, two coyote sisters, and a hawk. Animal people can shift between their true and false (humanoid) forms and are able to visit Earth; Nina’s and Oli’s lives intertwine when he and his friends travel to Texas seeking help after learning that Ami is dying because the earthly population of his toad species faces extinction due to human environmental destruction. They in turn help Nina with the suspicious man lurking near her Grandma’s home, an impending tornado, and her Grandma’s unexplained illness whenever she leaves her land. Little Badger (Lipan Apache) alternates between two distinct, well-realized voices—Nina’s third-person and Oli’s first-person perspectives—highlighting critical issues of language revitalization and climate change. The story leads readers through two richly constructed worlds using a style that evokes the timeless feeling of listening to traditional oral storytelling.
A coming-of-age story that beautifully combines tradition and technology for modern audiences. (Fantasy. 12-18)
