Publishers Weekly
★ 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.)
From the Publisher
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)
★ "Evokes the timeless feeling of listening to traditional oral storytelling.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"Though the stakes are high, Little Badger takes time to explore the ways that other species and cultures move through space and time, and what is lost when those ways of seeing disappear." — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Draws on her scientific training and tribal storytelling to weave a spellbinding tale.” — Texas Monthly
"Themes of magic, family, asexuality, and traditional storytelling dominate in Lipan Apache author Darcie Little Badger’s delightful and uplifting second YA novel. A Lipan girl named Nina collides with Oli who is from the land of spirits and monsters. But some people will do anything to keep them apart. This is a wholesome, elegantly written read guaranteed to warm your heart!" — Autostraddle
“If Elatsoe was a ten out of ten, then A Snake Falls to Earth is a solid 11. This book could have been twice as long and I still would have begged for more. Although aimed at a young-adult audience, it has the kind of easy appeal and heartfelt tone that will entice younger kids and older adults as well. Anyone reading or buying YA needs to add this to their shelves immediately.” — Locus
“This is a delightful and imaginative novel with alternating protagonists. One is Nina, a teenager trying to translate a story told by her great-great-grandmother in her native Athabaskan language, Lipan. The other is Oli, a cottonmouth snake with the ability to shapeshift, who is learning to find his way after being pushed from the nest. Climate change features, informed by the author’s geoscience degree and PhD in oceanography. Another theme is linguistic diversity and the crucial role of storytelling in keeping cultures alive. A Snake Falls to Earth is also very much a story of friendship.”—Five Books
★ “Fun, imaginative, and deeply immersive, this story will be long in the minds of readers.”— Publishers Weekly (starred)
★ "Magical, stunning, and wholly original.”—Booklist (starred)
“A highly descriptive story with open dialogue which absorbs the audience into its world, readers will become invested in reading until the very end."—School Library Connection
“Little Badger’s new genre-bending narrative draws on her heritage and the tradition of story-telling that has informed her worldview.”—TIME
"Her work is magical for all ages."—Den of Geek
“Undeniably charming. There is no pretension in the writing, no forced attempts at being on trend, and yet it is completely relevant—whether it is that certain characters are asexual, or use the pronoun they, or the power of the internet, or whether it is the frightening, timely talk of rapid climate change and how it effects more lives than just those of humans, whether it is to remind us that our longevity as humans is intertwined with that of other species, and with that of the earth, or whether it is to remind us of what is most important, the one thing that may save us all—the power of stories, and community.”—Tor.com
School Library Journal
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
NOVEMBER 2021 - AudioFile
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
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2021-07-13
A 16-year-old Lipan Apache girl from Texas and a cottonmouth person from the spirit world connect when both need help.
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)
