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Staff Pick
Newbery Honoree Pam Muñoz Ryan returns with a new story for middle readers! Solimar is a princess newly gifted with magic and she must put her powers, courage, and compassion to the test to save her kingdom beset by a greedy king and the endangered butterflies that also call it home. An entrancing and empowering journey from one of the genre’s most beloved voices. Recommended By Sarah R., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Middle-grade fans of Pam Muñoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising, will find a new Mexican heroine to love in Solimar and a fresh, magical story
On the brink of her Quincea era, and her official coronation, Solimar visits the oyamel forest to sit among the monarch butterflies. There, the sun pierces through a sword-shaped crevice in a boulder, which shines on her and sends the butterflies humming and swirling around her.
After the magical frenzy, she realizes she's been given a gift — and a burden: she can predict the near future She has also become a protector of the young and weak butterflies. This alone would be a huge responsibility, but tragedy strikes when a neighboring king invades while her father and brother and many others are away. The remaining villagers are taken hostage — all except Solimar.
Can this princess-to-be save her family, the kingdom, and the future of the monarch butterflies from a greedy and dangerous king?
Written for ages 8 to 12 by the Newbery Honor Medal winner of the highly acclaimed novel Echo.
Synopsis
Award-winning author Ryan has masterfully crafted a story using cultural elements from Mexico with a generous sprinkling of magic. In this story of courage, determination, and ingenuity, readers will cheer on Solimar in her arduous journey to save what is near and dear to her heart. --Booklist
I advise you to tell no one about the gift unless you trust them implicitly.
Ever since Solimar was a little girl, she has gone to the ouamel forest bordering her kingdom to observe the monarch butterflies during their migration, but always from a safe distance. Now, on the brink of her quincea era and her official coronation, Solimar crosses the dangerous creek to sit among the butterflies. There, a mysterious event gives her a gift and a burden--the responsibility to protect the young and weak butterflies with her magical rebozo, or silk shawl.
Solimar is committed to fulfilling her role, and has a plan that might have worked. But when her father, the king, and her brother, the prince, leave on an expedition, a neighboring king overthrows the kingdom and holds everyone left in the village hostage. It takes all of Solimar's courage to escape and then embark on a dangerous journey to save her kingdom, but she's not alone. Her pet bird, L zaro, the butterflies she protects, and a magical rag doll, Zarita, are with her. Then, at a precarious moment, she meets a river boy who knows the rapids.
Even with help, can Solimar save her family, the kingdom, and the future of the monarchs from a greedy king?
Middle-grade fans of Pam Mu oz Ryan's Esperanza Rising, will find a new Mexican heroine to love in Solimar and a fresh, magical story
About the Author
Pam Muñoz Ryan is a New York Times bestselling author and U.S. nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award. She has written over forty books, including Esperanza Rising, Becoming Naomi León, Riding Freedom, Paint the Wind, The Dreamer, and Echo, a Newbery Honor book and the recipient of the Kirkus Prize. She is the author recipient of the National Education Association's Human and Civil Rights Award, the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award for Multicultural Literature, and is twice the recipient of the Pura Belpré Medal and the Willa Cather Award. Other honors include the PEN USA Award, the Américas Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, and the Orbis Pictus Award. She was born and raised in Bakersfield, California, but now lives near San Diego with her family. Many of her stories reflect her half-Mexican heritage.