LIS 721 - Mystery & Adventure

It’s Time for Some Mystery & Adventure! 

Day, Christine. I Can Make This Promise. Heartdrum, 2019. 272 pages. $16.99. ISBN 9780062871992.

Summary: All her life, Edie has known that her mom was adopted by a white couple. So, no matter how curious she might be about her Native American heritage, Edie is sure her family doesn’t have any answers.

Until the day when she and her friends discover a box hidden in the attic—a box full of letters signed “Love, Edith,” and photos of a woman who looks just like her.

Suddenly, Edie has a flurry of new questions about this woman who shares her name. Could she belong to the Native family that Edie never knew about? But if her mom and dad have kept this secret from her all her life, how can she trust them to tell her the truth now? -- Amazon

Review: Christine Day's I Can Make This Promise is an American Indian Association Youth Literature Award winner, following Edie, a middle school girl dealing with middle school issues. That is, until she finds a mysterious box and her whole world starts to unravel. This box jump-starts the main mystery of the story and opens up the readers to themes of cultural identity and family secrets. Throughout her life, Edie has had to deal with questions like "What are you?" and "Where are you really from?". To those questions, she has only had one answer: "I don't know". All she knew was that her mother was Native American, adopted by two white parents, and that her father was also white. With this box, filled with letters and photos of a woman who looks exactly like her, she works to learn more about her family history and why this box was hidden. Day's writing invites the readers to feel and wonder in the same way as Edie. As she examines the letters and photos and talks to people in her past, the readers can learn about her family history as she does. The slow unraveling of the family secrets, such as Edie's mom intentionally keeping their identity from her, adds tension to the story, keeping the readers engaged and emotionally invested. With each conflict faced by Edith, the audience can see her grow as a character and watch her question the world around her and her own identity. Readers can also see character growth in her parents as they must reevaluate their way of protecting her from the truth. Day's writing is intentional. As the readers follow Edie, they learn more and more about the woman in the picture. There is a point where the reader feels like they know the woman personally, until the major reveal at the end that may leave the audience just as stunned as Edie. Overall, I Can Make This Promise is an engaging and emotional story that takes a look at the cultural identity of Native Americans. This story would be best suited for mature middle-grade readers looking for a story that encourages empathy, self-discovery, and facing the truth, and those looking to read about the lesser-known parts of Native and American history. 

Heidicker, Christian McKay. Scary Stories for Young Foxes. Illustrations by Junyi Wu. Henry Holt and Co., 2019. 320 pages. $23.99. ISBN 978-1250181428

Summary: The haunted season has arrived in the Antler Wood. No fox kit is safe.

When Mia and Uly are separated from their litters, they discover a dangerous world full of monsters. In order to find a den to call home, they must venture through field and forest, facing unspeakable things that dwell in the darkness: a zombie who hungers for their flesh, a witch who tries to steal their skins, a ghost who hunts them through the snow . . . and other things too scary to mention. -- Amazon

Review: Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker is a Newbery Honor Award winner, written from the perspective of young foxes. This book is presented as eight interconnecting short tales of scary adventures that two foxes, Mia and Uly, go through to survive, in a campfire story-type setting. These tales are told to a group of young foxes by the mysterious storyteller in her den. Will these young foxes be able to stay until the end as they hear tales of monsters, diseases, and cruel humans? Heidicker does a phenomenal job of navigating horror through the eyes of foxes. This provides a degree of separation for the reader, as they are able to make connections to the human world with knowledge that the foxes do not possess. An example of this is how the foxes describe human makeup: "Raspberry stained lips. Blueberries tinted its eyelids" (p. 87). He also rides the balance between what's real and what's folklore, keeping the audience captivated as they read through the fox's adventure. What actually happened? What is a myth? The pacing of the story goes from slow and reflective to fast-paced and intense, as what is seen in the chase scenes with narrow escapes. The tension is palpable throughout the tales. With the horrors the two foxes face, the readers can watch their characters develop from young and naive to determined survivors capable of adapting to their circumstances. The scares scattered throughout the stories are emotional, toying with the traumatic, rather than simple jump scares. How Heidicker navigates themes of survival, isolation, and abandonment leaves this horror tale full of heart and emotionally layered in a way that will keep its readers until the end and connecting the dots in each tale and understanding how these stories will help the den of young foxes in the future. These tales serve as a way of learning to survive and anticipating what the kits might face once they leave the den. Overall, Scary Stories for Young Foxes expertly balances fear and hope and is recommended for middle-grade readers looking for a more haunting folk tale, and can handle scary and sadder content.