Overlooked?

I’m still desperately plowing through other Newbery contenders before we reach ALA Midwinter and the Youth Media Awards announcement. I just finished THE JUMBIES by Tracey Baptiste…cannot remember who mentioned this to me but it was on my hold list.  While I don’t know this would make it into my top 10, I would have certainly suggested it if I was on the committee, and was surprised that no one has mentioned it here (unless I missed it?) or on the Goodreads Mock Newbery list.  It reminds me very much of DOLL BONES in its mood and appeal, and I think is easily as good.

Baptiste grew up in Trinidad, reading European folktales but listening to Caribbean stories of “Jumbies”: “the name for every bad-thinking, sneaky, trick-loving creature that comes out at night with the purpose of causing trouble” (Author’s Note). Here she writes the book she wished she’d had, growing up. Corinne La Mer is teased by two orphan boys from her village; they steal the pendant that her mother gave her before she died and tie it to the tail of an agouti.  Corinne chases the creature into the forest to retrieve it, but when she emerges, she is not alone.   What follows is a fairly standard story structure, predictable in a satisfying way and well executed.  What shines are the characters, setting, and the visual language.  Though these are not characters with dramatic arcs, they feel real, individual and true to the story, they are funny, and Baptiste makes you see much of their relationship through body language.  Visual language comes into play too in the many action and fight sequences, driving the narrative tension for the last dozens of pages as the island erupts into battle.  The pacing here shifts, as the narrative follows the friends as they are divided, sometimes alternating between very short chapter scenes, energizing and appealing.  While the Kirkus and PW reviews faulted the pacing, I felt the entire book moved at a quick and appropriate clip.

Elizabeth Bird wrote an appreciative review of this title back in the spring.   It didn’t pick up any stars… perhaps a reason it slipped under the radar?   Which makes me wonder…which title are you most surprised is not getting any buzz for Newbery?

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