  | Storyteller Author: Hobson, Brandon | |
| Price: $22.58 | ||
Summary:
Ziggy's mother disappeared ten years ago, one of the many Native women who have mysteriously gone missing, and Ziggy believes a secret cave may hold the key--so with his sister, Moon, and friends Alice and Corso, he sets out to find the cave and solve the mystery of his family's origins.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 4.40 Points: 7.0 Quiz: 519269 |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (03/15/23)
School Library Journal (+) (05/01/23)
Booklist (02/15/23)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/06/23)
The Hornbook (00/07/23)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 02/15/2023 Sixth-grader Ziggy Echota suffers from anxiety, the result of his Cherokee mother's mysterious disappearance some 10 years before. He has heard tales of the Nunnehi (spirits that tell stories and protect other Cherokees) from his grandmother and his older sister, Moon. To learn more about his mother and her demise, he asks his classmate Alice to help him find the secret caves located in the New Mexico desert near their homes that his mom loved to explore. Hobson's fantasy features a folkloric setting (Poisonberry, named for the ubiquitous red fruits lethal to non-Cherokees), a mix of real and fantastic characters (including Gus, a fiddle-playing buzzard, and an armadillo channeling Andrew Jackson), and one long night of adventures. While most chapters could stand alone as self-contained stories, and Ziggy's need to cite all the things he has learned from his adventures feels didactic, readers will be happy that he moves beyond his grief (and hopefully the anxiety it has caused him), opting instead to learn and share stories of his mother's life. - Copyright 2023 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 05/01/2023 Gr 3–7—Ziggy is a member of the Cherokee nation living with anxiety and still processing the grief of his mother's disappearance when he was a baby. Determined to find clues about her, Ziggy teams up with school misfit Alice to explore caves his mother once explored. Alice claims these caves are home to the Nunnehi, spirit people who may be able to offer guidance. What unfolds is a series of encounters with various magical creatures. Once Alice and Ziggy, accompanied by Ziggy's sister Moon and friend Corso, start their adventure, the novel moves at a quick pace. In each chapter readers are introduced to a new magical creature or character, but the story does not feel fragmented. On the contrary, this narrative style is reminiscent of a folklore anthology, woven together with the overarching hero's quest. In one of the final chapters, Ziggy reflects on the lessons he learned from the characters he met along the way. This reflection comes off expositional; readers will have already drawn conclusions and noted the lessons learned through his travels. VERDICT Hand to tweens who enjoy magical realism and quest stories. Ziggy's experiences with anxiety and loss will likely resonate with many.—Katharine Gatcomb - Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
