 | Tigers, not daughters Author: Mabry, Samantha | |
| Price: $8.98 | ||
Summary:
Three sisters in San Antonio are shadowed by guilt and grief over the loss of their oldest sister, who still haunts their house.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: UG Reading Level: 5.50 Points: 9.0 Quiz: 510644 |
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 02/01/2020 Gr 7 Up—Little Women meets The Virgin Suicides with a magical realist twist in this evocative and lovely novel. There used to be four Torres sisters: Ana, Jessica, Iridian, and Rosa. Each with a strong individual personality, they captivated the boys of their San Antonio neighborhood with their beauty and ferocity. But when Ana died, falling out of her window, the sisters each reacted to their grief differently. Jessica tried to replace Ana in her old life, Iridian lost herself in books, and spiritual Rosa became preoccupied by looking for signs to explain why this happened. But their memories are tangible as well as mental, as Ana's ghost haunts them in the form of mysterious occurrences in their house. Much of the plot, told from multiple points of view, examines how the family members balance their personal challenges with their grief. Ultimately, Ana's ghost is the impetus for the surviving sisters to reconnect and find the strength to move forward, together. Similar to the March sisters, the Bennets in Pride and Prejudice, and the three sisters in King Lear (which inspired this book's title), Jessica, Iridian, and Rosa have competitive, at times jealousy-tinged, but ultimately loving relationships. Mabry's lyrical style weaves themes of sisterhood, death, and romance along with Shakespearean inspiration and paranormal elements to create something magical. VERDICT This novel is sure to appeal to fans of Mabry's other works, and could serve as an introduction to magical realism for those unfamiliar with the genre. An engaging, heartfelt exploration of the multifaceted inner lives of teen girls and sisterhood.—Ann Foster, Saskatoon Public Library, Sask. - Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 03/15/2020 *Starred Review* When Ana Torres dies falling out of her bedroom window, her three younger sisters are left adrift. Trapped by the watchful eyes of their San Antonio neighborhood and the violence of their widowed father's grief, each responds in her own way. Jessica, now the oldest and propelled by rage, tries to become her sister, wearing Ana's clothes and dating the boy people say Ana was sneaking out to meet. Iridian, the middle sister, fades into herself, writing incessantly in notebooks. Rosa, the youngest, searches for signs in church and in the animals of the neighborhood. A year after Ana's death, a ghost arrives in the Torres house, bringing with it a reckoning for all three sisters and everyone in their lives. Mabry, whose All the Wind in the World (2017) was longlisted for the National Book Award, keeps her narrative tightly focused on intimate character study. Most of the action takes place over only a week, and the point of view shifts between the individual sisters and, in chapters whose style echoes Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides (1993), the collective perspective of a group of neighborhood boys. Borrowing elements of magical realism and Latinx folklore, this is a story that is often uncomfortable; in its quest to explore grief, family, and the traumas inflicted by each, it lays its characters utterly and unforgettably bare. - Copyright 2020 Booklist.
Booklist - 03/15/2020 *Starred Review* When Ana Torres dies falling out of her bedroom window, her three younger sisters are left adrift. Trapped by the watchful eyes of their San Antonio neighborhood and the violence of their widowed father's grief, each responds in her own way. Jessica, now the oldest and propelled by rage, tries to become her sister, wearing Ana's clothes and dating the boy people say Ana was sneaking out to meet. Iridian, the middle sister, fades into herself, writing incessantly in notebooks. Rosa, the youngest, searches for signs in church and in the animals of the neighborhood. A year after Ana's death, a ghost arrives in the Torres house, bringing with it a reckoning for all three sisters and everyone in their lives. Mabry, whose All the Wind in the World (2017) was longlisted for the National Book Award, keeps her narrative tightly focused on intimate character study. Most of the action takes place over only a week, and the point of view shifts between the individual sisters and, in chapters whose style echoes Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides (1993), the collective perspective of a group of neighborhood boys. Borrowing elements of magical realism and Latinx folklore, this is a story that is often uncomfortable; in its quest to explore grief, family, and the traumas inflicted by each, it lays its characters utterly and unforgettably bare. - Copyright 2020 Booklist.
