Bayou Magic

by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Overview

A magical coming-of-age story from Coretta Scott King honor author Jewell Parker Rhodes, rich with Southern folklore, friendship, family, fireflies and mermaids– plus an environmental twist.

It's city-girl Maddy's first summer in the bayou, and she just falls in love with her new surroundings– the glimmering fireflies, the glorious landscape, and something else, deep within the water, that only she can see. Could it be a mermaid?

As her grandmother shares wisdom about sayings and signs, Maddy realizes she may be the only sibling to carry on her family's magical legacy. And when a disastrous oil leak threatens the bayou, she knows she may also be the only one who can help. But does she have what it takes to be a hero?

A tale rich with folk magic, set in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, Bayou Magic celebrates hope and the magic within– and captures the wonder of life in the Deep South.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316224840
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/12/2015
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.20(d)
Lexile:	410L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes is the New York Times bestselling author of several books for youth, including Ghost Boys; Black Brother, Black Brother; Paradise on Fire; and Treasure Island: Runaway Gold. She is the recipient of many distinguished awards and honors, including the Coretta Scott King Author Honor, the Green Earth Book Award, an NAACP Image Award nomination, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and the Octavia E. Butler Award. Rhodes is the Founding Artistic Director of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing and Virginia G. Piper Endowed Chair at Arizona State University. She invites you to connect with her at jewellparkerrhodes.com.

Editorial Reviews

03/16/2015
One summer, nearly-10-year-old Maddy Johnson gets swept up in the mysteries of the Louisiana bayou. She’s the youngest of her five sisters and the last to spend a summer with her Grandmère Lavalier, hours from her family’s home in New Orleans. Quickly adapting to life in her grandmother’s wooden shack, Maddy learns about signs and healing herbs, listens to tales about her ancestors, explores the waters with a boy named Bear, meets other locals (who, like Maddy, are a “stew” of ethnic backgrounds), and thinks she sees a mermaid, the legendary Mami Wata. Grandmère’s quiet sadness about the past and worry for the future (“To be a hero, bad things have to happen,” she tells Maddy) strike notes of unsettling and suspenseful tension. Readers will be easily drawn into Rhodes’s (Sugar) heady descriptions, and as environmental disaster threatens the landscape Maddy has come to love, her heroism shines as she protects the community and recognizes her own strength. Ages 8–12. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. (May)

Publishers Weekly

★ 02/01/2015
Gr 3–6—Maddy lives with her family in New Orleans. At almost 10, she is the youngest of five girls, and this summer it will be her turn to stay with her grandmother in the bayou. Apprehensive about the visit—her sisters say Grandmère is a witch, whose house has no electricity or indoor plumbing—Maddy is also excited to discover Bon Temps. Soon, Grandmère teaches Maddy about healing herbs and their family history. When Maddy finds that she can call fireflies and see mermaids, Grandmère tells her the story of Mami Wata, the water spirit who accompanied their slave ancestors from Africa. Maddy soon comes to love the wetlands and the residents of Bon Temps, human and otherwise. So when the Gulf oil spill threatens the town, it is Maddy who must use her magic to save her new home. Some sensitive subject matter may be disturbing to younger readers—Maddy's friend has an alcoholic father who inadvertently hurts him and then later dies in the explosion. Maddy is a brave and hopeful heroine, and the descriptions of the bayou are almost as magical as her legacy. VERDICT Hand this to middle grade readers who enjoy family stories, history, and a dose of fanciful magic.—Laurie Slagenwhite Walters, Brighton District Library, Brighton, MI

School Library Journal

2015-02-03
Infused with a whimsical sense of adventure, Rhodes' latest draws life from the mystical aura of the Louisiana bayou, braiding it with threads of environmental consciousness.Madison Isabelle Lavalier Johnson lives in New Orleans with her mother, father and four older sisters. Each summer a note arrives requesting that one of the sisters come and visit their grandmother at her remote cottage in the bayou. When Grandmère's latest letter arrives with Maddy's name scrawled across it, the 10-year-old gets the shivers. Her siblings have warned of her grandmother's weirdness and the spookiness of the setting. Yet Maddy's adventure-seeking nature is drawn to the intrigue. The pace of the story is quick, while the setting and mysticism give the tale a sense of timelessness—it feels neither modern nor historical. Although the overall movement of the story is satisfying, the confluence of ideas heaped into the story can at times seem forced. Rhodes combines coming of age, friendship, aging, environmentalism and family obligation, just to name a few issues, into her bayou bouillabaisse. The effect sometimes feels muddier than the swamp. Still, an array of colorful bayou folk adds likable strangeness, while the presence of a mermaid in the family lore refreshes the waters. Adventure-seeking girls with a taste for mermaids need apply. (Magical realism. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Bayou Magic:

"Bayou Magic revels in friendship, and love while reflecting life in the Deep South. Looking to add diversity to your shelves? Look no farther than the characters that populate Bon Temps and experience the community in which they live."—Booklist

"Maddy is a brave and hopeful heroine, and the descriptions of the bayou are almost as magical as her legacy."—School Library Journal

"Readers will be easily drawn into Rhodes's (Sugar) heady descriptions, and as environmental disaster threatens the landscape Maddy has come to love, her heroism shines as she protects the community and recognizes her own strength."
—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher