Bayou Magic
Ratings3
Average rating4.3
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. Does she have what it takes to be a hero? Jewell Parker Rhodes weaves a rich tale celebrating the magic within.
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This book had a slow build. It made it feel like a real life event. Some days are just slow days of cooking and family days. Other days are adventures and then something drastic happens and the heroes come forward. Mandy is a hero and Bayou Bob Temps is magic. This is a very good book. Very good.
Maddy goes to spend the summer at her grandmother's, who lives in the bayou, and in doing so she finds out who she really is, what makes her special, and where she belongs. There's friendship, magic, community, and an oil spill. The oil spill's damage is lessened through magic, if only these things could be handled that way in real life. Still, this story makes clear on a middle grade level all that is at stake when a part of the environment is lost, the lives, jobs, and communities effected.
I've found out in recent weeks about Mami Wata, and she appears in this story. Turns out, not all mermaids look like Ariel, and they never did.
I think one of the most important messages we can impart on children is to not worry about the people who find them odd, but to know there is a place for them in the world, they just need to find it.
