Milagros
Girl from Away
By Meg Medina
(Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), Hardcover, 9780805082302, 288pp.)
Publication Date: November 11, 2008
Categories: Family - Parents, Nature & the Natural World - General, People & Places - Central & South America
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Milagros de le Torre hasn’t had an easy life: ever since her father sailed away with pirates she’s been teased at school and there’s the constant struggle for her family to make ends meet. Still, Milagros loves her small island in the Caribbean, and she finds comfort in those who recognize her special gifts. But everything changes when marauders destroy Milagros’s island and with it, most of the inhabitants. Milagros manages to escape in a rowboat where she drifts out to sea with no direction, save for the mysterious manta rays that guide her to land. In stunning prose,Meg Medina creates a fantastical world in which a young girl uncovers the true meaning of family, the significance of identity, and, most important, the power of a mother’s love.
MEG MEDINA has published adult stories about the Latino experience. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her family.
Praise for Milagros: Girl From Away: "The book is written in accessible, but lively and lyrical language; it is obvious that great care has been taken to choose every word...this is an engaging and compelling tale of a fish out of water, learning to accept the realities of life through the magic of her heart."--School Library Journal, starred review “Medina’s use of magical realism keeps readers tantalizingly off-balance as she navigates among settings. Her language, too, is as changeable as the sea, sometimes lulling readers with gentle alliteration and flowing metaphor, other times jolting them with menacing foreshadowing and sharp dialogue. Milagros is a survivor, and though her strange, haunting tale ends on a hopeful note, a melancholic echo of all that she endured will remain with readers”--The Horn Book Magazine "Give this to readers who are looking for something original, something wishful, and something strange, in a good way."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books "Readers will eagerly embrace spirited Milagros, who recognizes both the magic in the everyday world and the limitations of those who are terminally realistic."--Booklist "Milagros's tale is readable and entertaining..."--VOYA
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