What the Jaguar Told Her
by Alexandra V. Méndez
Intermediate, Middle School     Levine Querido    420 pp.         g
10/22      978-1-64614-175-3     $18.99
e-book ed.  978-1-64614-236-1    $18.99

In this novel set in 2001, Jade’s family has recently moved to Atlanta thanks to her journalist mom’s new job. Their new house is bigger (no more sharing a room!), and there is a nice backyard with a path into the forest. But Jade had to leave behind her best friends and her abuela in Chicago, and to make matters worse, Abuela soon suffers a stroke. Amid all these changes, Jade doesn’t find it too strange when during a walk in the forest she meets Itztli, a mysterious old man who also appears in the shape of a jaguar, and who invites Jade to listen to his story, a story that connects him to her family and her Mexican ancestors. The third-person narration flows naturally, sticking closely to the authentic point of view of a middle-school girl as she faces the challenges of growing up during a turbulent time. The novel is deepened through Méndez’s characterization of Jade’s family as rich in cultural traditions and strong relationships and by the presence of magical elements and stories of the Mexica and other Indigenous cultures. “A Note on Research” provides further reading.

From the November/December 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.