Lalani lives in a poor village that is in the middle of a severe drought. She loves stories the old ones tell of a distant green land where everything is good and a beautiful mountain is covered with flowers that heal the sick. Sailors from her village, including her own father, have gone in search of this land, and none have come back. When her own mother falls ill, and the stubborn heard animals get out of their pens, Lalani is catapulted into an adventure that could either destroy her or save her village.Erin Entrada Kelly is the author of the 2018 Newbery Award winning book Hello Universe. I liked Hello Universe, but this one was really hard for me to read. I may have liked it better if I wasn't traumatized by the Coronavirus right now. The thing that I hated was that things in the book that first appear harmless--a sewing needle, a bug bight, a cute baby animal--are, in fact, deadly. The whole time the main character, Lalani, is walking through a minefield of danger and when she tries to be compassionate and help something, it literally tries to eat her hand off. Of course, I knew, because it is a children's book, that everything would work out in the end, but it was just emotionally too heavy and dark for me right now. I know certain kinds of kids, those who like to play really melodramatic pretend games, might love this book but it certainly isn't for children (or me) who are struggling to feel safe. (384 p. 2019)
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