Welcome Back, Booklovers! The Secret Library is the second Kekla Magoon book I had on my TBR for this year after loving Mission One: The Vice Principal Problem which was cowritten with Cynthia Leitich Smith. I recieved an arc to review from Candlewick Press.
The Secret Library follows Dally, a biracial 11 year old girl who lives with her white single mother. Dally's grandfather has recently passed and her mother's main focus is grooming her to one day take over the family business. Dally decides to open a letter from her grandfather that she was instructed not to open until age 21 and discovers the instructions to a library hidden in an old Black neighborhood. The library has volumes upon volumes of books specific to individuals and their family histories which including everything from miscellaneous events to well kept family secrets. Through these books Dally is able to time travel back to the time period they're dated and follow her family history. At first the secrets are short and just glimpses of her parent's past. But then she finds herself on a pirate ship at sea with one of her ancestors.
Had I read the comps which included Kindred I would've had a better idea of what this book would read like. It was less fantastical adventure and more reconciling with the past while meeting ancestors that help her reconcile with her biracial heritage. Despite being a middle grade book with an 11 year old character I feel like this book was written for the adult reader. There were multiple of plotlines the author tried to fit in here and some got more page time then others. As an adult with the context and understanding of what Magoon was trying to do it was still a lot for me. And I wonder how children who are being introduced to some of this history for the first time through this book will reflect on this book. Because Dally comes in with a knowledge and understanding some people don't until they've reached adulthood.
Dally is an avatar through which we taken through events in the book rather than a character with her own agency. We don't spend enough time with her in the present day to understand her outside of her status as a biracial girl who longs for adventure. Her issues with her mother are never quite resolved and the ending was unexpected and unsatisfying. I'm struggling with what message to take away from it. There's also a bit of romanticizing the idea of being an activist that I'm seeing in a lot of books lately targeted towards children of color but without portrayal of any real danger. That's not to say children shouldn't be taught to stand up for what they believe in but Dally very easily escapes difficult situations and is eager to march and fight. And it's important that we be transparent and let children know there is a level of risk and sacrifice associated with be an activist which is why not everyone is willing to take on that role.
Overall I left this book feeling exhausted and confused about the intended audience.
No comments:
Post a Comment