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Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga edited by Lindy Ryan with a foreword by Christina Henry

Cover art for Into the Forest; Tales of the Baba Yaga edited by Lindy Ryan

Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga with a foreword by Christina Henry, edited by Lindy Ryan

Black Spot Books, 2022

ISBN-13 ‎978-1645481232

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook, audio CD  (  Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com )

 

This anthology collects stories inspired by the Slavic folk character Baba Yaga, a child-eating witch with iron teeth who lives deep in the woods in a house with chicken feet, rides in a mortar and pestle, and can either help or hurt visitors, especially women, for a price, and depending on her whim. All the stories are by women writers of horror.

 

Standout pieces include Stephanie M. Wytovich’s vivid poem “Dinner Plans with Baba Yaga”; Gwendolyn Kiste’s “Last Tour into the Hungering Moonlight”, a real estate pitch that draws neighborhood women into the woods; Sara Tantlinger’s “Of Moonlight and Moss”, a fairytale that isn’t; “Wormwood” by Lindz MacLeod, and “Flood Zone” by Donna Lynch, both with the witch as justice-bringer, in very different ways; “Sugar and Spice and the Old Witch’s Price” is a dread-inducing counterpart to Kiste’s earlier story; “Herald the Knight” by Mercedes M. Yardley is Baba Yaga’s love story; Jill Baguchinsky’s “All Bitterness Burned Away” is an interesting reversal of Hansel and Gretel; “A Trail of Feathers, A Trail of Blood” by Stephanie M. Wytovich is a heartbreaking story that explores the true meaning of sacrifice; “Baba Yaga Learns to Shave, Gets Her Period, and Comes Into Her Own” by Jess Hagemann reflects the teenage girl’s experience of being trained to conform;  EV Knight’s memorable and powerful “Stork Bites”, in which Roe vs Wade has been dismantled, leaving an unusual method of illegal abortion, with disturbing consequences, as the only resort for ending a pregnancy; “Where The Horizon Meets the Sky” by R.J. Joseph is a sort of “Monkey’s Paw” tale; the vivid and gruesome “Maw Maw Yaga and the Hunter” by Alexandrea Weis; and the descriptive, poetic stories “Baba Yaga in Repose” by Heather Miller and “Shadow and Branch, Ghost Fruit Among The Lullabies” by Saba Syed Razvi.

There is a lot of variety in approach and interpretation. If you have an interest in Baba Yaga, witches, folklore, or supporting women writers, this is a collection to enjoy. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on March 15, 2023 by , Reply

Book List: Get Ready for Black Children’s Book Week!

Black children's book week logo

 

February 27-March 5 will be the first celebration of Black Children’s Book Week, which extends Black History Month into March.

Black Children’s Book Week is a global celebration of Black children and the people who ensure Black children are represented in books and other children’s media. While the week is administered by Black Baby Books, events are hosted by both the Black Children’s Book Week Committee, and celebrants throughout the world!

Read Across America Day is also during the first week of March, so look for that week to be a huge celebration of children reading!  To get you started, here’s a short list of some really cool scary books to share with kids next week,  or really any time!

 

cover art for Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston

Amari and the Night Brothers  by B.B. Alston  (Bookshop.org)

Thirteen-year-old Amari Peters, on a mission to find her missing older brother,  mysteriously receives a scholarship to the training camp for the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, which has the mission of keeping supernatural creatures secret while also protecting humans. Amari navigates both the supernatural and social obstacles she encounters with her street-smarts, resourcefulness, and resilience.  Read the full review here.

 

 

 

 

cover art for The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown

The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown (Bookshop.org)

India Hill Brown joins Mary Downing Hahn as a true storyteller of the middle-grade ghost tale. Iris discovers an abandoned cemetery in a wooded area near her neighborhood. Soon she is having nightmares and is drawn back to the cemetery by the ghost of Avery Moore, a girl buried there. She and her friend Daniel discover it is a Black cemetery, dating back to when Black and white people were segregated even after death. Although they bring it to their town’s attention successfully, Avery won’t be satisfied until she has Iris as a “forever friend”. While there are many similarities to Hahn’s Wait Till Helen Comes,  Brown takes the story to a new and more complex level that deals with racism, segregation, and student activism among the scares.

 

 

 

The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural by Patricia McKissack, illustrated by Brian Pinkney. (Bookshop.org)

These stories have the eerie feeling of truth to them, possibly because of McKissack’s introduction, where she describes listening to the stories the adults around her told when she was a child. This is a Caldecott Award winner, and also a Coretta Scott King award winner, but beyond that, it’s just really good storytelling, made even better by the dramatic illustrations. This is one of the books that you really need to hold in your hands and see the artwork complementing the story across a double page spread, to truly appreciate. Don’t let the award for children’s book illustration fool you: this book is often used with and appreciated by middle school aged kids and older.

Everyone talks about how seminal Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is, but The Dark-Thirty is just as essential.

 

cover art for Root Magic by Eden Royce

Root Magic by Eden Royce (Bookshop.org)

After Jezzie’s grandmother, a root worker, dies, her grandfather decides to teach her the basics of root magic, for purposes of protection, and she starts to develop supernatural powers. Her “witchiness” is causing her problems at school, though, and a racist police officer who knows her family are root workers is harassing them. Root Magic takes place around the time of the Kennedy assassination, during the time of Jim Crow. Eden Royce has written an excellent Southern Gothic novel with vivid description and plenty of scares about the traditions of the little-known Gullah-Geechee people. Read our full review here.

 

 

Posted on February 20, 2022 by , Reply

Book Review: Root Magic by Eden Royce

cover art for Root Magic by Eden Royce

Root Magic by Eden Royce

Walden Pond Media, 2021

ISBN-13 : 978-0062899576

Available:  Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook  ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

 

Root Magic takes place on Wadmalaw, one of the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina that is home to the Gullah-Geechee nation, a unique ethnic group with a combined heritage from African and indigenous individuals with its own language and traditions. Author Eden Royce, creates a vivid picture of Gullah-Geechee culture and traditions in the setting of the Sea Islands around the time of the Kennedy assassination though her eleven-year old narrator, Jezebel.

After her grandmother dies, Jezebel’s grandfather decides it is time to teach Jezzie and her twin brother Jay the basics of root magic for the purposes of protection, such as painting their house “haint blue” so evil spirits and boo-hags can’t enter, mixing potions, and creating root bags.  The nearby marsh, previously a place the twins used to play, becomes dangerous as it tries to suck Jezzie in.  Still, the twins are fascinated by root magic and can’t wait to learn more.  Jezzie, in particular, starts to develop new powers, such as the ability to astrally project.

Things are not so easy at school. Jezzie has been jumped a year forward, and new girls from families with more money have moved to town. Jezzie, with her darker skin, mended clothes, and rumors of witchiness, becomes a target. Her only friend is Suzie, who can’t invite her over or visit her home, for reasons that become clear later.  In his grade, Jay has become friendly with the other boys, and Jezzie is worried that her connection to him is breaking.

In addition to troubles at school, there are troubles at home. A police officer has taken a particular interest in Jezzie’s family, invading their home in their absence, demanding food, threatening them, and breaking their things. He knows they are a family of root workers and his behavior towards them escalates. While Jezzie and Jay do face supernatural threats in the book, it is Jezzie’s compassion to animals and creatures in trouble (including boo-hags) that helps protect her family from this dangerous but not at all supernatural threat.

Royce’s descriptions make it feel almost like the reader could step through to the island, and she is able to set the time period effectively with just a few sentences. Jim Crow and racist policing are alive and well, and that’s built into the story. Children questioning why the school would still be segregated, the police searching Jezzie’s house without a warrant, and the effect of the Kennedy assassination on the community will get their answers without an exposition dump.  Royce’s presentation of the controversy over passing on root working practices both in the community and in the same family is also interesting, and she illustrates that root work is not a religion, but is a way of connecting with the world.

While the Gullah-Geechee nation became official in 2000, its existence is not well known, and it has a unique culture and language. Introducing Gullah-Geechee culture and language to a more mainstream audience through a middle-grade novel makes it very accessible. Eden Royce is a member of the Gullah-Geechee nation, and I think it would be very difficult to write about it from outside (in fact, there was a controversy over this not that long ago). Royce has a background as a horror writer for adults, with writing grounded in folklore and the Southern Gothic. I’m so glad she chose to use some of these same elements in this engaging historical Southern Gothic #OwnVoices novel for children. Children who enjoy this book may also enjoy Tracey Baptiste’s The Jumbies, Claribel A. Ortega’s Ghost Squad, and Marie Arnold’s The Year I Flew Away. Highly recommended for ages 8-12.

 

Contains: racism, police brutality, violence

Posted on March 19, 2021 by , Reply
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