Into the Tall, Tall Grass

by Loriel Ryon

Overview

A girl journeys across her family’s land to save her grandmother’s life in this captivating and magical debut that’s perfect for fans of The Thing About Jellyfish.

Yolanda Rodríguez-O’Connell has a secret. All the members of her family have a magical gift—all, that is, except for Yolanda. Still, it’s something she can never talk about, or the townsfolk will call her family brujas—witches. When her grandmother, Wela, falls into an unexplained sleep, Yolanda is scared. Her father is off fighting in a faraway war, her mother died long ago, and Yolanda has isolated herself from her best friend and twin sister. If she loses her grandmother, who will she have left?

When a strange grass emerges in the desert behind their house, Wela miraculously wakes, begging Yolanda to take her to the lone pecan tree left on their land. Determined not to lose her, Yolanda sets out on this journey with her sister, her ex-best friend, and a boy who has a crush on her. But what is the mysterious box that her grandmother needs to find? And how will going to the pecan tree make everything all right? Along the way, Yolanda discovers long-buried secrets that have made their family gift a family curse. But she also finds the healing power of the magic all around her, which just might promise a new beginning.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534449671
Publisher:	Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date:	04/07/2020
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	764,184
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.30(d)
Lexile:	660L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 18 Years

About the Author

Loriel Ryon spent her childhood with her nose in a book, reading in restaurants, on the school bus, and during every family vacation. When she wasn’t reading, Loriel built volcanoes, made jewelry, rescued tadpoles with her siblings, and raised butterflies. Now an author of middle grade and young adult fiction and a nurse, she lives in the beautiful New Mexico desert with her husband and two daughters. Visit her at LorielRyon.com.

Editorial Reviews

05/18/2020

Set in a small New Mexico town, Ryon’s debut explores the innate tensions of close relationships, the mysteries of family history, and the intricate processes of grief. Two weeks ago, 12-year-old scientist Yolanda Rodríguez-O’Connell’s grandmother, Wela, fell into a mysterious slumber. Yo’s beloved grandfather, Welo, died of cancer less than a year earlier, her widowed father is on another tour in Afghanistan, and her best friend, Ghita Patel, has chosen Yo’s fraternal twin, Sonja, over her—just like everyone else. Worse, Yo hasn’t inherited the maternal magical gift, which, though it subjects the family to suspicion, Yo can’t help but want. Wela is much like the pecan tree at the top of the hill, the last of the Rodríguez’s ancestral orchard to survive the drought; she wakes up long enough to ask Yolanda to take her there, where “everything will be set right.” Facing the imminent threat of removal by social worker, Yo agrees, bundling the dying Wela into the suddenly tall grass with Sonja, Ghita, and Ghita’s kind brother Hasik in tow. Though the cast and subplots feel a bit bloated, Yolanda’s struggles are complex, and the narrative of family legacies and intergenerational trauma is ultimately compelling—uplifting without being schmaltzy. Ages 10–up. Agent: Kristy Hunter, Knight Agency. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 03/01/2020

Gr 5–8—Yolanda Rodríguez-O'Connell has waited years to develop her forbearers' secret gift—when people in her family turn 12, they gain a magical skill. But since her grandfather Welo passed away a year ago, everything's been going wrong. Her twin Sonja's gift surfaced, and Yolanda's didn't; her best friend Ghita ditched her for Sonja; and now, her grandmother Wela's failing health may force the girls into foster care. On top of everything else, magic seems to be going haywire on their desert property, sprouting tall grass and twisting the landscape. On Wela's instructions, Yolanda leads a ragtag group on an adventure to explore her family's past, hoping a mysterious box and the last pecan tree standing on their land can fix everything. Ryon delivers a touching peek into the daily struggles of a modern family. The tinge of whimsical magic permeating the Rodríguez line creates the perfect ambiance for stirring up, and resolving, conflict among Yolanda, those she cares for, and the town. With Yolanda and Sonja's father in the army and Wela terribly ill, the topic of death is examined in a deeply real and relatable fashion as characters work through grief and commemoration. Yolanda blossoms on the pages as her mission to help Wela has her confronting truths about her family's magic, her responsibility to loved ones, and her acceptance of herself. VERDICT A must-have tale, perfect for fans of emotionally resonant magical realism like Karen Strong's Just South of Home.—Emily Walker, Lisle Library District, IL

School Library Journal

2020-01-26
A grieving New Mexico preteen learns to trust those around her.

Yolanda’s grandmother, called Wela, is dying, which will leave Yolanda and her twin sister, Sonja, without a guardian, as their widower father is deployed in Afghanistan. Between those losses, the death of her beloved grandfather, and the betrayal of her best friend, Ghita, who replaced Yolanda with Sonja, Yolanda feels utterly alone. It doesn’t help that Wela and Sonja both have the family “gift” of a supernatural connection with nature and Yolanda has none. The biracial girl’s bond with her Latinx maternal grandparents (her father is white) comes from their shared love of science—Welo was a geneticist determined to find out the source of the family trait—but since his death, Wela has wanted nothing to do with it. But Wela knows she’s dying, and she chooses Yolanda for one last, odd favor. To her chagrin, Yolanda is followed on this quest by her sister, Ghita, and Ghita’s brother, Hasik. (Ghita and Hasik are South Asian.) As Wela uses her remaining strength to tell the children the story of her family and their strange gifts, Yolanda finds her own confidence. This heartfelt family saga weaves together science and magic believably and sensitively. The cast of characters is, refreshingly, almost entirely devoid of white people.

This is how it feels to find out you may be the villain and the hero of your own story. (Magical realism. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews

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