The Mirror Season

by Anna-Marie McLemore

Overview

"An unforgettable story of trauma and healing, told in achingly beautiful prose with great tenderness and care." —#1 New York Times-bestselling author Karen M. McManus

When two teens discover that they were both sexually assaulted at the same party, they develop a cautious friendship through her family’s possibly-magical pastelería, his secret forest of otherworldly trees, and the swallows returning to their hometown, in Anna-Marie McLemore's The Mirror Season...

Graciela Cristales’ whole world changes after she and a boy she barely knows are assaulted at the same party. She loses her gift for making enchanted pan dulce. Neighborhood trees vanish overnight, while mirrored glass appears, bringing reckless magic with it. And Ciela is haunted by what happened to her, and what happened to the boy whose name she never learned.

But when the boy, Lock, shows up at Ciela’s school, he has no memory of that night, and no clue that a single piece of mirrored glass is taking his life apart. Ciela decides to help him, which means hiding the truth about that night. Because Ciela knows who assaulted her, and him. And she knows that her survival, and his, depend on no one finding out what really happened.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250821171
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	03/08/2022
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Anna-Marie McLemore (they/them) is the author of The Weight of Feathers, Wild Beauty, Blanca & Roja, Dark and Deepest Red, Lakelore, Venom & Vow (co-authored with Elliott McLemore), and National Book Award longlist selections When the Moon Was Ours, The Mirror Season, and Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix. They have received the Michael L. Printz Award, the Stonewall Honor, the Otherwise Award, three Northern California Book Awards, and an Américas Honor.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Mirror Season:

"McLemore whips up a magical realist tale as spellbinding as the pan dulce creations described within this novel’s pages...With haunting prose and sharp insight, McLemore expertly combines the piquant with the sweet." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Aching, vivid narrative...The poetic and vulnerable prose illuminates the need for more open conversation about sexuality, consent, and abuse without the limits of the gender binary...Piercing magic." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"An unforgettable story of trauma and healing, told in achingly beautiful prose with great tenderness and care." —Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying

"A powerful, harrowing, and important story about trauma, identity, taking back power and the redemptive nature of healing. These characters will stay with me forever. An absolute must read." —Aisha Saeed, New York Times-bestselling author of Amal Unbound and Yes No Maybe So

Praise for Dark and Deepest Red:

"McLemore weaves another magic spell ... This novel will leave an indelible mark on readers' hearts."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"McLemore fashions another gorgeous novel...McLemore’s well-choreographed story will dance on in readers’ minds." —Booklist, starred review

“One of the most beautiful books I’ve read in years. McLemore is a master." —Susan Dennard, New York Times–bestselling author of the Witchlands series

From the Publisher

This audiobook abounds with magical realism. Latina Ciela makes the perfect pan dulce. One could even say it’s magical. But when she and a boy discover that both of them were sexually assaulted at a party, Ciela’s magical talents dim. Bit by bit, narrator Jennifer Jill Araya reveals what happened. And in the wake of feelings of rawness and vulnerability comes the discovery of personal power. The trauma, gender and racial differences, and inequity in this story are balanced by its beautiful prose and fairy-tale elements, inspired by “The Snow Queen.” Araya does justice to all of these elements and blends them with gentle transitions. The audio includes an author’s note about the background of the story. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2021 - AudioFile

This audiobook abounds with magical realism. Latina Ciela makes the perfect pan dulce. One could even say it’s magical. But when she and a boy discover that both of them were sexually assaulted at a party, Ciela’s magical talents dim. Bit by bit, narrator Jennifer Jill Araya reveals what happened. And in the wake of feelings of rawness and vulnerability comes the discovery of personal power. The trauma, gender and racial differences, and inequity in this story are balanced by its beautiful prose and fairy-tale elements, inspired by “The Snow Queen.” Araya does justice to all of these elements and blends them with gentle transitions. The audio includes an author’s note about the background of the story. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2021 - AudioFile

★ 2020-12-25
In the aftermath of an assault at a party, the lives of two teens intertwine as they struggle to find healing, lost magic, and ways to move forward.

Like her bisabuela before her, Ciela Cristales speaks “the language of flour and sugar.” In her family’s pastelería, she is La Bruja de los Pasteles, who can sense exactly which pastry someone wants before they know themselves, which flavors will give them courage or help open their heart to love. Although her abuela warned her that such gifts could be lost, she did not know this was true until a shard of glass buries itself deep in her heart along with the sharp, mirrored truth of what happened to her and a boy she’d just met at a party she wishes she could forget. McLemore reimagines Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” or “La Reina de las Nieves,” in the weaving of an aching, vivid narrative about two young adults, a White boy and a queer, Mexican American girl, who are grappling with trauma from sexual assault. The poetic and vulnerable prose illuminates the need for more open conversation about sexuality, consent, and abuse without the limits of the gender binary. Balancing raw honesty and hope, McLemore does not shy away from depicting discomfort and injustice, but they also surround Ciela with a loving and affirming community of characters crafted with tender detail in this contemporary novel brushed with fairy tale.

Piercing magic. (author's note) (Magical realism. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews