When the Mapou Sings

August 15, 2024
Sixteen-year-old Lucille comes of age in 1930s Haiti. Following the death of her mother during childbirth, Lucille has been cared for by her woodworker father and maternal aunt. Lucille can hear the sacred mapou trees sing, although a teacher chides: "The Church or the spirits, / you can't serve them both." Lucille and best friend Fifina dream of opening their own school for girls, one that centers nature and creativity, but ongoing conflict in Haiti poses an obstacle. When Fifina vanishes, Lucille learns she's been taken by the section chief as his second wife. Then, the section chief cuts down Lucille's favorite mapou tree, and she confronts him. Fearing for her safety, Papa and Tante Lila send her to Port-au-Prince. As a servant to a wealthy Haitian family, Lucille takes steps toward adulthood; she also falls for her employer's son and is sent away again, becoming a servant to charismatic American writer Zora Neale Hurston. Lucille learns that activism comes with sacrifice--and even mortal danger. The book's slow pace demands patience from readers, and the resolution feels rushed, but Pinede's beautifully written debut sharply observes class divisions and encourages readers to ask critical questions about dignity. Lucille's optimism is rooted in the purpose she derives from loved ones and a cultural inheritance that values nature over material wealth. The well-drawn characters, strong dialogue, and surprising twists add depth. A rich, lyrical story that shows the high cost young women pay for daring to dream of a better life. (historical notes, bibliography, sources)(Verse historical fiction. 13-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 23, 2024
Debut author Pinede’s historical verse novel centers a 1930s Haiti filled with magic, cultural tradition, and danger. Inspired by the music of Haiti’s tall mapou trees (“I hear a woman’s voice singing”), 16-year-old Lucille and her best friend Fifina dream of opening a school where they can teach girls “the songs of the trees, flowers, birds, butterflies, the sun, moon, mountains, clouds.” The author juxtaposes the grounding magic of nature with ongoing civil unrest throughout Haiti: after Fifina is taken by a section chief, an authority figure who often abuses their power, Lucille’s beloved mapou also goes missing. When she discovers the tree at the section chief’s home and is subsequently sentenced to exile, Lucille immerses herself in the world beyond her
village, where she begins working for affluent Madame Ovides and falls for her son Oreste, a young burgeoning revolutionary. Historical figures such as Zora Neale Hurston, depicted in Pinede’s vibrant text, become key players in Lucille’s life. While the ending of this lengthy, densely packed tale feels abrupt, culturally rich descriptions and examinations of occupation and class division, as well as the perceived differences between spiritual and material wealth, make this a thought-provoking read. Ages 14–up.

November 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 Haiti, 1935. A gifted wood-carver like her father, 16-year-old Lucille must flee after inadvertently offending the powerful section chief. Her father sends her to Port-au-Prince, where she will work for the wealthy Madame Ovide. In the meantime, her best friend, Fifina, has gone missing, perhaps doomed to be the section chief's outside wife (mistress). Lucille vows that she will find her and together they will open a school. Before that can happen, however, she meets Madame Ovide's son, Oreste, and falls in love. Discovering this, Madame sends her away to work for an American woman (who turns out to be the real-life Zora Neale Hurston) in Haiti to do research for a book. Soon Lucille will lose Oreste when he goes to New York to study at Columbia University. Will they be reunited? And will she find Fifina? Pinede's novel in verse is extremely well written and character driven. While the pace is sometimes slow, it offers enough interest to hold readers' attention to the end.

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March 1, 2025
In this historical verse novel, teenage Lucille comes of age against the uneasy backdrop of 1930s Haiti. The American colonizers have removed their troops, and political discussions among Haiti's new leaders about the country's future are turning incendiary. Lucille discovers she has the gift of hearing her deceased mother's spirit in their mapou tree, and the only one who understands her gift is Fifina, Lucille's best friend and first love. Fifina vanishes under terrible circumstances, which leads Lucille to a confrontation at the section chief's house; she must then leave home. Now a servant in Madame Ovide's house, Lucille is intrigued by conversations she hears about progress, but to quell Lucille's growing relationship with her son, Oreste, Madame Ovide sends Lucille to another one of her homes, to help an eccentric American who has come to the island to do fieldwork in folklore: Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston's presence angers some powerful Haitian politicians, and Lucille finds herself in a race to save Zora, Oreste, Fifina, and herself. The novel addresses issues of classism, colorism, misogyny, and activism with nuance. While the resolution is somewhat abrupt, the detailed, lyrical free verse makes for an impressive debut. Eboni Njoku

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)