Blood Secret

August 1, 2004
Gr 7 Up-Since her mother disappeared from a campground several years before, 14-year-old Jerry has lived in various Catholic Charities homes. The trauma of her experiences has left her with selective mutism. Although she wants to speak, she just can't get the words that form in her throat to come out. Now, she is going to live in New Mexico with her great-great-aunt, Constanza de Luna. After settling in and beginning school, Jerry discovers an old trunk in her aunt's basement. The mysterious objects within it seem to call to her, and each time she handles one of them, she is catapulted into her family's past. Brief vignettes describe the experiences of several of her ancestors, beginning with Miriam, a Jewish girl living in Seville in 1391 who witnesses the murder of her people and is baptized by force. Jerry, who has been raised Catholic, comes to realize that her ancestors were Jews, and she is upset by their heart-wrenching tales of religious persecution. Meanwhile, through her aunt's gentle manner and the understanding and acceptance of a new friend, the protagonist gradually becomes more and more socially engaged and begins to speak again. The story of Jerry's ancestors is skillfully interwoven with that of her present life. With each glimpse into her past, she is drawn more into her own family circle with her aunt. A well-told and satisfying story.-Sharon Morrison, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Durant, OK

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2004
Gr. 6-10. Jerry Luna has not spoken since her mother disappeared when she was eight years old. Now a high-school freshman, she has left a Catholic Charities Home to live in Albuquerque with her soulful, 94-year-old great-aunt Constanza. Jerry's heart and voice begin to reawaken when she discovers an heirloom-filled trunk in Constanza's basement. With unexplained magic, the trunk "curves time back," unveiling the stories of Jerry's ancestors, beginning with Jews who suffered through the Spanish Inquisition. Although the ancestors' first-person narratives are abruptly inserted into Jerry's tale, the stories themselves tell revealing, harrowing accounts of Jewish life during the Inquisition, and later in North America. The esoteric time lapses that lead into the ancestors' stories are vague and contrived, as are some of the complicated connections between generations. Even so, Lasky's quiet, layered novel introduces history, particularly from a Jewish perspective, that's rarely covered in books for youth while asking sophisticated questions about faith, the legacy of persecution, the power of silence, and the deep mysteries of what's passed between generations.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)