The Liars of Mariposa Island

July 15, 2019
A moving historical novel about Texan siblings Elena and Joaquin Finney and their alcoholic, controlling mother, Caridad. It's 1986, and Elena is excited about the summer, the only time of the year her mother allows her some degree of freedom, as she gets to babysit for the holidaying Callahans. It's the summer after high school graduation for Joaquin, and his future is wide open if only he can find the courage to leave Mariposa Island--and his family--behind. The narrative alternates between Elena and Joaquin in 1986 with flashbacks to Caridad's past as the daughter of wealthy white Cubans living through the Cuban revolution and, later, life as a lonely teen refugee in Texas. Having lost her family, her language, and her history, Caridad struggled to adapt to a new life with a working-class foster family. Meanwhile, in 1986, Joaquin and Elena find different strategies to survive in a household of fear and manipulation. The daughter of a Cuban refugee, Mathieu (Moxie, 2017, etc.) empathetically delves into thorny questions of identity, trauma, abuse, choices, family bonds, and the lengths people will go to keep a measure of control in their lives. With a touch of romance, this gentle, multilayered novel comes with a dash of the unexpected thanks to the deeply unreliable nature of its narrators. A beautiful portrayal of a Cuban American family during a crossroads summer. (author's note)(Historical fiction. 14-adult)

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August 1, 2019

Gr 9 Up-The Finney family's carefully constructed world begins to unravel as they struggle to hide dreams, disappointment, and deceptions. Primarily set in 1986 Texas, brother and sister Joaquin and Elena live with their single Cuban refugee mother, Caridad. Controlling, volatile, bitter, and always drinking, Caridad creates a culture of dread, manipulation, and lies. Elena's only escape is babysitting for the Callahans and sneaking off with her new boyfriend, while Joaquin works as a waiter and dreams of finding the strength to break free from his family and leave Mariposa Island. Their difficult home life is contrasted with chapters set in 1950s Cuba, where Caridad lives an easy life full of wealth and love. When she is sent to the United States during the Cuban Revolution, Caridad's life begins to fall apart. Joaquin makes a discovery that pushes them toward the potential for finally being truthful, but the secrets and silence that feel necessary for survival threaten to destroy the small family as they continue to lie to themselves and each other. With chapters from the perspectives of all three main characters, readers gain insight into the depth of lies, isolation, and frustration they all live with. The flawed, secretive, and well-developed characters make up for a plot that sometimes lags. Mathieu, the daughter of a Cuban refugee, spins an emotional, sensitive, and heartbreaking story about one dysfunctional family's survival and unhappiness. VERDICT Quietly powerful, this layered story full of unreliable narrators will appeal to readers of character-driven stories.-Amanda MacGregor, Parkview Elementary School, Rosemount, MN

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Starred review from August 1, 2019
Grades 10-1 *Starred Review* From the author of Moxie (2017) comes the heart-wrenching tale of the Finney family, taking place largely in the 1980s: 16-year-old Elena, a withdrawn soul with one friend to her name; older brother Joaquin, who desires nothing more than to leave his hometown behind; and their volatile, alcoholic mother, Caridad, who refuses to tell them about their father and has effectively isolated them on Mariposa Island off the Texas coast. Mathieu expertly weaves the story from the three characters' very different perspectives: Elena, as she falls for handsome and mysterious J.C. amid a coming-of-age roller coaster; Joaquin, who's facing tough questions about his girlfriend's big?but different?dreams of leaving the Island; and Caridad, as she recounts her childhood in pre-Castro Cuba, where she was born into a wealthy family but forced to start over with nothing in the U.S. Despite the vastly different viewpoints, Mathieu masterfully invests readers in the the characters' origin stories, emotions, and motives. Her descriptions of the various settings over time and space are vivid and pulsating, immersing the audience in the psyches and nostalgia of each narrator. A sense of suspense and foreboding will keep readers on their toes and force them to question their own biases and wonder who can truly be trusted. Hand this book about a haunting family dynamic and staying true to oneself to fans of E. Lockhart's We Were Liars (2014), Alan Gratz's Refugee (2017), or Tamara Ireland Stone's Every Last Word (2015).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)