Stand on the Sky

December 15, 2018
Aisulu, 12, rescues an orphaned golden eagle nestling; what she does with it will determine her family's future.Her extended family belongs to Western Mongolia's ethnic minority population of nomadic, Muslim Kazakhs who herd horses, yaks, and goats, moving upland in summer and lowland in winter. When Aisulu's brother, Serik, breaks his leg chasing an eagle, their parents take him to a distant clinic. Horrified when their uncle Dulat kills the eagle, Aisulu rescues its surviving eaglet, naming it Toktar. Guided by Dulat and his Tuvan wife, she raises and trains Toktar to hunt. Weeks later, Aisulu's father returns with grim news: Serik has cancer; they must sell their herd to pay for his treatment. Dulat sees another option: entering Aisulu and Toktar in the Eagle Festival competition. An ESPN crew filming it will pay the winner enough to cover Serik's treatment. Readers will root for Aisulu and her community, an ancient culture negotiating the contemporary world. However, Aisulu's story is insufficiently contextualized. In 2014, Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, competed and won at the festival, depicted in a 2016 documentary, The Eagle Huntress, well-reviewed and nominated for an Academy Award but also persuasively criticized for falsely claiming, so as to magnify her achievement, that women are barred from eagle hunting. The existence of women eagle hunters is briefly acknowledged here, but Aisulu's activities provoke damaging, misogynistic bias, expression of which reinforces Western misconceptions and misrepresents reality.A beautifully told, textbook example of cultural appropriation. (glossary) (Fiction. 8-12)

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February 1, 2019

Gr 5-8-In an effort to help save her brother and family, Aisulu must become an Eagle Hunter, which is unheard of for a girl. Set in Mongolia, this is the tale of Aisulu and her family, who are part of a nomadic clan. Their sustenance depends on milking goats and yaks. Through a tragic, youthful act, Aisulu and her brother cause the death of a mother eagle. Feeling responsible, she risks her life to rescue the eaglet. While Bow uses a lot of details to relate the care of a baby eagle, too much focus is given to the hunting of mice and the carrying of water. Though an interesting and unique setting, there is a lack of character development and the eagle and familial relationships are somewhat flat. VERDICT Readers looking for middle grade stories set in Mongolia, of which there are very few, may enjoy seeing Aisulu triumph. A secondary purchase for most collections.-Maureen Sullivan, Calumet City Public Library, IL

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 28, 2019
In Mongolia, 12-year-old Aisulu chafes at the expectations of her Kazakh community, which confines her to “girls’ work,” despite her skills in math, science, and horseback riding: “In a land where girls are supposed to have hearts made of milk, Aisulu had a heart made of sky.” Aisulu, concerned about her older brother, Serik, betrays his confidence about his persistent limp after he breaks his leg, and he is sent for medical treatment. While her sibling and parents are away, Aisulu rescues an orphaned eaglet. She begins to feel as if she could be one of the burkitshi, the eagle hunters, and she and her bird prepare to compete in the Eagle Festival, with a monetary prize that could fund the medical treatment Serik needs. Though her uncle’s wife says “there have been women with eagles since ancient days,” Aisulu’s father thinks her inclusion will defy local convention. The narrative traces Aisulu’s growth, including her shifting role within her community, her burgeoning relationship with her eagle, and her maturing sense of self. And while Bow (Sorrow’s Knot) creates a vivid sense of place, she is writing from outside the culture, drawing from a home stay with a family of nomadic eagle hunters. Her lyrical work of fiction offers readers and educators an opportunity to explore essential questions about cultural appropriation and the #OwnVoices movement. Ages 10–12.