The Boy, the Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon

Gr 3-6–Twelve-year-old Bayani, described with brown skin and black eyes like most of the people in his village in the Philippines, wants to go to the prusisyon procession that takes place once a year. His mother worries that he will become one of The Lost, the many members of Santo Cristo who have disappeared. He cajoles his mother into letting him go with his spoiled little sister, Isay. When the siblings and their hesitant cousin Aaron cross a magical bridge, however, they might have sealed their fate. Can they survive monsters, move mountains to free the land from the everlasting night, and make The Lost found again? Cruz crafts a lush landscape through smells, textures, and colors that is an apt background for this story based on traditional myths. For those not familiar with these tales, it takes a bit to catch on, but the roles of each creature are explained by the end. While some personality changes of the initially self-absorbed characters are abrupt and the quick coming together of all communities a convenient plot device, the three main characters have a slow awakening of how their actions impact the world. There is no glossary for those unfamiliar with Tagalog that is sprinkled throughout the text, nor is there an author’s note or some other grounding content for readers. However, that lack of translations for some of the terms in the story adds a sense of place and will not deter most readers.