Wake the Wild Creatures

Gr 10 Up–When Talia was 13 years old, life as she knew it was forever changed. A night meant for transition turns terrible when her mother, Pola, is arrested for murder and Talia gets taken away from her home and community of women in the Neves—an area surrounding an abandoned hotel in the Catskill Mountains. It is hidden deep in the forest by a cloaking mist that protects the women from bad men and authoritative figures who may be looking for them. Now, Talia lives below the mountains in town with relatives she barely knows, holding out hope for a signal from her mother indicating that it is time for her to return home. Readers get to witness an otherworldly coming-of-age story as Talia tries to figure out her place in the world while seeking answers to questions she has regarding that fateful night and what her future holds. Suma uses magical realism to describe the connections between mother and daughter and women to nature. Talia’s character is almost bewitching, as she is a strong and determined girl who appears lost in the wild among civilization and who longs for home, where she embodies a mystical relationship with nature due to her peculiar upbringing. Talia has pale skin and dark hair.