Young Adult Fiction Novels In Verse
When the Mapou Sings
- Publisher
- Candlewick Press
- Initial publish date
- Dec 2024
- Category
- Novels in Verse, General, Caribbean & Latin America
- Recommended Age
- 12 to 18
- Recommended Grade
- 7 to 12
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9781536235661
- Publish Date
- Dec 2024
- List Price
- $25.99
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
Infused with magical realism, this story blends first love and political intrigue with a quest for justice and self-determination in 1930s Haiti.
Sixteen-year-old Lucille hopes to one day open a school alongside her best friend where girls just like them can learn what it means to be Haitian: to learn from the mountains and the forests around them, to carve, to sew, to draw, and to sing the songs of the Mapou, the sacred trees that dot the island nation. But when her friend vanishes without a trace, a dream—a gift from the Mapou—tells Lucille to go to her village’s section chief, the local face of law, order, and corruption, which puts her life and her family’s at risk.
Forced to flee her home, Lucille takes a servant post with a wealthy Haitian woman from society’s elite in Port-au-Prince. Despite a warning to avoid him, she falls in love with her employer’s son. But when their relationship is found out, she must leave again—this time banished to another city to work for a visiting American writer and academic conducting fieldwork in Haiti. While Lucille’s new employer studies vodou and works on the novel that will become Their Eyes Were Watching God, Lucille risks losing everything she cares about—and any chance of seeing her best friend again—as she fights to save their lives and secure her future in this novel in verse with the racing heart of a thriller.
About the author
Contributor Notes
Nadine Pinede is the daughter of Haitian exiles from the Duvalier dictatorship. She created her own interdisciplinary major at Harvard and then continued on to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. She also has an MFA in fiction and poetry and holds a PhD from Indiana University.
Excerpt: When the Mapou Sings (by (author) Nadine Pinede)
Manman
My birth
brought your death
your blood
a lavalas
in rainy season.
Papa buried the placenta
with orange seeds
and watered them
with tears.
Papa told me
you were a Mother Tree
and your great-grandmother
was a princess,
from the first people
who named us
Ayiti,
the Land of Mountains.
She fell in love with a mawon,
a runaway who hid in caves
and climbed mountains
to freedom,
then returned with his princess
to fight the French.
Papa does his best
to hide
the ashes
in his heart.
He makes tables, chairs,
cedar coffins
to sell in his shop.
Your older sister, Tante Lila,
never married.
She moved in with us.
When she braids my hair
it’s always too tight.
The dresses she sews
hang loose on my body,
as thin as a gazelle.
Whatever she cooks
always needs salt.
Not like Cousin Phebus,
whose food
makes our tongues dance.
Tante Lila prays the rosary
every day,
scolds me
when I climb
my favorite mapou,
the sacred tree.
So I keep
our secret.
How in the forest
when I touch the trees—
barks grainy, knotted,
or peeled slick smooth—
I see shapes in the wood
calling me to carve them.
I feel the heartbeat of their roots
pulse through my bare feet.
The trees sing to me.
Inside each one
of them
a tiny spark
of
you.
PART ONE
LAKAY
Friendliness and Understanding
August 15, 1934
Hinche, Haiti
Statement from the Secretary of State:
In the nearly twenty years during which our marine and naval forces have been stationed in Haiti they have rendered invaluable, disinterested service to the Haitian Government and the people. At this present moment they are withdrawing from the island in an atmosphere of great friendliness and the best of understanding. We wish for the Government and people of Haiti stability, progress and all success.
When the section chief
finishes reading to us,
gathered in the muggy heat,
no one says a word.
Was he expecting applause?
They say the section chief—
at first respected,
now detested—
helped sòlda Ameriken yo
kill Caco resisters
steal our land
and force us like slaves
to build roads.
“Friendliness and understanding? Hmph.”
The air is thick
with resentment
and relief.
Surely things will be better now.
For the first time in my fourteen years,
I see the Haitian flag raised
from its lower position at half-mast,
and the drapo Ameriken an,
always higher till now,
lowered, folded,
and taken away.
My Friend Fifina
I’ll never forget
the first time I saw her
when the school year started.
In the courtyard of the Mission School
I sat apart from the others
drawing a bird
in red earth with a twig
from Mapou.
“That’s beautiful.”
Her voice arrived first,
warm honey and butter.
I looked up and saw skin
the color of glowing dark walnut
her soft cheve swa
a silky braid down her back.
A marabou,
those we consider
the most beautiful.
“I’m Fifina.”
I stood up, wiped my hands
on my skirt.
“I’m Lucille.”
We walked back to the classroom
inside me
a sunrise.
Trust
At the Bassin Zim waterfall,
where Papa taught me to swim
in the rivière Samana
and dive in underwater caves,
the light-jeweled water
caresses the cliff.
I teach Fifina to swim,
first holding her
as she floats on her back
her black hair fanning out
like angel wings.
When I sense
her body relax,
trust the water,
I let go.
Listen
Fifina and I perch
high like birds
on Mapou’s branches
for hours.
I press my ear
against the side stripes
of Mapou’s bark,
Fifina next to me.
“Don’t you hear anything?”
Her mouth
rises in a smile,
but she
never laughs at me
never makes me feel
my head’s not on straight
never says
that I look like a boy.
“I don’t hear anything,”
says Fifina.
“If I told you
Mapou sings to me,
what would you think?”
“I’d think you’re lucky!
Tell me what you hear,”
she says.
“I hear a woman’s voice singing,
and when I close my eyes,
behind my eyelids
I see flashing lights,
like bird wings
fluttering in the sun.
“It doesn’t make sense
until I fall asleep.
Then they all come together
in my dreams. I used to
try and draw them,
but now I want to carve,
like Papa.”
Fifina holds my hand
and squeezes it.
“You have a gift.”
“Promise you won’t tell anyone?”
“I promise.”
That makes me smile,
our secret to keep.
Our feet swing free
from Mapou’s branches.
We talk of what
shape our lives will be
when we start our own school
where girls will learn
more than we do at the Mission School.
We’ll make our own book,
with her mother’s leaf-medicine recipes
and my drawings of the plants.
We’ll teach girls how to carve, sew, draw, climb trees.
We’ll teach girls the songs of trees, flowers, birds, butterflies,
the sun, moon, mountains, clouds.
Mapou listens
to our dreams
falling like gentle rain
on her leaves.
When it’s time to go home
we climb down carefully
Mapou’s branch in my hand
to chase away
snakes.
Mine
Each mapou
is special,
a resting place
reposwa
for the ones before us
still with us,
ever since our land
born from fire
stood up high from the sea
to make mountains
behind mountains.
Those who serve the spirits
say they know exactly
what makes mapou trees sacred.
“Trees are God’s creation,
but He made them mute,”
says Sister Gilberte
when I tell her
about my Mapou.
“The Church or the spirits,
you can’t serve them both.”
To stay in school,
I keep my silence.
Still,
Mapou sings to me.
Editorial Reviews
Written in stunning verse, When the Mapou Sings—with its original premise, vivid setting, and compelling characters—will carve a permanent place in your heart.
—Cordelia Jensen, author of Skyscraping
Lucille both flees home and searches for it, guided by mapou trees, butterflies, birds, and her own carvings of them, as if singing back their songs. Through lyrical language and sometimes harrowing scenes, I met complicated characters who introduced me to some of Haiti’s history and expanded my sense of the world.
—Jeannine Atkins, author of Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science
Set against the backdrop of Haiti in the 1930s, When the Mapou Sings transports readers to the heart and mind of sixteen-year-old Lucille, forced to work in exile, away from her family, after standing up to oppressive local authorities. On a quest to reunite with her best friend, Lucille is derailed by her circumstances again and again but refuses to give up. Through incredibly rich historical details, Lucille’s story springs to life in gorgeous poetry that sings. Truly a book to savor.
—Kip Wilson, author of White Rose and The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin
Haiti in the early 1930s is both backdrop and metaphor in this coming-of-age story of a courageous girl who must face danger, separation, and first love, all in the looming shadow of her beloved country’s uncertain—and dangerous—political future. Sixteen-year-old Lucille has been gifted with an ability to hear the prophetic spirits residing in Haiti’s mapou trees and to unlock the figures hidden within the bits of wood she carves. Speaking out against injustice and corruption, Lucille is forced to leave her family to take a series of domestic positions, presenting both obstacles and opportunities, all while she attempts to solve the mystery of her best friend’s disappearance. For my part, I really appreciate how Lucille’s authentic first-person narration incorporates Haitian Creole. Written in a compelling voice with uncluttered, accessible verse, When the Mapou Sings is a lovely blend of poetry, history, suspense, and magical realism, just the way I like it.
—Allan Wolf, author of The Watch That Ends the Night
With a tenderness born of deep understanding, Nadine Pinede takes her characters—and her readers—on a journey requiring great courage and wisdom. She offers both through the lively voice of Lucille, with the comforting accompaniment of the mapou tree.
—Helen Frost, author of Hidden and Diamond Willow
Through dazzling free verse, Pinede brilliantly imagines a life for teenager Lucille, who assisted Zora Neale Hurston during her fateful months in 1930s Haiti. But here, Lucille is the main character, with soaring dreams, a love for her land, and the passion and commitment to protect those she loves and to change the world around her. Readers will be inspired by this remarkable protagonist and her story.
—Lyn Miller-Lachmann, author of Torch and Eyes Open
1930s Haiti comes alive in this unique and richly imagined coming-of-age tale of a girl finding her way in a country on the brink of change. Pinede’s debut is poignant, searing, and timely.
—Stacey Lee, New York Times best-selling author of Reese’s Book Club pick The Downstairs Girl
When the Mapou Sings is stunning in every sense of the word. Lucille, the book’s young protagonist, captivated me from the very first page and never let me go. She is righteous, passionate, courageous, and wise beyond her years. Like Zora Neale Hurston, whom she winds up working for through a series of unexpected events, Lucille is an independent thinker and a force to be reckoned with. The two, at first wary of each other, form a deep bond that changes both their lives forever. And all this is told in gorgeously written verse that at times literally took my breath away. This is a beautiful book.
—Lesléa Newman, author of October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard
When the Mapou Sings is steeped in love, courage, and longing. Nadine Pinede is a wonder.
—Tananarive Due, author of The Reformatory, a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year
I felt Lucille’s passion and power through every poem—her love for the mapou, which gives her courage and comfort, and her fierce dedication to discovering what’s become of her beloved Fifina. With lyricism that sings, Nadine Pinede’s writing takes the reader on a journey of what it means to stand up and speak your truth even when the consequences are grave.
—Tami Charles, author of the New York Times best seller All Because You Matter
Pinede has gifted us a rare glimpse into an island nation brimming with hope, resilience, and beauty. With lush verse that brings 1930s Haiti to life, a young heroine, Lucille, embarks on a journey to find her true gifts while helping shape a vital part of American literary history. When the Mapou Sings is a stunning tribute to Haitian girlhood, history, and culture and an homage to some of our greatest American icons.
—Ibi Zoboi, National Book Award Finalist and Coretta Scott King Author Award winner
When the Mapou Sings is a stunning revelation. An exquisite novel in verse, it is also a mesmerizing history lesson, a praise song, a love letter to Haiti, Lucille, Zora Neale Hurston, and the cultural and historical ties that bind Haitians and African American icons, dreamers, and creators.
—Edwidge Danticat, author of Breath, Eyes, Memory
Pinede’s beautifully written debut sharply observes class divisions and encourages readers to ask critical questions about dignity. . . .The well-drawn characters, strong dialogue, and surprising twists add depth. A rich, lyrical story that shows the high cost young women pay for daring to dream of a better life.
—Kirkus Reviews
A thought-provoking read.
—Publishers Weekly
Extremely well written.
—Booklist