Starred review from December 2, 2024
Three days after her 15th birthday, Nell Strand manifests her matrilineal magic in the form of yellow ladybugs that alight on her piano keys as she searches for the perfect melody. But Nell’s joy is immediately undercut by her acute awareness of the dangers of her bloodline’s abilities. Her older sister Mora was recently institutionalized because she utilizes self-harm methods to release the music in her blood, and her mother’s appearance vacillates between ages based on her mood—she often looks and acts more like an antagonistic sibling than a parent. In dealing with the stress of her family dynamic as well as unwanted, escalating sexual attention from her piano teacher, Nell learns that she manifests other creatures as well: stick insects for sadness, beetles for shame, and wasps for anger. As Nell develops increasingly maladaptive coping mechanisms, she finds that her emotions are not so easily suppressed. In this deeply felt verse novel, Chewins (The Sisters of Straygarden Place) expertly leverages evocative language and extended poetry metaphors for a moving tale of self-discovery and healing through connection. The novel takes place in Cape Town; Nell is half Afrikaner and half English. Ages 14–up.