Grades 3-7 What’s a jumbie? Corinne and her friends know. In Trinidad, where Corinne lives with her widowed papa on the edge of the forest, a jumbie is an evil spirit that comes out at night to suck blood, steal children, or lure people into peril, the kind of creature parents tell stories about to frighten their children. Corinne knows they are not real, but when a beautiful woman suddenly takes an interest in Papa, she starts digging deeper. With the help of her friends—Dru, of South Asian descent; Malik, who never says a word; and Bouki—she discovers something deeply sinister going on. Structural elements similar to those of classic European fairy tales (brave girl, evil stepmother, magic amulet, and so on) look fresh, lively, and no less scary in the Caribbean setting. Readers will thrill to the werewolflike lagahoo and the creepy little douens, who have backward-facing feet. With a diverse cast of multidimensional characters, a swift plot, and a unique setting, this book will delight many. -- Willey, Paula (Reviewed 03-15-2015) (Booklist, vol 111, number 14, p74)
Gr 3 – 5 — A middle grade twist on a traditional Haitian folktale. Corinne and her father don't believe in jumbies, malevolent creatures that come out of the island's dark woods to prey on people. Then one day a strangely beautiful lady named Severine walks into Corinne's house and takes over, her Papa begins acting weird, and evil creatures attack the village. Corinne and her friends approach the white witch for help but she can't assist because it would affect the ancient balance between creatures and humans. However, the white witch does tell Corinne that she has a special power that can help. Readers will find Corinne engaging and her determination authentic. Corinne's friends, Dru, Bouki, and Malik are also fully formed and believable characters whose loyalty and bravery help save the day. Even the evil Severine is drawn well enough to evoke empathy in readers. The story builds nicely to the inevitable confrontation between Corinne and Severine. Though the denouement seems a little too good to be true, the themes of fairness, justice, and retribution meld into a better than average evil witch story. VERDICT This is a well written tale full of action with enough scary elements to satisfy fans of Adam Gidwitz's A Tale Dark and Grimm (Penguin, 2010) or Laura Amy Schlitz's Splendors and Glooms (Candlewick, 2012).—Gretchen Crowley, Alexandria City Public Libraries, VA --Gretchen Crowley (Reviewed April 1, 2015) (School Library Journal, vol 61, issue 4, p143)
Baptiste (Angel’s Grace ) mines Caribbean folklore for her second novel. The jumbies are ancient, shape-shifting spirits living amid old-growth mahogany forests, feared and whispered about by humans. Eleven-year-old Corinne and her father, Pierre, don’t care; they live in a cottage under the forest eaves and tend the richest garden in the village, which is dominated by an orange tree planted by Corinne’s mother before her untimely death. It’s a happy household despite their loss, and Corinne’s fearless energy and can-do attitude are celebrated throughout. Her father, though, is lonely, and gradually falls under the spell of Severine, a jumbie in human disguise, embittered and seeking revenge. The storytelling pace is slow and descriptive—Baptiste takes seriously the job of familiarizing readers with what, for many, will be an unfamiliar setting and culture. It’s not until Severine appears in Pierre’s cottage, a quarter of the way through the book, that a plot begins to takes shape. What the story lacks in page-turning momentum, however, is made up for in its vivid evocation of Corinne’s island home. Ages 8–12. Agent: Marie Lamba, Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency. (Apr.) --Staff (Reviewed February 9, 2015) (Publishers Weekly, vol 262, issue 06, p)
A fantasy based in Caribbean folklore.Corinne La Mer is a brave 11-year-old growing up on a Caribbean island. On All Hallow's Eve, when a pair of troublemaking brothers tie her deceased mother's prized necklace to a wild animal, Corinne chases the animal into the forest to retrieve it. However, this is no ordinary forest: It's known for being the abode of "jumbies," creatures "hidden in the shadows, always waiting for their moment to attack." Though Corinne doesn't believe in them, a jumbie follows her out of the forest. The third-person narration tells the back storyâ€”in bits and piecesâ€”of this jumbie, who reveals herself to be Corinne's mother's sister. It's never satisfactorily explained why Severine (as Corinne's jumbie aunt calls herself) seeks out her niece, nearly a decade after her sister's death. In order to fight Severineâ€”who, sympathetically, only wants a family but is bent on turning humans to jumbies to get oneâ€”Corinne must rely not only on her own strength, but that of newfound friends. The novel is based on a Haitian folk tale, according to the author's note, and it's refreshing to see a fantasy with its roots outside Europe. Baptiste never quite manages to control the story's pacing, though, and certain elements in the ending feel arbitrary. Despite flaws, this is a book worth reading simply for its originality. (Fantasy. 9-12)(Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2015)

http://library.link/vocab/ext/novelist/bookUI: 10410668

http://library.link/vocab/creatorName: Baptiste, Tracey

Index: no index present

Intended audience: 680L

Intended audience source: Lexile

Interest level: MG

Literary form: fiction

http://library.link/vocab/ext/novelist/minGradeLevel

Reading level: 4.6

http://library.link/vocab/resourcePreferred: True

Series statement: The jumbies

Series volume: 1

Study program name: Accelerated Reader

http://library.link/vocab/subjectName

Spirits
Magic
Blacks
Caribbean Area

Target audience: juvenile

Label: The jumbies, Tracey Baptiste

Instantiates

trueThe jumbies

Publication

trueChapel Hill, North Carolina, Algonquin Young Readers, 2016

Copyright

true©2015

Carrier category: volume

Carrier category code

Carrier MARC source: rdacarrier

Content category: text

Content type code

Content type MARC source: rdacontent

Dimensions: 21 cm

Edition: First paperback edition.

Extent: 234 pages

Isbn: 9781616205928

Lccn: 2014038605

Media category: unmediated

Media MARC source: rdamedia

Media type code

Label: The jumbies, Tracey Baptiste

Publication

trueChapel Hill, North Carolina, Algonquin Young Readers, 2016

Copyright

true©2015

Carrier category: volume

Carrier category code

Carrier MARC source: rdacarrier

Content category: text

Content type code

Content type MARC source: rdacontent

Dimensions: 21 cm

Edition: First paperback edition.

Extent: 234 pages

Isbn: 9781616205928

Lccn: 2014038605

Media category: unmediated

Media MARC source: rdamedia

Media type code

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Reviews

Review

Grades 3-7 What’s a jumbie? Corinne and her friends know. In Trinidad, where Corinne lives with her widowed papa on the edge of the forest, a jumbie is an evil spirit that comes out at night to suck blood, steal children, or lure people into peril, the kind of creature parents tell stories about to frighten their children. Corinne knows they are not real, but when a beautiful woman suddenly takes an interest in Papa, she starts digging deeper. With the help of her friends—Dru, of South Asian descent; Malik, who never says a word; and Bouki—she discovers something deeply sinister going on. Structural elements similar to those of classic European fairy tales (brave girl, evil stepmother, magic amulet, and so on) look fresh, lively, and no less scary in the Caribbean setting. Readers will thrill to the werewolflike lagahoo and the creepy little douens, who have backward-facing feet. With a diverse cast of multidimensional characters, a swift plot, and a unique setting, this book will delight many. -- Willey, Paula (Reviewed 03-15-2015) (Booklist, vol 111, number 14, p74)
Gr 3 – 5 — A middle grade twist on a traditional Haitian folktale. Corinne and her father don't believe in jumbies, malevolent creatures that come out of the island's dark woods to prey on people. Then one day a strangely beautiful lady named Severine walks into Corinne's house and takes over, her Papa begins acting weird, and evil creatures attack the village. Corinne and her friends approach the white witch for help but she can't assist because it would affect the ancient balance between creatures and humans. However, the white witch does tell Corinne that she has a special power that can help. Readers will find Corinne engaging and her determination authentic. Corinne's friends, Dru, Bouki, and Malik are also fully formed and believable characters whose loyalty and bravery help save the day. Even the evil Severine is drawn well enough to evoke empathy in readers. The story builds nicely to the inevitable confrontation between Corinne and Severine. Though the denouement seems a little too good to be true, the themes of fairness, justice, and retribution meld into a better than average evil witch story. VERDICT This is a well written tale full of action with enough scary elements to satisfy fans of Adam Gidwitz's A Tale Dark and Grimm (Penguin, 2010) or Laura Amy Schlitz's Splendors and Glooms (Candlewick, 2012).—Gretchen Crowley, Alexandria City Public Libraries, VA --Gretchen Crowley (Reviewed April 1, 2015) (School Library Journal, vol 61, issue 4, p143)
Baptiste (Angel’s Grace ) mines Caribbean folklore for her second novel. The jumbies are ancient, shape-shifting spirits living amid old-growth mahogany forests, feared and whispered about by humans. Eleven-year-old Corinne and her father, Pierre, don’t care; they live in a cottage under the forest eaves and tend the richest garden in the village, which is dominated by an orange tree planted by Corinne’s mother before her untimely death. It’s a happy household despite their loss, and Corinne’s fearless energy and can-do attitude are celebrated throughout. Her father, though, is lonely, and gradually falls under the spell of Severine, a jumbie in human disguise, embittered and seeking revenge. The storytelling pace is slow and descriptive—Baptiste takes seriously the job of familiarizing readers with what, for many, will be an unfamiliar setting and culture. It’s not until Severine appears in Pierre’s cottage, a quarter of the way through the book, that a plot begins to takes shape. What the story lacks in page-turning momentum, however, is made up for in its vivid evocation of Corinne’s island home. Ages 8–12. Agent: Marie Lamba, Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency. (Apr.) --Staff (Reviewed February 9, 2015) (Publishers Weekly, vol 262, issue 06, p)
A fantasy based in Caribbean folklore.Corinne La Mer is a brave 11-year-old growing up on a Caribbean island. On All Hallow's Eve, when a pair of troublemaking brothers tie her deceased mother's prized necklace to a wild animal, Corinne chases the animal into the forest to retrieve it. However, this is no ordinary forest: It's known for being the abode of "jumbies," creatures "hidden in the shadows, always waiting for their moment to attack." Though Corinne doesn't believe in them, a jumbie follows her out of the forest. The third-person narration tells the back storyâ€”in bits and piecesâ€”of this jumbie, who reveals herself to be Corinne's mother's sister. It's never satisfactorily explained why Severine (as Corinne's jumbie aunt calls herself) seeks out her niece, nearly a decade after her sister's death. In order to fight Severineâ€”who, sympathetically, only wants a family but is bent on turning humans to jumbies to get oneâ€”Corinne must rely not only on her own strength, but that of newfound friends. The novel is based on a Haitian folk tale, according to the author's note, and it's refreshing to see a fantasy with its roots outside Europe. Baptiste never quite manages to control the story's pacing, though, and certain elements in the ending feel arbitrary. Despite flaws, this is a book worth reading simply for its originality. (Fantasy. 9-12)(Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2015)

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Appeal Terms

Tone Tone is the feeling that a book evokes in the reader. In many cases, this category best answers the question, "What are you in the mood for?"

Writing style Writing style terms tell us how a book is written, from the complexity of the language to the level of the detail in the background.

Storyline Storyline is a quick way to determine a book's focus and structure

Character Only applied to fiction books, character appeal is especially for those readers who love books *because* of the characters.

Audio Characteristics of the audiobook (e.g. folksy, energetic, read by the author, etc.)

Theme Themes are popular and recurring plot elements found in fiction

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Character Only applied to fiction books, character appeal is especially for those readers who love books because of the characters.