Shadowshaper

Lately,  I have been trying to read more diverse books. 

One that I came across in the past couple of weeks is called: 

Shadowshaper 

Pages: 304

Release Date: June 30th 2015 

Age: 12 and up 

The Story 

(Based off of Goodreads)

Sierra Santiago was looking forward to a fun summer of making art, hanging out with her friends, and skating around Brooklyn. But then a weird zombie guy crashes the first party of the season.  And when the graffiti murals start to weep.... Well, something stranger than the usual New York mayhem is going on.

Sierra soon discovers a supernatural order called the Shadowshapers, who connect with spirits via paintings, music, and stories. Her grandfather once shared the order's secrets with an anthropologist, Dr. Jonathan Wick, who turned the Caribbean magic to his own foul ends. Now Wick wants to become the ultimate Shadowshaper by killing all the others, one by one. With the help of her friends and the hot graffiti artist Robbie, Sierra must dodge Wick's supernatural creations, harness her own Shadowshaping abilities, and save her family's past, present, and future. 

My Thoughts 

This could be a great crossover book for tweens. There is some violence, but it is nothing explicit. The violence is more for a thematic effect. For example, one of Sierra's friends dies. Wick turns her friend into a zombie full of  faces of other spirits. It is creepy, but it is something I think would still be appropriate for tweens. 

I would also like to mention (for reader's advisory purposes) that there is no sexual content. I was very impressed with this title. It is faced paced and I was especially drawn to the anthropology side of this novel. I enjoyed it so much, I wish the author would have explored it more. 

Either way, I will be sure to include this book in my reader's advisory. I think many of my tweens will get caught up in this shadow battle & its natural diversity. 

Since I was taken by this book, I looked up more videos and information on this book and the author. Upon my search, I came across this fantastic video of the author discussing his book and diversity. He brings up a lot of great points. I challenge you to take a look & tell me what you think! How do we make diversity more natural? 

Author Daniel Jose Older Talks about His Book & Diversity 

- Pamela