Lola by Karla Arenas Valenti

 

On Friday, I finished reading Lola by Karla Arenas Valenti. This fantasy novel is about Lola, a ten-year-old girl who lives in Mexico City in a house that was built around an enchanted tree with flowers for each season and likes to uncover treasures in a bottomless sandbox with her older brother, Alex. After The Thing That Happened, while Lola can see the chaneques that hang around the tree, her brother has been coping with the Darkness. When she notices gray splotches both on the tree and Alex, she suspects that there's a connection and decides to look for a cure. As Alex grows sicker, Lola and Cualli, one of the chaneques, go to see a grocery store oracle, La Vica, who shares that there is a secret passage into a hidden world called Floresta. In Floresta, Lola must convince the young queen, Madre Luci, to help save her brother in time, even if it means facing her deepest fears.

Although beautiful and magical, Lola was one of the most devastating books I have read lately.  I was drawn into the story by the Tree and the sandbox from the beginning and loved getting to know Lola's relationship with Alex. They seemed really close and I could relate because I also have a brother, even though he's four years younger than me rather than four years older. I definitely wondered what exactly The Thing That Happened was, though. It seemed like a dark cloud over Lola and Alex. I thought it was quite scary that both the Tree and Alex were becoming sicker at the same time and I had to know the reason why. One of the things I enjoyed most about the story was the world of Floresta. It was so vivid to me and the adventure was wonderful, especially when Lola turned into a bird for the first time and could fly. I definitely wanted to go there myself. On the other hand, it was so frustrating how reluctant Madre Luci was to help Lola even if I understood why. I definitely saw her as selfish because she knew Floresta was suffering because of her decision. Although I suspected something was off regarding The Thing That Happened, I was absolutely shocked by the plot twist and it broke my heart into a million pieces. It reminded me a lot of the feelings I had when reading The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. Although the ending wasn't what I expected, it had a dash of hope and made me feel a little better after the tears I shed. Additionally, the illustrations are amazing and really added to the story. Anyone who enjoys stories about the bond between siblings should read this book.