The Jumbies

Fairy tales continue to be one of the cornerstones of my reading. The age that the story is written for doesn't matter. Give me a re-telling, or a classic, and I'll sit there wide-eyed and invested until the very end. So, it's not surprise that I picked up The Jumbies. I love reading folklore from different countries and, despite never having read "The Magic Orange Tree", I couldn't wait for Tracey Baptiste to tell me a new story. Haitian folklore? Yes please, and thank you very much.

Before I get started on the actual story itself, let me say that the audio version of this book is fabulous! Robin Miles does an excellent job of bringing this story to life, complete with wonderful accents and dialect. If you're looking for a way to get show more the whole experience, I highly recommend the audio. I know I would have loved this story either way. Still, having Robin Miles read it to me made it infinitely better.

Which leads me to the fact this is a gem of folktale! Just scary enough to give shivers, without being too over the top, this is the perfect story to share with a young reader. Corrine and her friends are brave and true. There is plenty of family love. A heaping helping of magic. Even better, there's a thread at the bottom of this story that shares the importance of living in harmony. About the importance of nature, and living in harmony with others. I adored every bit of it. This was the perfect blend of heroism, and childlike wonder.

If you're a fan of fairy tales, folklore, or just stories that will make you shiver and smile in equal measures, this is for you. I honestly wish I still worked with children so that I could share this with them. It was wonderful! show less

Corinne La Mer discovers the secret of her dead mother's identity, and the source of her own power in this exciting middle-grade fantasy inspired by the Haitian folktale of The Magic Orange Tree. When two local boys tie her necklace - the only thing that her mother left her - onto an agouti, Corinne thinks nothing of chasing the little animal into the nearby forest, even though the other residents of her Caribbean island believe that the woods are full of Jumbies, or evil spirits. Despite her disbelief, passed on to her by her fisherman father, Pierre, Corinne soon discovers that Jumbies are all too real, as Severine, her mother's sister, and the most powerful Jumbie on the island becomes aware of her, and decides to take back the show more island for her own kind. Now it is up to Corinne, and her newfound friends Dru, and brothers Malik and Bouki, to defend their home...

I've been meaning to read Tracey Baptiste's The Jumbies since it first came out in 2015, and am glad that I finally managed to pick it up! I enjoyed it so much that I will lose no time in tracking down the sequels, Rise of the Jumbies, and The Jumbie God's Revenge. The story here is engrossing, with a simple but engaging text, and an exciting premise. As Baptiste notes in her afterword, there was a shortage of fantasy based upon Caribbean folklore, when she was growing up, so she decided to write some herself. I know fairly little about jumbies, although I have read the Haitian tale this is based upon - see Diane Wolkstein's The Magic Orange Tree and Other Haitian Folktales for a traditional retelling - so I was glad to read a story in which they featured. My only critique of the book would be that I felt the conclusion was a little rushed, and could have been more fully fleshed out, in the scenes following the defeat of the Jumbies. That said, I did finish this one wanting more, which is surely a sign of a story well told! Recommended to anyone looking for middle-grade fantasy in general, or middle-grade fiction with a Caribbean cultural background specifically. show less

That was a fun ride. I loved the folk lore riff and how the baddies were bad and not crazy watered down for middle grade. Good audio, too. Realized a little way in that Robin Miles also read [b: Cleopatra|7968243|Cleopatra A Life|Stacy Schiff|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1294098301s/7968243.jpg|12020129], which I also enjoyed...will keep on the lookout for her. I wouldn't mind checking out the sequel.

I love reading folklore from around the world. What I enjoyed almost as much as reading the book was research what Jumbies are and where they come from. I did this shortly after I started the book. I had not heard of them before. Knowing a little bit about them before I started the book made it that much better. Reading this book was a treat for the senses. The world building is so good you can visualize it. You can almost taste the oranges. You are right there with Corinne. This is just creepy enough to pull the reader in and hold them in the world. The author surrounds the main character with other characters who have their own issues. They find themselves a lot stronger working together. This is a common theme in middle grade books. show more
Every culture has their “boogie man” that parents use to warn their children to be good. Children are taught about the evil Jumbies. Corinne doesn’t believe in these magical creatures. But like all good creepy stories the main character will soon have to change their opinion. I began this book during the evening my husband was out moving his bees. I quickly decided this was a book I needed to read during the day. That is something that is an awesome sign for me. It means that the book is so good and creepy that I will want to get a good start real early the next morning. Each Jumbie has its own creep factor that made this so original and such a great read. Books like this one are the reason I prefer reading middle grade fiction. This is now one of my favorite authors. show less

I wanted so badly to love this the way I loved [b:Akata Witch|7507944|Akata Witch (Akata Witch, #1)|Nnedi Okorafor|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347794798s/7507944.jpg|9695029]. MG fantasies based on fairy tales or folk tales are very much in my wheelhouse, and so much the better when they give me the opportunity to explore a non-European culture through its tales. Not to mention that my community has a large Caribbean population, and I was beyond excited to be able to give them a folk tale mirror in the form of a novel their classmates would also want to read.

There's a lot that's good here: moments of genuine creepiness, villains who may just be trying to save their own home, a heroine whose heroism lies in bridging the gap between show more "us" and "them."

But the magic just never worked for me. This is a "kid figuring out her special powers of specialness" book, which starts us off on the wrong foot. (More than it will for most kids, to be fair.) But I'm willing to go with it if the magic is thematically consistent and characters have to work for their power. More than once, Corinne did something seemingly nonsensical that turned out to have magical significance (like taking the bit of Dru's mother's sari and burying it by her mother's tree) -- or else did something that seemed to have magical significance but never really did (like making the wax figure of her mother, or letting her tears fall on the seed).

The writing needs to be tighter overall. Characters seemed to forget what they knew or had already told each other, which sometimes led to redundant conversations and sometimes to a character being sure of something she had never been told. I did a lot of flipping back and forth to answer, "Wait, how did she know that?", and was usually unsatisfied.

The use of multiple perspectives contributed to this problem. Mostly the story was Corinne's, but occasionally we'd see a chapter through the witch's eyes or Severine's. It was like the author couldn't figure out how to convey their motivations without outright telling us through internal monologue. They were interesting characters -- more interesting than Corinne, honestly -- so it could have worked if Baptiste had really owned the multiple-POV choice with more frequently alternating chapters, but the way it was executed felt a bit lazy.

I feel like I've been overprescribing editing lately, but these seem like partly editing problems. There's a very good book in here, but the structural issues don't let it shine through. (Not to mention enough copyediting mistakes to distract me. I'm sure addictive vices can be very gripping, but you grip someone like a vise.)

I'm so glad this book exists, and will gladly give it to kids to see what they think. It's an unintimidating length, with a gorgeous cover featuring a girl of color, and it certainly isn't bad. I just wish it had been better. show less

The jumbies have been on the island since before people were even dreamed of, but when the people arrived, they pushed the jumbies inland, into the forest. Corinne doesn't believe in the jumbies; they're just stories grown-ups tell kids to scare them. At least, she doesn't believe in them...until she sees one, and it follows her out of the forest and begins to make all kinds of trouble for Corinne, her Papa, and the villagers. Corinne has to set it right, and with the help of her friends and a white witch, she sets out rescue her Papa and the rest of the village from the clutches of the jumbies and Severine, the worst of them all.

Dedicated in part to "all the children of the Caribbean (no matter your age). See, you have fairy tales show more too." In the author's note, she says that The Jumbies is inspired by the Haitian folktale "The Magic Orange Tree."

Quotes

"Everybody thinks they need magic. Everybody wants answers....They want magic from nothing. Magic doesn't come from nothing. It comes from somewhere. And it isn't so extraordinary. It's just work. It's just using your head and your heart." (the witch to Corinne and her friends, 164)

"You must have made her strong. Mothers are like that. Their children strengthen them." (witch to Corinne, 166) show less

Corinne La Mer does not scare easily...at least that is what she believes. She definitely does not believe in the legend of the jumbies. That is until she sees a pair of yellow eyes in the forest which makes her question everything she believes in. The jumbies are a local legend based on a Caribbean folktale. Corinne soon becomes more and more suspicious of the legend itself, of the mysterious woman who begins coming to the market, of her own mother's history and where Corinne actually belongs. This is an exciting novel that while a bit reaching at times, however it is based on a folktale so nothing is too out of bounds, manages to capture the essence of a creepy tale, the power of magical possibilities, and what the love of family show more could overcome.

This modern day folktale which takes place on an island would be a great addition to any lesson unit looking for a "fresh twist" on an older folktale which will resonate with and engage readers. I would like to see students write a story with their own twist on a classic folktale of their choice, or maybe a different ending to this book. I would also like to incorporate a quiz at the end of this unit to make sure students understood the text. show less