To Bloom Where You Are Planted...

There is no question about the value of picture book biographies based on solid research written to inform and connect with the reader; illustrations evoking a culture, a historical climate and the person's place in each of those.  In the space of thirty-two pages a masterful author and illustrator can focus on the significant events of the selected individual's life making their struggles and triumphs relevant and timeless for any age.  It is the person who we may think has the least in common with us that is the most similar.

In May of 1962 a man who lived sixty years, born in 1579, was canonized, the first black saint in the Americas.  Author Gary D. Schmidt, two time Newbery Award Honor winner, and illustrator David Diaz, winner of the 1995 Caldecott Medal, compliment and enhance each other's skills in the summer 2012 release of Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert (Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).  This is a life to be remembered, a life which can give hope to many.

Anna Velazquez hurried out of the barrios of Lima and onto the plaza.  She carried a quiet baby, wrapped closely so that no one could see him---but no one was looking.

This woman, a freed African slave, is making her way to the cathedral to seek baptism for her child.  The boy's father, a Spanish nobleman, is not present.  Not pleased with this the priest nevertheless completes the christening.

Living in the abject poverty of the barrios of Lima, Peru, Martin and his younger sister Juana are haunted by hunger and illness until at the age of eight his father, Don Juan de Porres took them both to Ecuador.  Several years later back in Lima Martin becomes the apprentice of a cirujano, a type of doctor, per his father's arrangements.  It is during this time Martin's gifts begin to shine; his healing abilities, his capacity to make things grow quickly and well.

Due to his race, Martin is not allowed to study to be a Dominican brother but at the age of fifteen he is allowed to enter the monastery to serve the others doing menial tasks; sweeping and washing floors, cutting hair, opening doors and cleaning baths.  Father Lorenzana realizes through tales being told that Martin is no ordinary young man; his talents are increasing.  Martin's devotion to healing people in the barrios, spreading to include people from all walks of life, becomes legendary as does his care for dogs.  

Within thirteen years that which was written was broken.  Miracles multiplied; being seen in two places at once, candle-carrying angels lighting his way and those trees he planted bore fruit all year long.  In 1639 voices floated from the monastery to be joined by voices in the streets of Lima, a Mother's belief, "He is a rose in the desert." was no longer blooming.

There is a particular, unique, quality to the writing of Gary D. Schmidt; drawing readers into a place so completely you believe you are there.  The easy flow of his narrative mirrors the spare life of Martin de Porres but there is also an undercurrent of richness to be felt in the telling, a richness revealed and received by all whose lives were touched by Martin de Porres.  Schmidt's technique of repeating what the slave boys, Spanish royals and priests see and say in a given set of circumstances places emphasis on the class differences but also highlights the faith of each, their willingness to believe.  It strengthens the importance of the saint's beginnings and the obstacles overcome to do what he did.

A young Martin de Porres simply clothed as a servant of the Dominican brothers surrounded by shades of green and followed by the smallest of creatures (spread across the front and back jacket and cover) begins the tale of a quiet, servant who rose to miraculous achievements.  Opening and closing endpapers, a vibrant but soft shade of rose, encase the mixed media illustrations of David Diaz. An older Martin head bowed, a golden-orange glow framing his face graces the title page. 

All the pictures span two pages with the text set in various spots; never a distraction but a part of each.  On three of the visuals smaller illustrations showcase a particular part in the retelling; a baptismal font, a lemon tree and a rose. The color palette, the shades of green, blue, red, gold and brown, simply glow.      Perhaps my favorite illustration of all is Martin moving through the arched cathedral hallways at night, two angels flying by his side, lanterns in hand, as he carries bread to feed to the poor, a dog walking by his side.

With the richness of Gary D. Schmidt's writing matched by the peaceful, luminosity of David Diaz's illustrations, Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert is picture book perfection, a biography to be relished repeatedly.  Readers young and old alike will be able to identify with the barriers Martin faced in his life but can also take heart in knowing barriers can be surmounted in more ways than one.

Please follow the link embedded in Gary D. Schmidt's name to view his website.  This is a link to a Scholastic interview of David Diaz.  

Beyond The Milky Way

Before beginning a review I always go over my marked passages, reread favorite dialogue or gaze in wonder at the illustrations rendered. It says something about the strength of a particular title when perusing, you find yourself again caught up in the story.  Before you know it, a second reading, within a few days of the first, becomes a necessity.

Also noteworthy is if the author has stepped out of their usual mold to venture into another genre and has done it with complete success.  That is the mark of a magician with words; an incredibly skilled artist.  What Came From The Stars (Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) written by Gary D. Schmidt is such a book.

More miles away in space than our minds can imagine is a place, the home of the Ethelim.  Watching over these people are the Valorim but their days are numbered.  A darkness led by the black-hearted Lord Mondus fueled by the masses of the faceless O'Mondim and a few traitorous Valorim, has spread across the land, is breaching the stronghold called Reced.  Only Young Waeglim remains working with an urgency at the tower forge as the battle rages.  He forms a chain of green and silver binding within it all the stories and thoughts from the hearts of the Valorium, the Art of the Valorium, and sends it traveling forth into the starry expanse.

The necklace lands in the most unlikely of places, the Ace Robotroid Adventures lunch box of a sixth grader at William Bradford Elementary School located in the Milky Way galaxy, in a Solar System circling a Sun, on a planet known as Earth on the North American continent in the town of Plymouth located in the state of Massachusetts.  Tommy, the owner of the lunch box, has problems of his own.  It's been less than a year since the death of his mother; his father no longer paints and his sister no longer talks.  A real estate developer, mother of Cheryl Lynn Lumpkin, school bully, plots to acquire their home on the sands along the ocean for a condominium project.

During a rather embarrassing moment in the school cafeteria, Tommy discovers the necklace placing it around his neck.  Without any conscience thought, the power of this talisman begins to work.  Tommy knows things he shouldn't know, he can do things he should not be able to do, he speaks words from no known language and he creates a creature in the sand, giving it life.

Back among the Ethelim Lord Mondus covets the Art of the Valorium; singing and sending a song out into the vast universe hoping for an answer.  Along the sea in Plymouth strangers arrive, one of darkness and the other of light.  Unusual storms pound the community as fear strikes every heart; someone is breaking into homes, destroying them and leaving the foul stench of rotten seaweed.

Running parallel to the mounting tension in Tommy's community are plans for rebellion among the Ethelim who can no longer tolerate living in constant oppression.  Battles must be fought. Two worlds hang in balance needing a twelve year old boy to conquer his fear, grief and to do what he believes is right.

To spin this tale Gary D. Schmidt begins with a chapter written in the tongue of an ancient language much like storytellers of old, painting a picture of Weoruld Ethelim.  In the following chapter he transitions into modern day Massachusetts with the present day vernacular of middle school students, parents, teachers and community members.  His mastery at moving the story between the two worlds in alternating chapters is a marvel.

In speaking of the Ethelim it's as if we readers are sitting around a campfire listening to an epic story unfold; one which has been passed on from generation to generation.  It is his command of language, his ability to not only understand human emotion but to convey that understanding through his characters to his readers, that acts as the bridge. Each of the many characters contributes an integral part, whether small or large, to the overall narrative.

Patty, Tommy's younger sister, a student in first grade, conveys through her eyes and gestures a full range of feelings.  Three of Tommy's classmates, football loving, James Sullivan, accordion playing, Patrick Belknap, stand-tall, inquisitive Alice Winslow are the best kind of friends to have.  The adults depict the range of people anyone, anywhere might be likely to discover.  That's what I love about Gary D. Schmidt; his ability to cover a full spectrum of personalities and to weave them together in a fascinating whole.

Here are a few selected passages.  It was very hard to choose which to include.

And when Young Waeglim would not reveal where he had sent the Art of the Valorium, the Lord Mondus imprisoned him deep beneath the Reced, where the Twin Suns never shone, where the soft moonlight of spinning Hreth never glimmered.  Young Waeglim did not tremble at his lonely doom, but as he was carried down from the Tower, lower and lower into the depths of the Reced, his eyes searched out each window, as if he might take within himself its light.  And when he came at last to the final pane, then it was that Young Waeglim burst upon the O'Mondim with the might of twelve, and more than a few of the Faceless would never again feel the covering of the cool sea.

Alice Winslow and Tommy and Patty had eaten five elephant ears between them--which they figured was probably more than they should have---and heard the Foxboro Fiddlers perform with their star fiddler fiddling behind his back, and the Andrew Sisters Redux sing a medley of World War II top hits, before James Sullivan found them.
"Am I too late?" he said.
"For what?" said Tommy.
"Belknap."
They looked at him.
"Belknap is playing today."
"Playing what?" said Tommy.
"His accordion."
"In front of everyone?" said Alice Winslow.
"No, he's going to wait until everyone leaves," said James Sullivan.
"That might not be a bad idea," said Tommy.

Schmidt extends his adeptness to the last syllable in the last two chapters tying Tommy's Plymouth, Massachusetts to the Ethelim.  But he does not stop with those two chapters.  He includes a glossary of words spoken by Tommy under the power of the necklace written by Alice Winslow with help from their teacher, Mr. Burroughs.  It is in the final defining sentence that this extraordinary author reveals what I believe is at the center of this story and all his work.

What Came From The Stars by Gary D. Schmidt is high fantasy at its absolute best.  Finely, defined characters, the blending of two worlds galaxies apart, the pure of heart versus the wicked and soulless, journeys by thought and journeys of healing all combine to keep the reader riveted to the pages.  This story soars into the heavens.

I want to leave you with one final thought.  At the 2012 Summer Conference of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Martha Brockenbrough, author of Devine Intervention (reviewed here) sent a tweet out to her followers on Twitter.  When listening to Gary D. Schmidt speak she said--When Gary Schmidt talks, it feels like your heart is being gently held in someone else's miraculous hands.  

I couldn't have said it better myself.