Kirkus Reviews' Best YA Books of 2018 That Feed Imaginations
The stories in Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky trace the history of the world from its beginnings in the dreams of the dual god, Ometeotl, to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in Mexico and the fall of the great city Tenochtitlan. In the course of that history we learn about the Creator Twins-Feathered Serpent and Dark Heart of Sky-and how they built the world on a leviathan's back; of the shape-shifting nahualli; and the aluxes, elfish beings known to help out the occasional wanderer. And finally, we read Aztec tales about the arrival of the blonde strangers from across the sea, the strangers who seek to upend the rule of Motecuhzoma and destroy the very stories we are reading.
David Bowles stitches together the fragmented mythology of pre-Colombian Mexico into an exciting, unified narrative in the tradition of William Buck's Ramayana, Robert Fagles's Iliad, and Neil Gaiman's Norse Myths. Readers of Norse and Greek mythologies will delight in this rich retelling of stories less explored.
Legends and myths captured David Bowles's imagination as a young Latino reader; he was fascinated with epics like the Iliad and the Odyssey. Despite growing up on the United States/Mexico border, he had never read a single Aztec or Mayan myth until he was in college. This experience inspired him to reconnect with that forgotten past. Several of his previous books have incorporated themes from ancient Mexican myths.
Industry Reviews
"Strange and yet familiar, comforting and also inspiring, David Bowles' Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky brings Mesoamerican mythology to vivid life. A D'Aulaire' Book of Greek Myths for the twenty-first century, kids and adults will be left in awe."-Adam Gidwitz, author of the Newbery-Honor winning The Inquisitor's Tale
"An important, well-written, and compelling text that teaches us about a lost history and the rich and too often forgotten magic of various groups like the Aztec, Maya, and Toltecs. "-J.C. Cervantes, author of The Storm Runner
"Mexican-American Pura Belpre honoree David Bowles brings his passion and expertise to this new compilation of mythological tales from Mexico ... Despite the darkness that pervades most of the tales, Bowles' dense yet lyrical prose raises the narrative to a level suited to high mythological tradition and illuminates the foundations on which contemporary Mexican culture is laid."- Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
"A masterful storyteller, Bowles packs the richness of the Mesoamerican cosmos into every sentence, bringing to vivid life ancient characters who are by turns funny, heartbreaking, lovable, grotesque, and venerable. ... Bowles's Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky will be crucial to Mesoamerican literary and cultural studies as well as important to Mexican and Mexican American rediscoveries of effaced pasts for many years to come. Scholars and readers of mythology and folklore: add this to the classics."- World Literature Today
"An excellent resource for those interested in exploring epic tales, world mythologies, history and culture of Mexico. Highly recommended for students, teachers, historians and storytellers."-Reading Style, Barbara Moon
"David Bowles' Feathered Serpent / Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico deserves to be a bestseller for all the right reasons: accessible, informative, essential."-La Bloga
"While certainly a treasure trove for storytellers, this is also highly valuable as a classroom resource for units on Mesoamerican history or examinations of how a place's myths are inherently linked to its history."-Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
