Guarda el secreto. (Keep the Secret)
Reviewed by Roxanne Landin, Fremont Area District Library, Fremont, MI -- Críticas, 9/15/2008
Zubizarreta, Patxi.
tr. by Manu López Gaseni. illus. by Elena Odriozola. Spain: Anaya. 2008. 215p. ISBN 978-84-667-6274-8. $36.95.
Gr 3-5–Joana and her family live in a house with Graciana, their third floor neighbor, who is rather strange. Joana’s brother Miguel doesn’t believe in witches, but after an incident involving his neighbor, he’s not so sure anymore. Joana visits Graciana often, and the latter tells the former many extraordinary tales that she asks her not to share. Each one contains a lesson for Joana, and is perfectly complemented by the beautiful, full-color illustrations interspersed throughout the book. The tales also include strange rhymes that bear an uncanny similarity to spells. Even while sharing everything with her friend Joana, Graciana never openly admits to being a witch; instead she tells Joana that she must “keep the secret” for reasons to be revealed at the end of the book. Joana is a likeable character, which makes it easy to understand why Graciana would be drawn to her and be willing to reveal her secret, and the two would become friends. While not a necessary purchase, fantasy fans will enjoy the stories told by Graciana and the overall eerie feel of the book (the subtitle of which is “A Witch’s Manual”); recommended for libraries with larger Spanish-language collections. [Don’t miss our Halloween Roundup.—Ed.].
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