The Mirror Season (Paperback)
Staff Reviews
A modern, queer, pastry-filled retelling of “The Snow Queen” that handles sexual assault, coping with trauma, and recovering yourself with absolute delicacy and honesty. It's a must-read. Anna-Marie’s work to reimagine fairy tales with queer, Latinx representation is genuinely splendid. In this latest marvel, they weave together environmental commentary with flora turning to mirrors; intersperse recovering painful memories with gentle waves of pastry magic; explore and condemn white, heteronormative privilege; challenge the stigmas against male victims; and illuminate robust female relationships. All of this in their distinctively luscious writing creates an absolute powerhouse novel.
— From AshleighDescription
"An unforgettable story of trauma and healing, told in achingly beautiful prose with great tenderness and care." —#1 New York Times-bestselling author Karen M. McManus
When two teens discover that they were both sexually assaulted at the same party, they develop a cautious friendship through her family’s possibly-magical pastelería, his secret forest of otherworldly trees, and the swallows returning to their hometown, in Anna-Marie McLemore's The Mirror Season...
Graciela Cristales’ whole world changes after she and a boy she barely knows are assaulted at the same party. She loses her gift for making enchanted pan dulce. Neighborhood trees vanish overnight, while mirrored glass appears, bringing reckless magic with it. And Ciela is haunted by what happened to her, and what happened to the boy whose name she never learned.
But when the boy, Lock, shows up at Ciela’s school, he has no memory of that night, and no clue that a single piece of mirrored glass is taking his life apart. Ciela decides to help him, which means hiding the truth about that night. Because Ciela knows who assaulted her, and him. And she knows that her survival, and his, depend on no one finding out what really happened.
About the Author
Anna-Marie McLemore was born in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and taught by their family to hear la llorona in the Santa Ana winds. They are the author of The Weight of Feathers, a 2016 William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist; 2017 Stonewall Honor Book When the Moon Was Ours, which was longlisted for the National Book Award in Young People's Literature; Wild Beauty, a Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Booklist best book of 2017; Blanca & Roja, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice; Dark and Deepest Red, a Winter 2020 Indie Next List title; and The Mirror Season, which was longlisted for the National Book Award in Young People's Literature.
Praise For…
Praise for The Mirror Season:
"McLemore whips up a magical realist tale as spellbinding as the pan dulce creations described within this novel’s pages...With haunting prose and sharp insight, McLemore expertly combines the piquant with the sweet." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Aching, vivid narrative...The poetic and vulnerable prose illuminates the need for more open conversation about sexuality, consent, and abuse without the limits of the gender binary...Piercing magic." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"An unforgettable story of trauma and healing, told in achingly beautiful prose with great tenderness and care." —Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying
"A powerful, harrowing, and important story about trauma, identity, taking back power and the redemptive nature of healing. These characters will stay with me forever. An absolute must read." —Aisha Saeed, New York Times-bestselling author of Amal Unbound and Yes No Maybe So
Praise for Dark and Deepest Red:
"McLemore weaves another magic spell ... This novel will leave an indelible mark on readers' hearts."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"McLemore fashions another gorgeous novel...McLemore’s well-choreographed story will dance on in readers’ minds." —Booklist, starred review
“One of the most beautiful books I’ve read in years. McLemore is a master." —Susan Dennard, New York Times–bestselling author of the Witchlands series