Solimar: The Sword of Monarchs
By: Pam Muñoz Ryan / Narrated By: Franchesca Agramonte
Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
Liked this from the first Listen!
Dunno what it is about Pam Muñoz Ryan, but it usually takes me a couple o’ Listens before I grok her work and actually Like something. The fabulous Esperanza Rising? Twice. First Listen, I pretty much wanted to throttle Esperanza, like, for the danged near entirety of the audiobook. Second Listen, loved it. Thought it was lyrically written, grand character arcs, true to History accounts of life for immigrants working the fields during the Great Depression.
Echo? Have yet to review it cuz it’s like this, see: I staaaarted listening to it, and then I dozed off about a third of the way through. Next thing I know? I’m wiping drool from m’ cheek and my phone says I’ve Finished the book. Soooo, it’ll OBVIOUSLY be at leeeaast one more attempt before I can get a handle on that particular Listen.
So imagine my surprise when I listened to Solimar and was engaged from the get-go and was giving tiny >huzzahs< the whole time: Yesss, a heroine for all girls to aspire to be. That she’s Mexican? Huzzah. That she eschews wearing her hair long, favoring closely cropped curls instead? Huzzah. That with her Quinceañera coming up, she’s a trifle twitchy that she’ll have to switch out her beloved scuffy runabout boots for the sandal-ish heels of a young woman? Huzzah Huzzah HU-Freaking-ZZAH!
Solimar is a 14-going-on-15-year old girl who’s as intelligent and as impetuous as they come, living life to its fullest, seizing the moment, you name it, and our young heroine is THERE. At the opening, she’s crossing water to see the first of the monarch butterflies that her homeland is known for. This act, unbeknownst to her, puts her in a certain spot at juuuust the riiiiight moment to be gifted knowledge of what will happen in the near future. -Plus- it has made her completely the protector of young and weak butterflies.
On the eve of her Quinceañera and her coronation, a trip made by her father and brother leaves the kingdom unprotected. Solimar’s remaining family and the villagers are taken hostage by an avaricious king from nearby who is desperate to buy up the land for logging/timber purposes. This would wipe out the butterflies, and only Solimar’s Abuela’s quick thinking saves Solimar from their fate.
It’s off to warn her father and brother, to save the kingdom and the surrounding kingdoms, and then we’re off on tales of terror and near-misses. A few wonderful characters are created, there’s magic and fantasy interwoven within the story as it unfolds, and things just wrap up in a wonderfully satisfying manner.
At first I thought narrator Franchesca Agramonte’s voice would have me clawing my ears off. She sounds like she has a stuffy nose, plus her pacing was a trifle slow, making this seem as tho’ delivered to a truly young audience. Well, the story crafting took care of the first issue as I was far too into the story to worry about nasal woes. And slightly jacking up m’ usual Listening speed took care of the second issue. Then too, I reminded myself that, believe it or not? Not EVERYthing is about meeeeee! Why, p’raps Solimar WAS intended for a bit of a younger audience, say, young girls who neeeed AWEsome role models to navigate Life. Imagine that!!!
I must say that I’m MUCH relieved to say that Muñoz Ryan is part-Mexican, so I do NOT feel all twitchy knee jerk bad about including her works for Hispanic Heritage Month. Surely Esperanza and Solimar are beYONd wonderful depictions of courageous young Mexican teen women, so there’s that. It’s just that I’d liked both works well enough that I hit Wikipedia earlier and discovered that Muñoz Ryan was actually named Pamela Jeanne Banducci… yikes! Her name was changed to Pamela Bell before school, but alas, Wikipedia is entirely lacking in where-all the Muñoz came from.
So there you go, my shock for the day, with some mulling over, finally ending with a gratitude-laden thanks to her for wonderful books.
Tiny >huzzahs<, anyone? Or maybe a mighty HUZZAH!!! esPECially considering how much MORE I’ll Like Solimar for that inevitable Second Listen!
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