Teen Tuesday: Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older

Image: Scholastic Inc.

Happy Tuesday! I hope you got a glimpse of that beautiful Harvest Moon last night along with Jupiter shining brightly! If not, it sure was beautiful setting at 5AM. The constellation Orion can be seen in the early mornings now.

Teen Tuesday continues celebrating Latinx Heritage Month featuring Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older. Shadowshaper is book one of the Shadowshaper Cypher series. It is an urban fantasy set in a quickly gentrifying Brooklyn. Sierra Santiago is an artist whose summer vacation plans include parties at night and painting a protest mural high up on a wall of a neighborhood building by day. While painting, she notices another mural of a neighborhood artist was changing and that the artist in the painting appeared to be in pain and crying. Then, aging shadowshapers begin to die.

The pace is fast and compelling, but not at the expense of world building and character development. Sierra and her friends and family are fully realized as is her Brooklyn neighborhood.

Shadowshaper was Mr. Older's debut and landed with a splash. It was named a Kirkus Finalist, a New York Times Notable Children's book, an NPR Best Book of the Year and a Publisher's Weekly Best Book.