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    The Land of Forgotten Girls
    The Land of Forgotten Girls
    The Land of Forgotten Girls
    Audiobook5 hours

    The Land of Forgotten Girls

    Written by Erin Entrada Kelly

    Narrated by Lulu Lam

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    In this acclaimed novel from Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly, two sisters from the Philippines, abandoned by their father and living in impoverished circumstances in Louisiana, fight to make their lives better.

    School Library Journal called The Land of Forgotten Girls “A charming and affecting novel about sisterhood, the magic of imagination, and perseverance.” For readers of Pam Muñoz Ryan, Rita Williams-Garcia, and anyone searching for the true meaning of family. Winner of a Parents’ Choice Gold Award.

    Soledad has always been able to escape into the stories she creates. Just like her mother always could. And Soledad has needed that escape more than ever in the five years since her mother and sister died, and her father moved Sol and her youngest sister from the Philippines to Louisiana. After her father leaves, all Sol and Ming have is their evil stepmother, Vea. Sol has protected Ming all this time, but then Ming begins to believe that Auntie Jove—their mythical, world-traveling aunt—is really going to come rescue them. Can Sol protect Ming from this impossible hope?

    Acclaimed and award-winning author Erin Entrada Kelly writes masterfully about the challenges of finding hope in impossible circumstances, in this novel that will appeal to fans of Cynthia Kadohata and Thanhha Lai.

    Booklist said, “Kelly’s sophomore novel is both hopeful and heartfelt, but strong emotions are only part of the successful equation here. Told in Sol’s true voice, the direct dialogue brings the diverse characters to vivid life.”

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 1, 2016
    ISBN9780062448194
    Author

    Erin Entrada Kelly

    Erin Entrada Kelly was awarded the Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe and a Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space. She grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and now lives in Delaware. She is a professor of children’s literature in the graduate fiction and publishing programs at Rosemont College, where she earned her MFA, and is on the faculty at Hamline University. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Philippines Free Press Literary Award for Short Fiction and the Pushcart Prize. Before becoming a children’s author, Erin worked as a journalist and magazine editor and received numerous awards for community service journalism, feature writing, and editing from the Louisiana Press Association and the Associated Press. Erin Entrada Kelly’s debut novel, Blackbird Fly, was a Kirkus Best Book, a School Library Journal Best Book, an ALSC Notable Book, and an Asian/Pacific American Literature Honor Book. She is also the author of The Land of Forgotten Girls, winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature; You Go First, a Spring 2018 Indie Next Pick; Lalani of the Distant Sea, an Indie Next Pick; Those Kids from Fawn Creek, named to numerous best-of-the-year lists; and three acclaimed novels for younger readers, Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey, Surely Surely Marisol Rainey, and Only Only Marisol Rainey, which she also illustrated. She lives in Delaware.

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    Reviews for The Land of Forgotten Girls

    4/5

    70 ratings9 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Soledad and her little sister Dominga moved to America with their father and stepmother, but their father went back to the Philippines for a visit and never returned. Now Sol and Ming live in a small apartment with their abusive stepmother. Ming hopes for rescue by Aunt Jovelyn, an imaginary relative that their mother used to tell them stories about, but Sol knows that the two of them will have to save themselves. Can she find a way to make Ming's summer magical?This story has some lovely elements, like the relationship between the sisters, but it never completely came together for me. There were jumps in the plot that had me going back to see if I missed something, and threads were left dangling that I wanted to see tied up. It's a promising novel, and readers looking for stories with diverse protagonists should keep it in mind, but I wouldn't recommend it across the board.
    • 3/5
      I'm not the intended audience, and I found this book more depressing than uplifting. Points for finding realistic ways for kids to cope in terrible situations. Points for teaching acceptance, compassion, kindness. Points for a strong moral compass and Filipina characters. Points for main character who isn't interested in romance and doesn't let herself be pressured. Lots and lots of good themes, but I prefer escapism.
    • 5/5
      I adored sisters Sol and Ming, how close they are, how they’re all each other has, how much of the book Sol devotes to trying to make things better for her little sister. Their life with their stepmother may be thoroughly upsetting but the bond between these girls was never anything less than heartwarming. I wasn’t much of a fan of Manny, I get that he has a crush on his friend Sol but I didn’t love the way he expressed it a lot of the time. I did however enjoy Sol’s other friendship with Caroline. They meet due to something terrible Sol does and I’m sure there will be readers against Sol receiving a second chance from Caroline and who find it highly unlikely they’d form a friendship after what happened, but I thought the unlikelihood of their friendship was actually part of its charm, there was something hopeful in these girls overcoming that horrible beginning, in Caroline finding it in her to forgive, in Sol finding someone she could open up to rather than take her pain out on, and in both of them feeling a little less alone.I guess that unlikely label applies to other aspects of this story, too, to one of the adults seemingly turning a corner, to another adult sticking their neck out for these sisters, another adult doing Sol a kindness for no reason other than he could. I guess things like that probably don’t happen all that often in actual life, sisters in Sol and Ming’s position maybe wouldn’t encounter goodness as often as they ultimately do here, but much like Sol and Caroline’s friendship, it’s comforting to read about such things and hope that maybe once in a while it works out like this in the real world.
    • 5/5
      This brought me to tears.I confess, that I was skeptical at first. When I read a book told in first person, one of the main things I expect is that I will like the narrator. But as the book begins, Soledad isn't very likable. She can be a bully. She steals. Her best friend is also a bully who steals... but as the book moved along I grew to love Soledad anyway.Soledad Madrid and her little sister, Ming, live with a truly cruel and abusive stepmother, in a slum housing project in Louisiana. Her environment is not one that is likely to bring about sweet, kind, lovable children. As we move through the story though, Soledad's true, inner spirit begins to show, more and more. And by the end of the book, I loved her. All of her many problems are not magically solved. (spoiler alert) At the end of the book, she and her sister still live in the slums with an abusive stepmother. But there is hope. And somehow, we are left feeling that in spite of it all, the two girls will grow up to be all right in the end.And I particularly loved two of the adult secondary characters, "Blackbeard," the terrifying owner of a junkyard, and Mrs. Yueng, an elderly Chinese woman who barely knows any English at all.I loved this book!
    • 4/5
      A story about two sisters that find themselves with a stepmother in a new country, told from the perspective of the older sister.This book feels both realistic and fantastical. The situation of the two sisters feels almost of a fairy tale scope but yet is also completely plausible, and the narrative details from Sol (the older sister) vary between her thoughts on the past and present, and on truth and story. Ming (the younger sister) seems to live everything at once.I'm not sure where to place this book, emotionally. Sol doesn't like their situation, but she manages it. It didn't come off to me as overly stressful or sad, or even all that tense as Sol's narrative addresses these moments with directness and honesty. Racism and bias appears throughout the book on the part of many characters, and directed in some different ways as assumptions are made based on appearance and behavior. In this way, it makes bias feel like a problem that can show up in any person and no just on the part of one particular group or type of people.On the whole, it's a good book and very much worth reading.
    • 4/5
      The Land of Forgotten Girls is the story of Soledad Madrid and her little sister, Dominga. It tells of their loss, hurts, and triumphs. The girls came to America from the Philippines with their father and stepmother after the deaths of their mother and sister. Their father soon abandons them to the “care” of their stepmother, and goes back to the Philippines. Except for some flashbacks, the story takes place after this incident, and focuses on the abuse experienced by Sol and Ming at the hands of their stepmother, Vea, and how they cope with a world that seems uncaring. I appreciate this book because the author didn’t shy away from portraying the physical or emotional abuse the girls experienced. Many feel that children need to be shielded from realistic portrayals of mistreatment, but it’s important for children to be able to recognize abuse when they see it. Outside this, the story was interesting and fun. The characters are well-drawn. My only issue is that the ending is wrapped up a little too neatly, but considering that it’s a book intended for pre-teens, that is a flaw that can be overlooked.
    • 4/5
      When Sol's dad loses his wife shortly after losing his 2nd daughter, he decides to move from the Philippines to Louisiana and remarry someone to take care of his other two daughters. He abandons Sol and her little sister Ming to wicked stepmother Vea. Although they live in poverty, Sol keeps Ming's life bearable with fairytales and make-believe and stands in as her second mother. Sol starts to worry when Ming is convinced her make-believe aunt is coming on June 3rd to take her away to a nicer life. Then as fate would have it, people in the community start stepping in to protect the girls and make their lives a little bit better. Is there really a land for forgotten girls where everything is perfect? This book makes for a good discussion for grades 4-6, including abuse and is it okay to steal when you are in need.
    • 3/5
      Sol and her little sister Ming live in small-town Louisiana with their cruel stepmother. Their father went back to visit the Philippines and never came back. In the years after her baby sister's death and then her mother's, Sol is adrift. She falls back on her mother's love of fairy tales and imaginary play to escape her dreary life and protect Ming. I am glad to see another children's title featuring Filipino protagonists. Beyond her cultural identity though, Sol's sense of disconnect is a universal story that is emotionally complex.
    • 2/5
      Sol and he younger sister have suffered much loss in their short lives. Their sister drowned at age 4 and their mother died of an undisclosed reason within a year. Their papa promptly remarries and moves to the US where the family settles in Louisiana. The stepmother turns out to be an abusive chain smoking shrew and the papa abandons the children and returns to the Philippines. The story is told over the course of one sweltering hot summer. Before her death the girl's mother used stories to entertain and engage the girls in an enchanted world of possibility. Sol now uses the same strategy to help her baby sister cope with the difficulties of their circumstances. The book is relatively short and there isn't time to develop the potentially interesting characters who populate Sol's world. This was disappointing - I would have liked to have known them better, I think it would have made for a more satisfying story. These characters include the Mexican best friend and would-be boyfriend, the rich girl with albinism who Sol befriends, the ancient Chinese woman with no friends or family, and the seemingly crazed junkyard owner with a talent for making miniatures in bottle.