Two children briefly enter the magical world of surrealistic
painter Frida Kahlo in this latest title of the Art Encounters
series. Searching for their mother, Maria and Victor arrive in
Mexico City on the same day in 1939 that artist Diego Rivera's
divorce from Kahlo is finalized. As the homeless children fall prey
to an engaging street thief named Oswaldo, Kahlo returns to Casa
Azul where she sinks into deep despair, alarming her fantastical
companions. Maria and Victor wonder if Oswaldo is friend or foe
while Kahlo wonders how she will survive without Rivera as she
struggles to complete her strange Self-Portrait with Monkey and
Hummingbird. Fate brings the children to Casa Azul where they
experience Kahlo's enchanted environment and learn that "life must
always be a balance between joy and sorrow." Although there is just
too much going on here, Hill's blend of realism, fantasy and Aztec
myth nicely mirrors Kahlo's surreal juxtaposition of real and
unreal in her lifelong attempt to paint her own reality. Magical
realism from cover to cover. (notes, biographical timeline,
suggested reading) (Historical fiction. 12+) (Kirkus Reviews)
Art Encounters is a wonderful new fiction series designed to
introduce young readers to great painters. This series brings
famous works of art to life through thrilling and evocative stories
that reflect the individual paintings featured, not unlike The Girl
with a Pearl Earring. Each book in the series will focus on the
style, techniques, and influences of great painters. Over the
course of the book, the cover painting, Self-Portrait with Thorn
Necklace and Hummingbird, transforms from a nightmarish vision of
death into a life-affirming masterpiece. The story alternates
between Kahlo's home in Mexico City, Casa Azul, and the journey of
a teenage girl and her young brother, lost in the city. At the
mystical Casa Azul, everything with a face talks, including Kahlo's
pet monkey, her cat, and even the portraits on the wall. And
everything has an opinion about how Kahlo should be running her
life, especially since it's in shambles after her divorce from
Diego Rivera. Guided by her odd friends, she helps the
children--and slowly regains her will to live and to create. This
dramatic story offers a vivid re-imagining of the life and work of
a woman as well known for her amazing life as for her amazing art.
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