In Manila, a mute boy named Noland makes shimmering paper lanterns and sells them at a busy intersection near the slums where he lives with his mother. He has the help of an older boy named Elvis. Noland doesn't know Elvis well, only that he sells lots of lanterns and he always has money. Noland doesn't realize that Elvis' loud bravado covers up the deep sadness and shame he feels for having to prostitute himself to survive.
During a traffic jam one evening, a motorcycle rider shoots a journalist in his car and an American tourist is caught in the crossfire. Noland, with Elvis' help, takes the woman, Cate Burns, to his mother's hut to care for her. He sees her as an angel fallen from the sky. Their hut is filled with stars and angels, a small bit of heaven within this tract of poverty. But Noland's mother fears the woman will only bring bad luck.
The media jump on the story of a kidnapped American and the dead journalist, speculating about their connection and the plot behind it: either global terrorism or a religious cult. American consul representatives and the Philippine police vow to work shoulder-to-shoulder to find her.
Merlinda Bobis has written a story illustrating the number of responses and reactions a single event can trigger. Some officials wish to find the truth; others know the truth and don't care; and still others just don't care. She contrasts the poor and the wealthy separated by so little as an intersection geographically, but so much more when it comes to influence and power. Readers might wonder how much of Bobis' story mirrors reality as it pertains to media and politicians and the poor and wealthy populations. She breaks the tale down into short chapters that keep the action jumping from viewpoint to viewpoint and image to image. The reader has to pay attention to keep track of who's who and who's doing what, similar to watching a movie where the images move so quickly that you might miss something if you blink. THE SOLEMN LANTERN MAKER is a thought-provoking tale that will prick at the reader's mind long after the last page is turned.
From the award-winning author of Banana Heart Summerββ[a]
wonderful debutβ¦[that] resembles Sandra Cisnerosβs The House
on Mango Street and is destined to be a hit among book club
membersβ*βcomes a wondrous tale of hope, secrets, and family
devotion.
Itβs six days until Christmas, and on the bustling streets
of Manila a mute ten-year-old boy sells his version of the
stars: exquisite lanterns handmade with colorful paper. But
everything changes for young Noland when he witnesses an
American tourist injured in a drive-by shooting of a
journalist and imagines heβs seen an angel falling from the
sky.
When Noland whisks her to the safety of the hut he shares
with his mother, the magical and the real collide:
shimmering lanterns and poverty, Christmas carols and loss,
dreams of friendship and the global war on terror. While the
story of the missing tourist grips the media, Noland and his
mother care for their wounded guest, and a dark memory
returns. But light sneaks in β and their lives are
transformed by the power of love.
*Library Journal (starred review, βEditorβs Pickβ)
No excerpt available.
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