The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind [Hardcover]

Meg Medina (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 13, 2012

Sonia’s entire village believes she has a gift, but it’s only in leaving home that she finds out who she truly is. A compelling tale from a rich new voice in young adult fiction.

Sixteen-year-old Sonia Ocampo was born on the night of the worst storm Tres Montes had ever seen. And when the winds mercifully stopped, an unshakable belief in the girl’s protective powers began. All her life, Sonia has been asked to pray for sick mothers or missing sons, as worried parents and friends press silver milagros in her hands. Sonia knows she has no special powers, but how can she disappoint those who look to her for solace? Still, her conscience is heavy, so when she gets a chance to travel to the city and work in the home of a wealthy woman, she seizes it. At first, Sonia feels freedom in being treated like all the other girls. But when news arrives that her beloved brother has disappeared while looking for work, she learns to her sorrow that she can never truly leave the past or her family behind. With deeply realized characters, a keen sense of place, a hint of magical realism, and a flush of young romance, Meg Medina tells the tale of a strongwilled, warmhearted girl who dares to face life’s harsh truths as she finds her real power.

Editorial Reviews

Review

With a hint of magical realism and a Latin influence, THE GIRL WHO COULD SILENCE THE WIND tells the story of 16-year-old Sonia Ocampo with an enchanting narrative... Sonia's satisfying story of self-discovery combines friendship, family, love and adventure. A book for those fond of alluring storytelling.
—Shelf Awareness

Medina creates a compelling narrative within a Latin American culture where parents cling to old ways and their children thread their paths between hope and despair, trying to find a viable future. Though touches of magical realism appear in the novel, the real magic here arises from the story of a girl struggling to see beyond others’ perceptions and find her own way in a society that seems to offer few options.
—Booklist Online

About the Author

Meg Medina is the author of Tía Isa Wants a Car, illustrated by Claudio Muñoz. The daughter of Cuban immigrants, she grew up in Queens, New York, and now lives in Richmond, Virginia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (March 13, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763646024
• ISBN-13: 978-0763646028
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.9 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,161,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Meg Medina writes pictures books, middle grade, and YA fiction. She is especially interested in exploring stories about girls, Latino heritage, and the experiences of Latinos in the US. Her work has won numerous distinctions, including the 2012 Ezra Jack Keats New Writers Award.

Meg considers writing for children the most honored way to use her talents.

"You never forget the books you loved as a kid. You never forget the poems you memorized, the first book you read until the cover fell off, the book you read hidden from your mother. What an honor to hold hands with a child's imagination in this way."

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A charming story of hope, courage, dreams and identity. May 29, 2012

By Teen Reads

Format:Hardcover

Sixteen-year-old Sonia Ocampo has lived her entire life in the tiny mining town of Tres Montes. Many of the young people dream of moving to the capital to find a job. Anything would be better than living in poverty with the future only promising the sudden death of a mining cave-in, or the slow death of a miner's lung disease. However, opportunities for the capital jobs are few, and sometimes just getting there can be life-threatening. Other young people dream of sweet romance and a lifetime of marriage.

Sonia has no hope for either of these dreams. Ever since her birth, she has carried the weight of the entire town's worries on her shoulders. Those with concerns come to her for her special prayers, and everyone believes they are heard and answered...even Sonia. This is her destiny, her life. She spends her days praying, and has no time for careers or romance.

Then comes the horrific day when one of Sonia's prayers isn't answered, and a local boy ends up dead. Sonia realizes that she has no special powers, that her prayers aren't any more powerful than anyone else's. To save her family the shame of the awful truth, Sonia decides she must leave. With the help of her aunt, she manages to snag one of the jobs at the capital: housekeeping in the home of a rich woman. For the first time, Sonia is not known as a spiritual link to God, and is free to start dreaming. However, she's not quite sure just what to dream about.

In the meantime, Sonia is earning money to send home, and even the maid's quarters in which she sleeps is fancier than any home in Tres Montes. Of course, life in the big city isn't all glamour and freedom. Her supervisor is a bitter old woman intent on finding her faults, and her employer's nephew is a spoiled playboy determined to steal her virtues. And then Sonia learns of her brother's disappearance.

Sonia and her brother, Rafael, have always been close. Just before she departs the village, Rafael confides that he, too, plans on leaving town. Unfortunately, he tries to do so in a shady, dangerous way, trusting the wrong people. He ends up missing and in terrible danger. Sonia turns to the only person she can for help: her dear friend, Pancho, the poor orphan who dreams of becoming a poet and storyteller, and also secretly dreams of Sonia. Together, they delve into danger in hopes of saving Rafael. Unfortunately, it may be too late.

Meg Medina writes with a delightfully descriptive flair, painting beautifully colorful pictures ("Hawks hung outside her window, and far below there were waterfalls cascading into rushing rivers, where rainbows rose in the mist, like bridges to some other world."). Medina also does an interesting job of examining cultural and class differences, and her characters are distinctive and creative. Sonia is an endearing protagonist with whom many readers may identify. She feels trapped between family, obligations and her own dreams, even though she isn't quite sure what her dreams are yet. THE GIRL WHO COULD SILENCE THE WIND is a charming story of hope, courage, dreams and identity.

Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Quiet novel with strong setting March 20, 2012

By Muggle-Born

Format:Hardcover

The people of Tres Montes in THE GIRL WHO COULD SILENCE THE WIND by Meg Medina are superstitious. They believe that a young girl of sixteen, Sonia Ocampo, has the power to heal and to protect. But Sonia knows that she is nothing special and that she has been living a lie her entire life. When given the opportunity, Sonia travels to the capital to work at Casa Mason as a housekeeper and to relieve herself of her town's burdens.

Setting plays a huge role in THE GIRL WHO COULD SILENCE THE WIND. Tres Montes is a sleepy mining mountain town that all the young adults want to escape. Tres Montes is isolated from the outside world; only one train enters and leaves the station each week. I thought that it was great that, as a reader, I could not pinpoint the exact location of Tres Montes. I knew that the people spoke Spanish, and the geographical features give some clues, but it is not a place that I recognize. It gives me the impression that Tres Montes can be any sleepy mining town, but at the same the not knowing also bothered me.

THE GIRL WHO COULD SILENCE THE WIND by Meg Medina is a really quiet book, and for books like this, either the writing has to stand out or the characters have to be refreshing. While I enjoyed THE GIRL WHO COULD SILENCE THE WIND, the characters - especially Sonia - and the writing fail to leave a lasting impression in my mind. I wish we got to learn more about Dalia, Eva, and even Senora Mason.

However, I did sympathize with the characters who were looking to live a better life. It was inspiring to hear the lengths that some of the citizens of Tres Montes would take just to get a job at the capital. For example, Ramona traveled to Casa Mason for months at a time to earn money to help raise her children - even if it means leaving them behind in Tres Montes. For those who can't get a work permit, the journey through the mountains is a perilous one, yet young adults are willing to risk their lives in order to get to the capital. For me, this perilous journey is reminiscent of the the trip that it would take for an immigrant to cross the Mexican border. I don't know if it was the author's intent, but I saw THE GIRL WHO COULD SILENCE THE WIND as a reflection for the immigrants who risk their lives in hopes for a better future.

I feel like the ending wasn't completely resolved. I would have liked to know what happened to the girls back at the capital in Casa Mason. As a reader, we are neglected to be informed about some of the consequences of Sonia's choices toward the end of the book. However, the closing scene of THE GIRL WHO COULD SILENCE THE WIND is a hopeful one that leaves a beautiful and lasting image in readers' minds.

I would recommend THE GIRL WHO COULD SILENCE THE WIND by Meg Medina to readers who don't mind a quiet novel.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Warm and beautiful story September 30, 2012

By shift66

Format:Hardcover

I just went to purchase this book as a gift for a friend, having read it myself and loved it. Noticed that it had only been rated 3 stars and wanted to add my love of this book to the comments... I am a voracious reader, and a writer, and this book (along with Benjamin Alire Saenz's Artistotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe) is my favorite thing I have read in ages... it has so much heart.