Rigoberta Menchú, illustrated by Domi,
The Secret Legacy
Groundwood Books, 2008

Rating: E*

The author returns to the world of childhood in this, her third book. The novel’s seven-year-old heroine, Ixkem, is chosen to tend to the prized cornfields once her grandfather has passed away. But Ixkem isn’t sure she can accept this great responsibility. Out in the fields, she discovers a legion of tiny people, no bigger than bananas. They are b’e’n, nahuales - secret animal spirits - and when they take Ixkem into the underworld where they live, she regales them with tales of the surface. What they offer in return helps Ixkem to accept both her grandfather’s wishes for her and the fact that she must soon wish him goodbye. This moving story is rich with emotion and Mayan folklore, perfect to captivate any young reader.

The Secret Legacy is a moving tale of famlial responsibility spectactularly illustrated with the striking work of Mexican artist Domi.

Thematic Links: Myths and Legends; Mayan Lore; Geography; Family; Death; Saying Good-bye

Gail Lennon
Vol. 14, number 2
December 2008

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Average, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.