The Land of Forgotten Girls

This was my first book by Erin Estrada Kelly and is one of my 'Bookstagram enticed me to read it' picks. It is written for a younger audience and is a sad story about young immigrant sisters who face many obstacles in their young lives and rely on their imaginations, sisterly bond and memories to get them through.

The story follows the lives of Sol Madrid and her younger sister Ming who are living with their abusive stepmother Vea in the US after their father returns to the Philippines and has little communication with his kids. It sounds like a compelling story but unfortunately, I didn't connect with it. Not a lot happens, and readers are left with unexplained motivations and a few unresolved subplots which were frustrating. I liked that the characters are diverse, but they're not well developed and sometimes cliched, complete with the evil stepmother whose nasty motivations are never explained. Despite its bleak tale, it has a lovely depiction of Sol's imagination and the sisterly bond.

This book stands out for its raw depiction of child abuse, but it is how this emotional subject matter of child abuse and abandonment is addressed and left unresolved that made this a frustrating read. Due to its subject matter, I wouldn't be comfortable recommending it to my young library customers. This book is tragic without being powerful and it failed to engage me fully, leaving me uncomfortable with how handled the issues raised and its ending that left me unsatisfied.

SPOILER: Trigger Warnings below

TW: Child abuse

My Rating: 2 stars

Author: Erin Entrada Kelly

Genre: Children

Type and Source: eAudiobook from public library

Narrator: Lulu Lam

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

First Published: March 1, 2016

Opening Lines: Sometimes I stare into the dark corner of my 

bedroom and see the ghost of my sister Amelia.

Book Description from GoodReads: Erin Entrada Kelly, the author of the acclaimed Blackbird Fly, writes with grace, imagination, and deepest heart about family, sisters, and friendship, and about finding and holding on to hope in difficult times.

Two sisters from the Philippines, abandoned by their father and living with their stepmother in Louisiana, fight to make their lives better in this remarkable story for readers of Cynthia Kadohata and Rita Williams-Garcia, and for anyone searching for the true meaning of family.