aPriL does feral sometimes 's Reviews > Shadowshaper

'Shadowshaper' is book one in the Shadowshaper series by Daniel José Older. This YA fantasy is a remarkably positive novel about identity and gender! If you are tired of teenage dystopias, then I recommend reading 'Shadowshaper'!

Sierra María Santiago is an American-Puerto Rican. She also is a terrific Manhattan street artist, an expert in painting murals. Unknown to her, she possesses an amazing power to channel dead people through her body into her drawings, bringing them briefly into life and motion, their actions under her control - well, more or less, at first.

Sierra slowly becomes aware her family and neighborhood friends are under some kind of mysterious attack by zombies! Also she suddenly can see spirits all about! She learns her family has been keeping a secret from her. Her family is full of Shadowshapers! Maria, Sierra's mother, never wanted to be involved, so she had forbidden anyone to tell Sierra about the family talent. However, the spirits are not giving Sierra the choice of opting out, especially since an unknown enemy is sending enslaved ghosts to try to kill her and her friends!

Determined, Sierra begins the journey of learning what she really is, who the mysterious enemy is, and how to save herself and her loved ones. Sierra is the one the ghosts want to kill. She is at the center of this mystery! Why?

All ages can enjoy reading 'Shadowshaper', but I think middle-schoolers will best find the book exciting and empowering. The characters are mostly people of color, and the main ones, mostly teenagers, are generally happy kids living amidst loving family members and a close-knit neighborhood (think Sesame Street, only for older teens). Cultural foods, language and styles easily become intermingled within the different families in the neighborhood, and especially and easily picked up and passed around the teen friends. So, when the ghosts begin gathering, and dead people begin walking, the friends quickly work together.

Very exciting drama!