Ballad & Dagger: Outlaw Saints, Book 1
Pirates, reborn Caribbean saints mix in fascinating fantasy.
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Ballad & Dagger: Outlaw Saints, Book 1, is the start of a duology by the author of the popular Shadowshaper Cypher. Unlike other books in the Rick Riordan Presents imprint (started by the author of the Percy Jackson series) this series doesn't build a world within existing world mythologies, it creates its own. This diaspora imagines a Caribbean island once inhabited by pirates and those who practice Judaism and a form of Santeria and how these three cultures melded and formed a community. It will make readers ponder what constitutes a culture and a sense of community, especially when that community must move far from their homeland, in this case, to the far end of Brooklyn. This is a community in some major turmoil. There are bar and street fights with some deaths and many injuries, some magically healed. The weapons used are knives, fists, and a sword -- no guns. A car plows into a person on purpose and one death is heavily mourned by the main character. Expect some gore when nasty supernatural creatures called Bambaruto join the fight. A hand punches through their chest, a nose and a head get lopped off, but when they die they just dissolve. Expect bad language, more in Spanish than English, with one Spanish version of "f--k," and "s--t" and "ass" in both languages. The main characters have sex, which is described in less than a sentence. LGBTQ+ characters are well represented: Mateo's tia/aunt and best friend are both lesbians, and his best friend's love interest uses they/them pronouns. Mateo is a reluctant hero who suffers from some social anxiety. His tia convinces him to escucha/listen more deeply and get past the fear that often eclipses the good.
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What's the Story?
In BALLAD & DAGGER: OUTLAW SAINTS, BOOK 1, Mateo is on his way to the Grand Fete, a gathering of the San Madrigal Island diaspora in Brooklyn that decides the next head of the leadership council. He's excited to play the piano there and maybe impress his idol, Gerval, a famous singer. His spiritual Tia/Aunt Lucia is set to attend with him until she does a reading of her cowrie shells and becomes agitated. She tells Mateo she'll meet him at the club later. It's hard to say exactly what Tia Lucia saw in the shells. Maybe it was the murder Mateo witnessed outside the club, committed by a girl he knows, the daughter of the rabbi. Or maybe it's the moment Mateo is playing piano during the speeches and the head of the leadership council announces to everyone that Mateo is an initiated child of one of the island's most important saints, Galanika, the healer. Poor shy Mateo never wanted this and Tia Lucia knows it. Or maybe Tia saw herself fall in a bar fight later that night, forcing Mateo to use his healer powers for the first time, changing the course of his life and putting him at the center of a war among his diaspora.
Is It Any Good?
This rendering of a unique diaspora in crisis mixes reborn saints and Santeria, Spanish and Hebrew, pirates and monsters, and lots of music in a fascinating fantasy symphony. Author Daniel Jose Older imagines a community desperate to get back to their Caribbean island that sunk into the sea, or ready to put down roots for good in Brooklyn, depending on whom you ask. If you ask Mateo, the main character, he's not into all that saint stuff and doesn't think the island can rise again. He wants to stay on the sidelines, play his piano, think about music as often as possible, and not get involved in the politics. But what choice does he have when he finds out he's the initiated child of one of the island's main saints? And that the girl he likes, Chela, the one he saw murder someone, may be a saint as well? Mateo's Tia Lucia tells him not to trust anyone, but he falls in with Chela anyway, and her cousin, Tolo, a pirate, but not the pirate in charge who knows all the island's secrets. The storyline is sometimes as complex as the diaspora's cultural mix and as the tension builds between the factions, readers learn more about the island's many mysteries -- but not always as fast as they may like. Like what are these monster things running around anyway? Where did they come from? Mateo's relationship with his wise Tia Lucia keeps him and the story grounded and her household keeps things entertaining with her nighttime baking, raucous parties, and the ghost of her partner always around to offer advice. Mateo's relationship with Chela, on the other hand, challenges him to find his braver side, to take action, and to finally tap into his spiritual side that was there all along.
Fans of Older's Shadowshaper Cypher know that the author likes to dissect difficult social themes in his work. Here he imagines some in a community covering up their own uncomfortable history and others crying out for and facing the truth of who they are -- they always thought their idyllic island stayed far away from anything having to do with the slave trade, but guess what? It's easier to have this debate through a fantasy book than in a contentious school board meeting and the critical thinking practice it provides young adult readers is a wonderful bonus to this complex and fascinating tale.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the curious diaspora in Ballad & Dagger: Outlaw Saints, Book 1. How do they remain a community in Brooklyn? What keeps them together? What secrets threaten to drive them apart? Why do you think some want to return to a restored island and others do not?
Why does Mateo need to take deep breaths before he enters the school every day? How does his tia/aunt help him manage his fears? If you have social fears, how do you manage them? What helps the most? Is it surprising to see a hero figure in a story have fears that are very common to the average high schooler?
What history do the pirates try to hide? Why does Mateo think it's important for everyone to know the truth? Is a history that omits the unpleasant parts a true history? Is it easier to ponder questions like this posed in a fantasy book rather than a book of nonfiction?
What role does music play in this story? How does it speak to the different factions of the diaspora? How did music help Mateo stay close to his community when he was living far away with his parents?
Book Details
- Author: Daniel Jose Older
- Genre: Fantasy
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Superheroes, Adventures, High School, Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires, Music and Sing-Along, Pirates
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents
- Publication date: May 3, 2022
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 12 - 18
- Number of pages: 384
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Award: Common Sense Selection
- Last updated: May 10, 2022
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