Top review from the United States

San Diego Reader

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking and Heartwarming

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2024

Prolific author Maggie Lynch’s The Power of S.A.D. makes this reader ready for the next book in The Mariposa Lane series for ages eleven to fifteen. Responsible, eleven-year-old Akna Sales, who tells an Oregon social worker that she “might as well be fourteen,” means it.

Two years earlier, Akna became the head of her family after the deaths of her beloved Guatemalan-immigrant grandparents. Her substance-abusing mother frequently vanishes for weeks, leaving the girl to take care of her two sisters, eight-year-old Hai, and five-year-old Nakia. Her ancient Guatemalan K’iche’ culture helps Akna call upon her ancestors for “strength and determination” (S.A.D.) as she adroitly navigates the challenges of raising her siblings. But alert neighbors intervene, and the three girls are sent to a foster home.

With a fresh start in a safe, nurturing place and a welcoming school, they have opportunities to grow in needed skills about life, family, love, support, friendship, forgiveness, and teamwork. But hurdles must be jumped along the way, and unique relationships formed, tested, and cemented.

Lynch artfully weaves in her experience growing up near relatives who fostered over one hundred children. She is still in touch with many members of that extended family. In addition, Lynch includes what she learned from working with Guatemalan refugees in her church. From this important book, readers will likely understand the author’s intent to show “people making heroic choices, one messy moment at a time.”