Solimar: The Sword of the Monarchs by Pam Munoz Ryan
The Hook:
Solimar, a princess in the kingdom of San Gregorio is excited to witness the arrival of the monarch butterflies! Year after year, she watches them arrive by sitting at a creek and looking at them from a distance. But this year, she bravely decides to cross over the creek for a closer look—if her abuela finds out she will definitely be in trouble.
Once she crosses over, the butterflies surround her, and they mark her as their protector. They also change her rebozo or shawl in that it is covered in an iridescence of butterfly wings. It also helps her to see into the future but every time she does so, it drains the butterflies’ energy. She must use her new gift sparingly.
A rival king discovers Solimar’s power, and he plans to take it along with her father’s kingdom when the King and his son (Solimar’s brother) are away making alliances with a different kingdom. Everyone is captured except Solimar. She races away and takes on the duty of saving her kingdom and the monarch butterflies.
Along the way she meets Berto, a river boy who helps her navigate through the channels. She also has her sidekicks, her wonderful pet bird, Lazaro, and an enchanted doll named Zarita. This is a fast-paced story with lots of action. You gotta read Solimar: The Sword of the Monarchs.
This book is in our library. It is also in Sora and Axis 360 as an eBook and an audio book. It is 190 pages, and it is 6 AR points.
My Thoughts and Recommendations (Careful! There Could Be Spoilers):
If your child likes fantasy books this is a good one. It is short—190 pages—so it will not be too overwhelming for Reluctant Readers. There is also a lot of action.
Solimar’s brother who is heir to the throne does not want the position. He would rather be sailing around the world making new discoveries. He tells this to Solimar before he leaves with their dad—the King—to the neighboring kingdom. Solimar loves her kingdom, the people, the butterflies, the forest, and the story hints that she would make an excellent queen, and, in the end, she does indeed become the heir apparent. I love that this story is of a strong female character who pushes for gender equality.
Berto loves the river, and he knows how to build channels throughout to help his own community with commerce. However, he does not have the resources to do so. Solimar is a great leader in that she sees the gifts of others and helps make them a reality. In turn she helps both her kingdom and Berto’s community (which is now part of Solimar’s kingdom). This book discusses the importance of conservation of natural resources.
The only negative comment I have is at the end of chapter 22 and the beginning of chapter 23. Chapter 22 ends with Solimar waiting for Lazaro and Zarito. Berto has gone up ahead to see if there are any of Aveno’s (the invading king) men.
Chapter 23 begins 3 days later (it states this time space specifically) with both Solimar and Berto tied up and draped over horses by Aveno’s men. I flipped between the pages thinking I missed something. How did they get captured? Three days later seems like a big jump in time and evidently there was some action that is not revealed. Huh? After I got over my initial confusion, the story picked back up. But I still had to wonder if the author was trying to wind things up a little too quickly. This is on page 172 and the story ends on 190. If you read the book, let me know if this threw you off a bit too.
Overall, an enjoyable book. I recommend it for 4th-6th grades. 4.1 stars.
