The Tear Collector
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Set after the end of the world, this darkly fantastical climate change tale explores hope, memory, and what really makes a monster.
Climate change culminated in the Flood, an enormous wave that wiped out entire countries. Malka and her younger brother Ezra survived and now live with Dr. Jonas Hollman on the Island, the only piece of land left on Earth. Scavenging useful things from the shoreline under the watchful eye of the Island’s sinister leader Mr. Gray, Malka and her family get by. Barely.
But an illness called the Sorrow is changing people into monsters when their memories of the Mainland grow too sad…and Ezra is the latest to get sick. Desperate not to lose her brother, Malka throws herself into helping “Uncle” Jonas with his research to find a cure.
Then her family’s dismal lives are turned upside down by the mysterious Olivia, who crashes a plane on the beach. More people are out there, she says. The world isn’t lost forever. To save Ezra and the other Islanders, Malka will have to uncover the secrets of her flooded world—and the lies even the people she loves have told her about the true nature of the Sorrow.
R.M. Romero tackles our fear and anxiety surrounding climate change and weaves it through with hope in this beautifully told adventure that will resonate with readers young and old.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this affecting fantasy, Romero (Tale of the Flying Forest) utilizes a devastatingly candid third-person narrative to render a group of climate crisis survivors fighting for a brighter future. Siblings Malka and Ezra are nine and seven when a flood engulfs the world, setting them adrift. They wash ashore on an island with an array of fellow castaways, one of whom, Dr. Jonas Hollman, becomes their guardian. Three years pass without word from the mainland, causing many to catch the Sorrow—an illness whereby prolonged grief and despair transforms people into terrifying beasts. Jonas is researching a cure by analyzing islanders' tears, but Malka starts losing faith when Ezra begins exhibiting symptoms of the Sorrow. Then young pilot Olivia crash-lands on the beach. The aviator insists that the mainland is rebuilding and offers to arrange rescue upon repairing her plane. Jonas forbids his charges from helping, asserting that staying realistic about their circumstances is "the key to staying healthy." The kids, however, believe that it's brave to have hope, and they commence assisting Olivia in secret. Lyrical prose, darkly whimsical worldbuilding, and an intersectionally diverse cast of exquisitely rendered, emotionally complex characters complement Romero's inspiring plot, which advocates for mental health awareness as well as activism both social and environmental. Ages 8–12.
