4.5
The Tear Collector
ByPublisher 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.
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.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Tear Collector Reviews
4.5
Vero
Created 25 days agoShare
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“R.M. Romero's stories seem like fairy tales; they are enchanting, but this time, although they are still captivating, touching, and they still deal with family and hope, this time, they hit very close to home, because it's about climate change.
A great flood that destroyed the world. Malka and Ezra are siblings who are stranded on an island with other survivors, when a magical disease is spreading, and Malka will do everything to find a cure and heal her brother.
Malka is the big sister who feels responsible for her brother; she is action and protection, a little grumpy. Meanwhile, Ezra is a dreamer and an artist.
The disease is called sorrow and affects those who remember their life before the flood and feel nostalgia or sadness for how the world used to be. There is no cure, and little by little, those infected are covered with feathers, claws, or other animal traits. Malka helps her adoptive uncle search for a cure, collecting tears from all the people to see if they can find a cure with them.
Three years have passed, the island is not prosperous, there are frequent hurricanes, there is not much diversity in food, many fruits and vegetables do not grow there, they feel alone in the world, until one stormy night, Olivia arrives in a small plane. It's about community, being again, and found family, although it is also about realizing when something or someone is hurting you and how to leave it behind, and how remembering and crying is not something to feel bad about, but could make you stronger.
I loved the bond between the siblings and with Olivia. The three of them have different personalities, but what they have in common is that they are brave and love intensely. They form a beautiful friendship.
Overall, it's a lovely story about climate change, adaptation, resilience, and family.
Thank you so much topplingstackstours for the copyx
Read it if you like:
Middle-grade stories
Prickly Main Character
Siblings bond”
About R. M. Romero
R.M. Romero is a critically acclaimed and international bestselling author of fairy tales for children and adults. She is the author of Tale of the Flying Forest, illustrated by E.K. Belsher; The Tear Collector; The Dollmaker of Kraków and The Ghosts of Rose Hill, both Sydney Taylor Notable Books; A Warning About Swans; and Death’s Country. R.M. Romero lives in Miami Beach with her cat Robin Goodfellow and invites you to visit her online at rmromero.com.
Other books by R. M. Romero
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