by Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: October 10, 2017
ALL THE CROOKED SAINTS by Maggie Stiefvater is a heartwarming story about overcoming your mistakes and accepting who you are. The story centers around the Soria family, a family with the unusual power to perform miracles. Pilgrims come from all over the United States to see the Saint of Bicho Raro, Daniel Soria. Daniel performs a miracle that exposes the darkness within a pilgrim and then the pilgrim performs the second miracle, expelling the darkness forever. The pilgrims must do the second miracle on their own; if a Soria helps a pilgrim in any way a very powerful, almost unbeatable darkness will fall on the Soria and anyone who tries to help will also experience the same darkness. The conflict arises when Daniel falls in love with a pilgrim and tries to help her, bringing the darkness on him. He flees into the desert to isolate himself and keep other Sorias from meeting the same fate. His two cousins, Joaquin and Beatriz, are compelled to help him and with the help of some pilgrims devise a plan to save Daniel.
This book has a great cast of characters. Each Soria family member and pilgrim is given a history and attitude. Some of the characters include: a fourteen foot radio host named Tony, a school teacher named Jennie who can only repeat back what is spoken to her, a pilgrim who is constantly rained on and wears a wedding dress with live butterflies stuck to it, a priest with the body of a man and the head of a wolf, and two twins made inseparable by the snake that twines them together. Each character has to overcome their own darkness in order to help Daniel overcome his. The story is also very inventive and creative; Stiefvater invents a convincing reality in which characters interact and live in the presence of miracles. I also really enjoyed the satisfying and exciting conclusion to the book. I would love to read other books by this author and recommend this book to readers of any age who like a character-driven, intricate, and creative story.
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