Everlasting Nora

September 17, 2018
Nora would be in the sixth grade if she hadn’t had to leave school a year before, after a fire destroyed her home and killed her father. Now living in her father’s mausoleum, in North Cemetery, the largest graveyard in Manila, Nora makes and sells daisy garlands to passersby and helps her mother do others’ laundry to provide food and necessities. After her mother disappears one night, Nora finds herself utterly alone, unwilling to call upon family or friends because of embarrassment and previous family circumstances. She soon realizes how dire her mother’s gambling problem has become and confronts a loan shark’s greedy lackey to find her. Unexpected help from neighbors and friends, like 13-year-old Jojo and his grandmother, Lola Mercy, portray a caring community within the shantytown and beyond. Debut author Cruz doesn’t shy away from Nora’s reality—her unreliable, grieving mother, the family’s extreme poverty, the violence of the gambling world—but she also weaves a story of hope in darkness and creates a courageous, resilient heroine to root for. Cruz’s rich descriptions of Filipino culture, most notably the food, intensify the sense of place and proffer bright spots in Nora’s difficult situation. Ages 8–12. Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott Notch Literary Services.