The Power of S.A.D.

“Prolific author Maggie Lynch’s Power of S.A.D. makes this reader ready for the next book in The Mariposa Lane series for ages eleven to fifteen. Responsible, eleven-year-old Akna Sales, who tells an Oregon social worker that she “might as well be fourteen,” means it. Two years earlier, Akna became the head of her family after the deaths of her beloved Guatemalan-immigrant grandparents. Her substance-abusing mother frequently vanishes for weeks, leaving the girl to take care of her two sisters, eight-year-old Hai, and five-year-old Nakia. Her Guatemalan K’iche’ culture helps Akna call upon her ancestors for strength and determination (S.A.D.) as she adroitly navigates the challenges of raising her siblings. But alert neighbors intervene, and the three girls are sent to a foster home. With a fresh start in a safe, nurturing place and new school, they have opportunities to grow in needed skills about life, family, love, support, friendship, forgiveness, and teamwork. But challenges must be met along the way.”  — Sherrill Joseph, Multiple Award-Winning Author of the Botanic Hill Detectives Mysteries

“Heartbreakingly accurate story of struggle & hope. Author Maggie Lynch begins her Mariposa Lane upper middle grade series for ages 11 to 14 with the story of Akna Sales, forced to a maturity well beyond her eleven years by her troubled mother and the deaths of her grandparents. She’s learned to be there for her two younger sisters whether Mama was around or not. But when her plans to make everything okay for her sisters are overturned by the social worker who takes the three girls to a foster home, she struggles with the stability provided by her foster parents and foster sisters along with the kind of love that she hasn’t known since her grandfather died. Lynch, whose previous novels span women’s fiction, suspense, fantasy and science fiction, makes a page-turning foray into her first book for young readers by painting a heartbreakingly accurate portrait of a struggling young girl in this equally accurate story of hope.” — Laura Stegman, Author of the Summer of L.U.C.K trilogy.