Adventure

Quieres aprender el secreto de la pirotecnia? B Camina por mis llamas Esa es la prueba que tendra que afrontar Lila para conseguir su mayor deseo: conocer el oficio de creadora de fuegos de artificio.Si la protagonista de este relato quiere destacar en ese oficio tendra que emprender un largo viaje y enfrentarse al Diablo del Fuego. Lograra sobrevivir sin sucumbir a las llamas? Necesitara una proteccion especial, pero si supera ese gran reto alcanzara un inmenso prestigio."Uno de esos raros libros en los que la narracion avanza con magica confianza..

This one gets a whole star extra because of the illustrations by S. Saelig Gallagher. If the 3 non-southeast Asian characters hadn't appeared as big nosed closeset-eyed as the rest of the men than I'd feel guilty at the my delight in the illustrations. They are full of a whimsical joy which, alas, is not intrinsic to the text, which isn't bad but tries too hard. ( )

I liked this one but it was not that clever, if you see what I mean. The descriptions are good but the story is fairytalishly formulaic and it does not manage to go beyond that. ( )

Lila has helped her father Lalchand create fireworks almost all her life and she wants to be a proper fireworks maker. But when Lalchand won’t reveal the secret to becoming a fireworks maker, she runs off to meet the fire-fiend of Mount Merapc to get the secret. She is forced to return home when she learns Lalchand has been arrested on suspicion of helping the king’s white elephant escape. The only way he can escape punishment by death is if they have the winning fireworks display at the fireworks contest. Good strong female story. Made me think of “My Father’s Dragon.”