Where Wonder Grows

Review
By Publishers Weekly

Previous collaborators González and Garcia (All Around Us) follow three girls into their grandmother’s garden, “the place/ where wonder grows/ and stories blossom.” In Garcia’s swirling spreads, they gather on a blanket around a cache of “magic rocks/ and relics from nature.” The rocks are not just objects, Grandmother teaches them: “They are beings... alive with wisdom.” Asked to tell about “the ones with a healing touch,” she offers stories about curanderas who minister using crystals. Garcia paints one of the girls holding a transparent crystal framed by layers—a warm, shining core covered with strata of earth and water. They examine coral—the sea’s rocklike substance—and talk about the power of water to wear rock down. “So when life feels too hard, just go with the... FLOW!” the girls chorus. Finally, Grandmother shows them meteorites, “who flew.../ like freed light/ dancing on air.” Lyrical words by González (a member of the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation) emphasize the intergenerational ties that bind the characters and show Indigenous knowledge in the process of being passed down. Garcia’s portraits center affectionate familial gestures alongside mural-like views of sunset skies and evocative representations of fire, earth, air, and water.