The island at the end of everything

*Starred Review* Hargrave transports readers to the Philippines' Culion Island, 1906, in her poetic and affecting historical novel. This picturesque spit of land once housed a leper colony, and it is there that 12-year-old Amihan's story unfolds. Though raised on Culion by her naynay (mother), who is touched with leprosy, Ami is perfectly healthy, due to their extreme mindfulness and sanitation practices. She attends a school run by nuns with the island's other children, but all that changes when Mr. Zamora arrives to enact a government order to eradicate the disease through segregation: We will make history of lepers,' he says, and a museum of this island.' Cruel and prejudiced, he divides the island into Sano and Leproso zones, and takes all healthy children to the Coron Orphanage on a neighboring island. Ami's heart is broken when she is ripped away from her mother, but she makes her first friend, Mari, at the orphanage, and together they plot a way to return to Culion. Hargrave tells an incredible story of compassion, love, and daring in this book's pages, and her lyrical writing glides with the grace of a butterfly. An author's note gives the real history of Culion's leper colony and speaks to the complexity of human nature, further enriching Ami's unforgettable story.--Smith, Julia Copyright 2018 Booklist

In 1906, 12-year-old Amihan lives with her mother on the Philippine island of Culion, which would become the largest leper colony in the world. Amihan and her mother share a tranquil life of quiet rituals, cooking fresh seafood, "catching" falling stars at night, and trying to grow a garden for butterflies. Their small community of the healthy and the afflicted (the term "Touched" is preferred to "leper") live together peacefully until Mr. Zamora, a cruel government official, arrives to segregate the population and send "clean" children to an orphanage on a separate island. Amihan is heartbroken to leave her mother, whose disease is quite advanced, but once at the orphanage, she makes two friends who help her return when she gets word that her mother is dying. Hargrave's lush, lyrical prose brings the jungle island to life and pulls readers into Amihan's wrenching journey. Facts about the "Touched" contrast with people's uninformed, fear-driven reactions, in particular those of Mr. Zamora, whose loathing of the afflicted leads to irrational and hateful behavior. A moving look at how prejudice blinds people to the humanity of others. Ages 10-up. Agent: Hellie Ogden, Janklow & Nesbit. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

There are some places you would not want to go. Even if I told you that we have oceans clear and blue as summer skies, filled with sea turtles and dolphins, or forest-covered hills lush with birds that call through air thick with warmth. Even if you knew how beautiful the quiet is here, clean and fresh as a glass bell ringing. But nobody comes here because they want to. My nanay told me this is how they brought her, but says it is always the same, no matter who you are or where you come from. From your house you travel on horse or by foot, then on a boat. The men who row it cover their noses and mouths with cloths stuffed with herbs so they don't have to share your breath. They will not help you onto the boat although your head aches and two weeks ago your legs began to hurt, then to numb. Maybe you stumble toward them, and they duck. They'd rather you rolled over their backs and into the sea than touch you. You sit and clutch your bundle of things from home, what you saved before it was burned. Clothes, a doll, some books, letters from your mother. Somehow, it is always dusk when you approach. The island changes from a dark dot to a green heaven on the horizon. High on a cross-topped cliff that slopes toward the sea is a field of white flowers, looping strangely. It is not until you are closer that you see it forms the shape of an eagle, and it is not until you are very close that you see it is made of stones. This is when your heart hardens in your chest, like petals turning to pebbles. Nanay says the white eagle's meaning is known across all the surrounding islands, even all the places outside our sea. It means: Stay away . Do not come here unless you have no choice. The day is dropping to dark as you come into the harbor. When you step from the boat, the stars are setting out their little lights. Someone will be there to welcome you. They understand. The men who brought you leave straightaway, though they are tired. They have not spoken to you in the days or hours you spent with them. The splash of oars fades to the sound of waves lapping the beach. They will burn the boat when they get back, as they did your house. You look at the person who greeted you. You are changed now. Like flowers into stones, day into night. You will always be heavier, darkened, marked. Touched.  Nanay says that in the Places Outside, they have many names for our home. The Island of the Living Dead. The Island of No Return. The Island at the End of Everything. You are on Culion, where the oceans are blue and clear as summer skies. Culion, where sea turtles dig the beaches and the trees brim with fruit. Culion, island of lepers. Welcome home. Excerpted from The Island at the End of Everything by Kiran Millwood Hargrave All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.