The Jumbies

Another scary story this time from the Carribean, with a lot of elements from the local folklore. It prompted me to learn a lot of new things I never knew about this part of the world.

Corrine is a very special girl. She is courageous and kind. Although she lost her mother, she is determined to save her home island from the evil jambies.

'' My papa says that people are afraid of things they don't understand, Corinne said."

On her quest to save her father and her friends Corrine discovers her magic.

'' Everybody thinks they need magic...They want the bottle. Instant success! Something to drink, or sprinkle, or spill on the ground. They want magic from nothing. Magic doesn't come from nothing. It comes from somewhere. And it isn't so extraordinary. It's just work."

The only way to defeat the jumbies is to understand that they are the same as us, they just want their space on the island. It was theirs in the first place after all. They were there before the humans came. This reminds me similar stories about the native population and the new settlers in many parts of the world, like USA or Australia.

Fear and misunderstnding leads to conflict, but forgiveness and compromise can bring peace. Family is very important. And friends are important too. They help you become a better person. Caring about others means caring about those who you think are the enemy. Good prevails at the end and peace is restored, but both sides pay a price for their fears and anger.

'' They belong to this island child. You cannot get rid of them. They are part of it."

The story is based on Carribian folklore, and the folktale about the girl and the orange tree. It is populated with a lot of forest evil spirits like lagahoo, douens, la diabless and soucouyant. Here are some illustrations of how people imagine this creatures:

Lagahoo by Nikolai Dinsey Ragunath

image 1 Lagahoo by Nikolai Dinsey Ragunath

image 2 douens by https://kongqueror.com

image 3 la diablesse by https://kongqueror.com

image 4 soucouyant by https://horrorpedia.com/2015/01/08/soucouyant-folklore/

I also learned a lot of things about the flora and the fauna of the Carribean. There are deep forests and orange trees. And the forests are populated with animals who are specific to this part of the world, like the agouti and an endangered tree frog.

I like how the author writes very short chapters, sometimes not longer than a page. This helped me move through the book much quicker. It was sometimes challenging to decide how to pronounce some words and names, but this only makes the story more interesting. The author also provides an explanation for some of the creatures in the Author's Note.