Have You Seen Marie [Hardcover]

The internationally acclaimed author ofThe House on Mango Streetgives us a deeply moving tale of loss, grief, and healing: a lyrically told, richly illustrated fable for grown-ups about a woman’s search for a cat who goes missing in the wake of her mother’s death.

The word “orphan” might not seem to apply to a fifty-three-year-old woman. Yet this is exactly how Sandra feels as she finds herself motherless, alone like “a glove left behind at the bus station.” What just might save her is her search for someone else gone missing: Marie, the black-and-white cat of her friend, Roz, who ran off the day they arrived from Tacoma. As Sandra and Roz scour the streets of San Antonio, posting flyers and asking everywhere, “Have you seen Marie?” the pursuit of this one small creature takes on unexpected urgency and meaning. With full-color illustrations that bring this transformative quest to vivid life,Have You Seen Marie?showcases a beloved author’s storytelling magic, in a tale that reminds us how love, even when it goes astray, does not stay lost forever.“This picture book for adults explores the ways in which grief lays us low, but also can bring us out to discover the strength of the communities we belong to. When Roz comes to visit Sandra after Sandra’s mother passes away, she brings her cat, Marie. Marie, in the way of so many cats, disappears the day she arrives, and Roz is desperate to find her again. The two women make flyers and Sandra reluctantly leaves her home to help Roz canvas the neighborhood, along the way meeting with others who grieve their own losses. With colorful drawings, Hernández brings the community alive, while Cisneros writes her heroine’s way through the discovery that there is a way to emerge from sadness into memory. And yes, there is a happy ending.” —Kathy Ward,Juneau Empire
 
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