Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 10/01/2018 K-Gr 4—Markel describes the journey of Leonora Carrington from her privileged childhood and her mutinous days as a school girl to her flourishing career in Paris and Mexico City. In the narrative, Carrington's imagination turns domestic spaces and scenes of war into fantastical landscapes full of animal-women and mystical creatures. Surrealism is explained discreetly as Carrington paints against conventions of class, gender, and aesthetics. Hall's illustrations effectively mimic Carrington's style, with wonky perspectives, muted backgrounds, contrasting flashes of color, and delicate line work. The more famous (mostly male) surrealists whom Carrington befriended are never allowed to upstage her story. Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera saunter by on one page; the "leader" of the surrealists remains unnamed lurking in a corner. Carrington's relationship with Max Ernst receives far less page-space than the strong female friendship she shared with Remedios Varo. In a time where STEM narratives for girls are gaining ground, Carrington's happy obsession with "cats, stones, and magic crystals" provides a reminder that rebellion comes in different forms. Despite being born into a wealthy family, the artist pursued a career that ensured she was "never rich and never proper." VERDICT For budding artists who are searching for a bridge between Barb Rosenstock's Vincent Can't Sleep and Javaka Steptoe's Radiant Child.—Katherine Magyarody, Texas A&M University, College Station - Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 10/15/2018 *Starred Review* Spectral fairies, soaring women, an infant in a luminous crescent-moon cradle, a human-faced hyena—these are a few of the wondrous images filling the pages of this colorful picture-book biography of surrealist painter Leonora Carrington. Born in 1917 to wealthy parents in England, Carrington chafed against their attempt to turn her into a proper lady. Instead, she longed to set her wild imagination free and become an artist. Markel follows Carrington’s formative experience in France with Max Ernst and other surrealist artists, whose dreamlike art “gave her strange feelings, wondrous as fairy tales” and unlocked her own fanciful style. This is echoed in Hall’s mixed-media illustrations, which use rich, vibrant colors and curving lines to conjure Carrington’s passionate creativity. Her flight to Mexico to escape WWII is magnificently depicted on a two-page spread, aglow in orange and violet, where a winged boat packed with refugees sails from a city in flames; and it’s in Mexico that Carrington’s career truly takes off. The text and illustrations combine in a way that will help young readers understand surreal art and how Carrington used this style to break free of conventional opinions and depictions of women. Author’s and illustrator’s notes provide greater insight into Carrington’s life and art. Another fantastic collaboration by the creators of The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau? (2012). - Copyright 2018 Booklist.