Yxavel Magno Diño (The Serpent Rider) artfully entwines enchanting magic, a resilient young sorcerer, and high-stakes action in her Filipino mythology-inspired middle-grade fantasy The Firefly Crown.
Mayumi, or "Yumi," is a 12-year-old sorcerer who can communicate with and control crickets. "Cricket mambabarangs" are born with the ability to understand crickets and have certain cricket-like abilities, such as jumping large distances. Except Yumi's talents haven't shown up yet. Additionally, Crickets are the lowest class of mambabarangs with powers that seem insignificant when compared to other mambabarangs: Dragonflies move quickly and fly; Fireflies have the "near-mythical" power to manipulate light. When all the magicians are summoned to the imperial city, Tinanglawan, to attend the imperial heir's coronation, the princess is supposed to receive the "Firefly Crown." The headpiece amplifies Firefly magic and helps stave off the "Ghost Swarm," a threatening "entity of dark energy" that surrounds the empire. But the crown disappears and Yumi is blamed for stealing it. To prove herself innocent, Yumi decides to find the real culprit, hopefully before the Ghost Swarm invades.
Diño's delightful fantasy is packed with action and threaded with themes of self-worth, self-acceptance, and economic disparity. The imaginative magic system rooted in insect hierarchies masterfully provides sharp social commentary on class and privilege. The insect-based magic also offers rich visuals to accompany Yumi's adventure, such as wolf spiders running up walls or "the decay of a hundred years setting in within the space of heartbeats" in the wake of an army of ghost insects. A thrilling adventure with an important message: never doubt yourself. --Lana Barnes, freelance reviewer and proofreader