Everlasting Nora by Marie Miranda Cruz (review)

After a fire destroyed her house and took her father's life, twelve-year-old Nora and her mother moved into the cemetery community in Manila, where they make their home in Nora's father's mausoleum. Nora's making the best of the situation, but when her mother goes missing things get worse; it turns out Mama has racked up massive gambling debts and has been abducted by a murderous gangster known as Tiger. When Mama is returned, she's sick and unable to work, and Nora is determined to find the money to get Mama well, even if it means facing off with Tiger. The setting is unusual and vividly detailed, and the book paints an admiring and affectionate picture of people making a real community in the surprising location of the graveyard, especially in Nora's relationship with her friend and compatriot Jojo and his kind grandmother. However, the book turns into a discordant action-adventure with a touch of melodrama as Nora and Jojo battle the criminals; the cascade of ill fate is overwhelming, and the happy endings seem to come mostly out of plot convenience. Still, Nora, who yearns to return to school and misses her father terribly, is a sympathetic protagonist, and many young readers will have their eyes opened about the economic precariousness of some people's lives. DS