Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything is a recently published book by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland. I finished reading this book from a book club I was unable to keep up with earlier this Spring. I already had it, though and am glad I decided to take the time to finish reading it.
Sia is 17-year-old high school Junior whose mother disappeared attempting to cross the border from Mexico into the United States and lives with her father in Arizona. She seems to have faced a lot of trauma in her past and has become jaded against anyone involved in her past traumas, even if they were nobody’s fault. I feel like she had a lot of room to grow as a person – to see the big picture and learn some mercy – from the beginning of the story.
She uses her culture as a way to cope with the world. Her mother and her abuela taught her about the spirit world, and about listening to nature and dreams. There are two ginormous cacti out in the desert that Sia calls Adam and Eve. Her abuela told her that the universe began there. Sia goes out into the desert to visit the cacti a lot, lighting candles so perhaps her mother or her mother’s spirit can see them and. be led home. I think it is touching. A lot of us could stand to benefit from believing in a world we cannot always see.
Sia has a science project classmate named Noah, who is new to her school. They go out to the desert by the cacti and stare at the moon – the topic for their astronomy project. Noah definitely exists to soften Sia up a bit. I love their dynamic. It seems like for the first time, a man who wasn’t her father seriously cares about her happiness and well-being.
Like a lot of friends, though, when Sia starts getting closer to Noah, her best of best friends Rose also finds a partner. There are a lot of misunderstandings between them about their relationships, and they become too busy building them that their friendship dwindles. It’s always difficult when that happens – when you don’t know if your friend has dumped you for their new partner or if they will come back. Those waiting times are torturous.
The climax of the story is really surprising. I won’t give it away, but it is a twist and turns the second half of the book into a sort of thriller. Noah really proves his grit here, and Rose shows how deep their friendship matters to Sia in an incredible way.
There are several scenes where a new character they meet is asked questions about her experiences. I’m impressed by this character’s patience with all of it. Especially when Noah makes a conspiracy-theorist blogger friend named Omar. Omar doesn’t know how to stop talking, yet everyone is so patient with him. I think it’s incredible for a group of teenagers.
The story ends kind of strangely. Sia has a lot of new opportunities for her future, and a lot of decisions to make regarding who she wants in her life and how she intends to pursue the world. I think she does start to see the bigger picture of things though. Since watching her mature was my initial hope for this story, I was glad to see it beginning to happen.
Uncommon Rachel 