Name: My Fate According to the Butterfly
ISBN: 9781338310528

Gail Villanueva

Light and deep, smart and funny, crushing and hopeful all at the same time, My Fate According to the Butterfly will open your eyes to both the world's potential for magic, and to its harsh realities.

My Fate According to the Butterfly

In one week Sabrina will be eleven-years-old and she would really like to get her estranged parents and her older sister Nadine together for the celebration, especially since the black butterfly landing on her locket has convinced her that she is going to die; Sabrina and her friend Pepper come up with a bucket list, and enlist Nadine's help--but aspiring reporter Nadine is working on a story about the Philippines' war on drugs, and she has uncovered something that may endanger them all, and prove the butterfly is indeed a harbinger of death in Manila.

Sarah Sammis

My Fate According to the Butterfly by Gail D. Villanueva is set in Quezon City, Metro Manilla, Philippines. Sabrina or Sab for short sees a huge black swallowtail, which can be a portent of death. She's convinced she will die before her mother returns home from her business trip. She decides to use the butterfly as a sign that she needs to fix her family before it's too late.

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Elizabeth Garza

This is a fantastic book for a middle-grade reader who maybe needs some help making sense of "adult" problems like drug addiction, stereotyping people based on how they look and understanding different cultures and peoples than themselves. The writing flowed, was engaging, and the characters were relatable and likable. It's a nice introductory book on Filipino culture if you know nothing about it (like me).

Kath Lau

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My Fate According to the Butterfly is a middle grade fiction novel set in the Philippines. Sab, our main character, admires his father a lot. He inspires her to be an artist just like him. She believes everything he says including the one about the big black butterfly being an omen of death. When this butterfly appears and lands on her locket few days before her eleventh birthday, she knows that she has to make every second of her remaining life counts. She wants to celebrate her birthday with her entire family and friends but the problem is Ate Nadine, her older sister, and their father are not in speaking terms. Sab doesn't have any idea why so she and her bestfriend Pepper go on a little adventure. They start spying on Ate Nadine. Sab then discovers the real reason which turns out to be more darker than what she's expected.

I loved the characters in this book including Lawin (Sab's pet pekin duck). Sab is very brave and talented. I loved her innocence and willingness. Her friendship with Pepper (a white American) was one of my favorites. I could totally relate to Ate Nadine because I'm also the eldest and I can also be very strict to my brother especially when we were young but it's somehow one of my ways of showing how much I care and love him. Jepoy is another interesting and great character. I also loved how the LGBTQ+ was represented in this book.

Family is one of the main focus in this book which is not surprising because in reality it plays a huge part in Filipino culture. Same goes with superstitions. I know this might sound strange but sometimes these beliefs affect how we live our lives. I've been living outside the Philippines for years now but I still feel nervous whenever I see a butterfly (especially the black one) around me. I also don't cut my nails/toenails at night because it brings bad luck or death. Do I believe in this? No, but I don't want to take a risk.

Instead of focusing so much on the violence surrounding the drug war, the author highlighted more the people involved (users/victims), their struggles and recovery, and how their loved ones (especially the children) are being affected by the situation. The author reminded us that support and love from families and friends really help a lot.

The writing was impeccable! The story is written in Sab's perspective and the author successfully managed to tell a story that has sensitive and intricate topics (such as mental health and substance abuse) in a way that is honest and effective yet very light and insightful. Aside from the war on drugs and corruption, colorism and colonial mentality were also mentioned in this book. I personally think that it's complicated to explain these kind of things to children but the author did it flawlessly. I would definitely let my nephews and niece (who are in middle grade) to read this book. I wish that libraries in the Philippines can get some copies of this book as well so everyone can have access on reading it.

I almost forgot. This is definitely one fo my favorite book covers. It's like looking at my younger self. Brown, thin, short hair. Also, the mention of kwek-kwek, dirty ice cream, chicken sopas, even the traffic, and riding the MRT (Metro Manila Rail Transit) during rush hour made me miss the Philippines even more.

I still have a lot of things to say about this book but I know that my words can't give justice on how remarkable this book is. My Fate According to the Butterfly is an accurate portrayal of what is really happening in the Philippines. It's also a great introduction to Filipino culture because it shows not only the good but also the bad/ugly side. I cannot recommend this book enough!

Thanks to the hosts, author, and Scholastic Press for providing me an early copy of this book. This did not affect my overall opinion of the book.