Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska

Title: Shadow of a Bull
Author: Maia Wojciechowska
ISBN: 0-689-30042-5
155 pages
Atheneum Books, 1964 edition

This book was recommended to me by my mother and was the first thing she thought of when I told her what a tween was. Winner of the Newbery Medal, this book has been in print for nearly 50 years.

Description:

'Shadow of a Bull' tells the story of young Manolo whose father is the greatest and most revered bullfighter in all of Spain. Manolo's deep dark secret is that he has no desire to fight the bulls, even amidst the pressure from everyone in his community. Not only is Manolo the heir apparent to the the crown of bullfighting, but he also looks like his father thus doubling the efforts of those that would pressure him into the ring. Manolo's friend Juan is an up and coming bullfighter, who shows great promise. In own memorable scene where Manolo witnesses the killing of a Bull which takes minutes but "seems to last a lifetime" we see the gentle side of Manolo and are faced with the reality that we may feel the same as him and would react the same in his shoes. Manolo uses his relationship with his father and his position in his community to gain Juan access to a fight of his own, to which he responds with great success.

Review:

Sort of a strange topic given that the writer is Polish, writing in English, about happenings in Spain. But the story is a wonderfully written one and the reader immediately, from the first page, empathizes with Manolo. Also, one might think that a book about bullfighting would be overly gory for a group as malleable and easily persuaded as 'tweens', but Wojciechowska does a wonderful job to not skirt around the issue so much that the meaning is lost, but does not go into great detail. For instance, she explains one of the killings by saying something along the lines of "then, the life left the beast" instead of explaining in graphic detail. An engrossing tale of the pressures young people face from the family and communities that, despite it's age, has lost none of its' luster.