Category: International Literature, Chapter Book
Summary: Set in a far off land in a distant time, Lila was the daughter of a Firework-maker. Her mother passed when she was young, so her father taught her almost all of the secrets to Firework making. But there was still one her father wouldn't teach her, the one that made his fireworks truly special. Lila recruits her friend Chulak and his talking white elephant Hamlet to help her discover the secret. She thinks she has it all and sets off to get the magic sulfur but she is missing another part, the magic water to prevent her from perishing in the flames. As she journeys forward unaware, Chulak and Hamlet work to try to find and save her.
Classroom Use: I would use this book as a jumping off point to launch an investigation of the changing women's roles in society. Lila's father wouldn't share the secret with her because she was a girl, but he shared it quickly and easily with Chulak, a male. We would examine the transformation of women's roles in the US and in other cultures.
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