Shadowshaper

“Back in Bed Stuy, police lights pulsated up and down Putnam Avenue. Ambulances were parked at urgent angles alongside the rows of SUVs and hoopties. Folks from the neighborhood crowded around, gazing down the cordoned-off block to see who had been shot this time.”

In this passage, Older paints a clear picture of Sierra’s neighborhood. Sierra is curious to see so many sirens, but she otherwise doesn’t react much to the sight of emergency responders in her neighborhood. Her lack of concern shows the reader that such an occurrence is a common one within the neighborhood. Sierra has in many ways become desensitized to crime. 

“Papa Acevado’s face could barely be seen now. Sierra looked up at it as she walked to the foot of the Tower. If no one would answer her questions, she would do what she’d always done when people she cared about stonewalled her: She’d lose herself in art.”

Like Sierra, the reader might begin to grow frustrated that no one will answer Sierra’s questions about the shadowshapers. However, Older reminds the reader that Sierra already has many important pieces of the puzzle: Papa Acevado’s fading mural, Sierra’s own mural on the Tower, and Sierra’s skills as an artist. These elements play an important role in helping Sierra learn the truth about the shadowshapers and her own heritage. Older also subtly hints that this is not a unique occurrence; Sierra’s family has often kept her in the dark, and she has learned to cope with this secrecy through her artwork.

“‘You killed him?’ Neville exploded with laughter. ‘Naw, girl! What kinda gangster you think your ol’ godfather be?’ Sierra wasn’t sure how to answer that, but fortunately he just kept talking. ‘We’da never done that to the brother. Then we’da been just like the police, and that’d defeat the whole point.’” 

Sierra’s godfather, Neville, regales her with stories from his criminal past, though he makes sure to distinguish that he would never kill someone like the police would do. This moment references the issue of police brutality, where people are wrongfully injured and killed by police officers. Traditionally, police officers have been seen as protectors and criminals have been seen as dangerous disrupters of society. Here, Older reflects the increasingly changing views on the issue, suggesting that sometimes those who break the law hold themselves to a higher code than those who are meant to uphold it. 

“Eventually, Imma open my own library up here in Harlem, but like a people’s library, not just for academics. And it’ll be full of people’s stories, not just jargony scholar talk.” 

After sneaking in the Columbia library, Sierra meets the head of the anthropology archives, Nydia Ochoa, who confides her future plans to Sierra. Though Nydia works at one of the best libraries in the world, she recognizes some of the inherent class and race issues in higher education. Not everyone has access to the same information or resources, and sometimes academia seems designed to alienate those who come from diverse, underprivileged backgrounds. Nydia believes that everyone should have access to information, and her dreams center around making that possible.

“‘I thought I was losing my mind...’

‘You’re not, Sierra.’ He was smiling, but he also looked like he might shatter at any second. ‘It’s just that people don’t usually see it. Their minds won’t let them, so it just looks like a regular painting, not movin’ or nothin’. Papa Acevado always used to say people don’t see what they’re not looking for. It’s like that.’” 

Robbie finally tells Sierra the truth about shadowshapers, reassuring her that the things she’s been noticing around the neighborhood are really happening. Like many other fantasy novels rooted in real-world events, Shadowshaper suggests that the world as we know it is brimming with magic; we just might not always be able to see what’s going on around us. Because of her special abilities, Sierra can notice things that other people might not see or understand. 

“He’d always been sweet to her when she was a little kid: piggyback rides and stupid magic tricks with that cigar-stained hacking laugh of his. But then she entered that awkward preadolescence stage, all pimples and big glasses and brand-new curves, and Lázaro acted like he didn’t know what to make of this new creature.” 

Though Sierra loves her grandfather very much, she explains the distance that has crept up between them over the years. Like many father figures, Grandpa Lázaro had difficulty adjusting to Sierra coming into womanhood, no longer a little girl. This distance between them explains why Sierra doesn’t yet know about her heritage, and why Grandpa Lázaro has so many things he still needs to explain to her about who she is.

“One world’s schizophrenic is another’s medicine man, no?” 

As Sierra reads Dr. Wick’s notes, she is surprised to learn that he believes Grandpa Lázaro’s ideas about shadowshapers and spirits. Sierra expects that a university-educated professor like Dr. Wick might be more skeptical, but in his notes, he explains that wisdom can come in unexpected forms. Often those who are the most brilliant and forward-thinking are misunderstood in their time; our perspective can determine whether we find someone credible or not.

“The worst part about it, the part she couldn’t let go of, was that the thought came from her. Not from one of the teachers or guidance counselors whose eyes said it again and again over sticky-sweet smiles. Not from some cop on Marcy Avenue or Tía Rosa. It came from somewhere deep inside her. And that meant for all the times she’d shrugged off one of those slurs, some little tentacle of them still crawled its way toward her heart. Not enough milk. Not light enough. Morena. Negra. No matter what she did, that little voice came creeping back, persistent and unsatisfied.”

Sierra explains the experience of being treated as inferior due to the color of her skin and her Puerto Rican ancestry. As terrible as these incidents are, the worst part about them is that they affect the way Sierra feels about herself. Sierra wants to believe in her own strength and abilities, but she finds it difficult with so many outside voices telling her other things, planting the seeds of doubt in herself.

“The floor had filled with dancers grinding up on each other, and the murals, Sierra noticed, responded in kind. All the swirling angels suddenly seemed much closer together; the military man was making out with one of the mermaids; even the palm trees swayed seductively in time with each other.” 

At Club Kalfour, Robbie shows Sierra how their powers allow them to help spirits have second lives within the murals on the walls. Sierra sees how the behavior of the spirits mimic the living human beings, indicating that they are truly still alive, filled with the same wants, desires, and lust for life. The activity of the spirits within the murals also signifies the growing attraction between Sierra and Robbie, who similarly try to get closer to each other as the music changes.

“Wick knew about my powers before I did.” 

In this moment, Sierra comes to the realization that Wick used a throng haint to find out about her powers before she ever knew about them. Sierra has spent the duration of the novel realizing that her family is keeping secrets from her that greatly impact her connection with her family history, her cultural heritage, and her very life. Being kept in the dark makes Sierra feel betrayed, and this proves to be yet another instance where someone else knew the truth about her before she even got the chance to find out about herself.

“I mean—it's an exchange. You give them form, they work for you—with you, ideally, toward your goal.” 

Robbie teaches Sierra how to shadowshape, explaining how the spirits and the shadowshaper work together. Sierra and Robbie have already encountered corpuscules and throng haints, creatures formed when shadowshapers have misused spirits and forced them to do their will. However, Robbie reminds Sierra—and the reader—that the relationship is meant to be an exchange that benefits both spirit and shadowshaper, allowing them to connect and bring something beautiful into existence.

“We ain't white. And you shaming everyone and looking down your nose because you can’t even look in the mirror isn’t gonna change that. And neither is me marrying someone paler than me. And I’m glad! I love my hair. I love my skin. I didn’t ask your opinion about my life and I don’t wanna hear it. Not now, not ever.”

Earlier in the book, Sierra struggled with her body image and the parts of herself that marked her as being non-white. However, the more Sierra learns about her heritage as a shadowshaper, the more she feels in touch with her ancestors and culture. This, in turn, allows her to understand that her self-worth is independent of trying to look as white as possible. Instead, Sierra embraces the parts of her that show her diverse ancestry, not caring if anyone else agrees.

“Sierra’s dragon was almost done and looking fierce. She got out her painting supplies and went to work. Now that she knew she was a shadowshaper, the painting took on a whole new life for her. She was a part of the image somehow, and she knew that when it was finished, the bond between her and the colorful, towering figure would literally be sealed by spirit. It would become part of this wild family legacy she was only beginning to understand.” 

Sierra has always enjoyed her art, but it has taken on a different dimension for her now that she has become aware of her powers. Sierra realizes that her artwork allows her to reconnect with her ancestry and bring the spirits of the past to life. Though Sierra’s shadowshaping powers are supernatural, all artwork can allow people to feel a stronger connection to their cultural heritage; art can be a vehicle to explore the past and reconnect with loved ones who have been lost.

“The spirits were protecting Juan, Sierra realized. He didn’t need her warning about Wick; he was safe. She exhaled and let the moment sweep over her. It was like being inside the most beautiful car accident in the world with all your best friends and a bunch of total strangers and knowing you couldn’t get hurt.” 

Sierra’s life has been turned upside down since learning about her shadowshaping abilities, and she’s faced danger and seen loved ones get hurt and even die as a result. Fearing for her brother’s life, Sierra rushes to the club where he’s playing, where she is relieved to find Juan being protected by the spirits of the dead. Although Sierra’s world has become chaotic since the beginning of her journey, she finds peace in understanding that she and her loved ones will be looked after and protected by the spirits of the dead.

“Wick’s final, frantic journal entry still echoed through Sierra. He had wanted spirit powers he’d kept secret from Lázaro —whatever creepiness those Sorrows had taught him. And he thought he should get Lucera’s role. Sierra gazed into the murky mirror over the sink, past all the hearts and names etched into the glass. How could something as sacred and beautiful as shadowshaping get twisted to make corpuscules and haints? The thrill of watching her chalk creations come to life in the park had been the most amazing thing she’d ever felt.” 

Thinking over Wick’s motivations, Sierra mourns for the misuse of power that can turn something beautiful into something ugly. Throughout the novel, Older has been critical of those—like some anthropologists—who violate and appropriate other cultures for their own selfish gain. Wick embodies this abuse of culture by stealing wisdom and power from what should be a sacred practice of commemorating the dead.

“An angry flame surged inside of her. Juan and her grandpa, talking endlessly about all these deep spiritual things, whole other worlds that Sierra had been completely excluded from. How could they? She breathed in and tried to let the anger go. She stared impatiently into the dark, empty tunnel. This has to end, she thought to herself, and this is the only way I know to do it.”

As Sierra and her friends track down Lucera, Sierra feels temporarily overcome with anger and a feeling of betrayal that Grandpa Lázaro and Juan excluded her from the truth about her family heritage. However, Sierra realizes that her anger won’t help her find Lucera. What Lázaro and Juan did was wrong, but Sierra must push past her anger and draw on all the strength she has to stop Wick and save the shadowshapers.

“Crazy. It was the same word María and Tía Rosa flung at Grandpa Lázaro. The same word anyone said when they didn’t understand something. Crazy was a way to shut people up, disregard them entirely.” 

Sierra keeps the truth about shadowshaping a secret from her friends, afraid they might not believe her, and Izzy proves her correct when she suggests Sierra’s story sounds crazy. Once confronted with her fear, Sierra realizes that the term is used as a tool to silence people and keep them in line. The fear of being called crazy can lead people to second guess anything outside of the norm and to change themselves to fit in, and Sierra realizes she can no longer let this word have power over her.

“Everything. Just the idea of someone explaining everything made her slightly delirious with hope. If someone could explain everything, that meant that everything actually had an explanation.” 

When Sierra encounters a corpuscule using Manny’s body, she knows not to trust it, but she is tempted to believe him when Manny promises to explain everything. Sierra has spent much of the novel—and her life—looking for explanations about her family, her heritage, and her powers, and almost everyone has withheld information from her and kept her barricaded within a wall of secrecy. Even though Sierra can sense that the corpuscle means her harm, the promise of knowing and understanding everything that’s been happening to her makes her lower her defenses.

“‘You got that magic touch, Mami, but you too afraid to use it. Too afraid that the other teachers at your school or Tía Rosa might find out, or that itd’e be more power than you knew what to do with. That’s probably it—you're afraid of your own power.’ Sierra was sniffling, but she refused to let the tears out. Her jaw was set, her eyes narrow. ‘Well, I’m not afraid, Mami. I’m not scared of my own power. I’m not ashamed of what I got. Not ashamed of my history, and I’m not ashamed of my Abuela.’” 

Sierra confronts María about all the secrets she’s kept from her, but in the process, Sierra realizes that María has been hiding the truth from herself, too. María has lived her life in fear, shying away from her family’s powers and legacies, all because she wants to be perceived as normal. Sierra realizes that even more than she’s been cheated by having the truth kept from her, María has cheated herself by pretending to be what she isn’t and denying her true self.

“Sierra swung around suddenly and reached for the Sorrow. It darted out of the way, hissing. ‘That’s what I thought,’ Sierra said. ‘Now scatter. I’ve gotten all I need from you.’” 

Though Sierra has been warned that the Sorrows are dangerous and can potentially destroy her, Sierra displays her bravery and trademark attitude by taking them head-on when they refuse to help her find Wick. Sierra has spent much of the novel being kept in the dark by her family and friends, forced to live a somewhat passive existence, but this moment demonstrates that Sierra refuses to be walked over anymore.

“Sierra was Lucera, a fierce spiritual warrior like her abuela. She was stepping into her destiny. The spirits’ intentions unified with hers. They were righteous, these spirits, and ferocious. They were not about to see their world destroyed at the hands of some old fool like Wick. No. They, Sierra and the spirits, would not be manipulated, dogged, oppressed. Not after so many years of struggle.”

Sierra has worried about taking on the role of Lucera and if she is prepared enough, but once Sierra sees how Wick exploits the spirits, Sierra finds the courage to take on the challenge. Though she has doubted herself, Sierra finds strength in knowing that she isn’t just fighting for herself—she's fighting for her family, her ancestors, her people, and her culture, in a symbolic battle against white oppression.

“She had to remind herself to breathe. Become one. One wasn’t a person: It was a state. One with the spirits. Their purpose, energy, power, ferocity, had all unified with her body. She was no longer the conduit; she was the form, the vessel. She, they, had become one.” 

Sierra has long puzzled over the riddle left in the song by Lucera about “Where the powers converge and become one.” In piecing over it, Sierra has at different times believed this line referred to a person, place, or event. Now she realizes that it refers to becoming one in purpose with the spirits and their desire to protect their home and their culture from Wick, just as Sierra wants to do. Unlike Wick, Sierra does not have to force the spirits against their will, but she instead uses their desire aligned with her own to bring about an even greater power. 

“They had been calling her. She’d been too scared to realize it at first, and then too confused. Now she knew. It wasn’t her abuela the spirits were summoning. It was her, Sierra, the new Lucera, heir to the legacy of shadowshapers.” 

Sierra finally comes to understand her role as both a shadowshaper and the new Lucera. Sierra has been kept in the dark about her heritage for so long that many new developments seemed strange, confusing, and even frightening, but Sierra is finally able to come to an understanding about her abilities. In doing so, she gains the power that she needs to finally take on Wick.