A Snake Falls to Earth: Newbery Honor Award Winner

by Darcie Little Badger

inner bad-mouther came to a compromise. I moved

“Grandfather, how old are you?” she asked. “I don’t know,” he said. “You don’t know? Really?” “Do you know how many breaths you’ve taken?” he asked her. Sona hummed, like she was actually trying to calculate the answer, but she soon gave up with a reluctant, “No.” “Why not?” he wondered. “Because it doesn’t matter,” she said.

“If you don’t mind,” I said, “I choose the book as my gift.” “Can you read quickly? It’ll disappear in two days.” “Yes,” I told her. “I’ve got a knack for reading. Momma always praised my language

Imagine trying to predict the whole tangled fate of global climate years, decades in advance. Under conditions nobody has witnessed

doubt any hawk can manage a chill-looking stare. They just have a high-intensity resting face.

them, but after a dizzying five minutes, they

Pronouns

Some knowledge—like the story of the path to anywhere-you-please—is most powerful when it’s known by everybody. But other knowledge is best protected, held close.

“Water!”

I occasionally noticed their silhouette

Pronoun

rarely happens so suddenly, but I’ve witnessed this type of decline in health before. I’m sorry.” Not that. Not that. Not— “It’s extinction.”

In the streaky oversink mirror, Nina saw bright orange smudges on her white incisors. The lipstick had left residue. What’s more, her neck and collar were covered with blue splotches, transfer from the temporary hair dye. That was the last time Nina tried to be colorful in public.

Same

Confusing

because the Lipan language doesn’t use gendered pronouns.

“Please don’t be too angry,” he said. “We desperately need your help.”

Sweet

That doesn’t line up with experience, though. Locations don’t do magic. People do magic at different locations.”

nope-tunnel.”

“What’s the climate like in the Reflecting World?” Grandma asked. “Does it imitate ours?” I understood the point of her question. Earth’s recent transformation was common knowledge. Sea level fluctuations. Increases in the average temperature. Ecological devastation. Explosions in some species (like mosquitoes, which I personally enjoy eating; that said, I respect that they have a scary side as disease spreaders and itchy-lump makers). The decimation of other species. But until Ami got sick, it