Luli Gray

When Esperanza gives her last pear to feed a stranger, she is rewarded with a bumper crop of the juicy fruit, and the ability to trap anyone who climbs her tree. This latter proves quite useful when Senor Death comes to call, and she doesn't want to die. Unfortunately, Esperanza's decision to strand him in her pear tree has unexpected consequences. Now nothing can die, leading to more suffering than can be imagined. Relenting when she learns that her old friend is terminally ill, in pain, and longing for the end to come, Esperanza is given a further gift: she will only die when she herself chooses. And so it is that hope - "Esperanza" in Spanish - remains in the world...

Published posthumously, The Pear Tree is a book that author Luli Gray, perhaps best known for the middle-grade fantasy series that began with Falcon's Egg, was working on as her own death approached. It is a significantly edited version of a traditional folktale found in Spain and throughout Latin America, originally known as "Tia Miseria y la Muerte" (Aunt Misery and Death). In this traditional version, Aunt Misery traps Death in order to bargain for her own immortality, and is not concerned with the welfare of others. I can certainly understand why Gray, approaching her own demise, wanted to emphasize the immortality of hope rather than misery, and I appreciated the afterword here, that spelled out the changes made. The story itself, as it appears here, is engaging, and the artwork from Madelyn Goodnight is quite beautiful. Recommended to all young folklore enthusiasts, and to anyone looking for children's stories about death.… (altro)