My Fate According to the Butterfly by Gail Villanueva had so much going for it. A novel from the perspective of a girl growing up in suburban Philippines. A story of coming of age, coming to terms, and coming clean, all seemed like a story that would up lift and enlighten. However, that was not the case. The cultural things that were included in the novel were fascinating and quite interesting, but most seemed to be thrown in to prove the story took place in the Philippines. The ones that were pertinent to the story, namely the disgust of colonialism, problems with the government, and the cultural outlook towards divorce and relationships, were heavy and seemed out of place in a book that is geared towards middle grade readers. Add to that the fact that this novel is about coming to terms with the drug abuse of a parent and what it does to a family and this novel is weighty with real life drama. There is also the story line that the main character, Sab, thinks she is dying throughout the whole novel because she saw an all black butterfly that superstition says is the predictor of death.

Aside from the heft of the issues at hand and the fact that it doesn’t seem particularly age applicable, My Fate According to the Butterfly does have some things of merit. The look into a family that is anything but normal and how they cope and deal with it all, meaning the good, the bad, and the ugly, is somewhat refreshing. They make it work, because they know it’s important. The reconciliation at the end is the same, while not normal or even your typical “happy every after”,  it is also refreshing.

I can see young people that are going through something similar relating to this novel, or for someone to send home the message that drugs ruin more lives than just the person taking them. Other than that, it is a dense novel that will certainly invoke a lot of questions from the age group it is targeting.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Scholastic Press (A Scholastic Imprint)

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 1mild obscenity. 

Violence/Gore.  In connection with myth of a black butterfly foretelling death, several different peoples deaths are mentioned; Person that is high on drugs walks into a character and knocks her on to the subway tracks; Police shoot guns into a crowd of people in which 4 of the main characters are a part of; Secondhand report that someone was shot in a police raid. 

Sex/Nudity:  Person is referred to as her father’s boyfriend (3 times); Boy pushes back hair of girl in a romantic way.

Mature Subject Matter:

Death; Drug Abuse; Drug Rehabilitation; Prison; Homosexuality.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Secondhand report of gang of boys being high on drugs; Person referred to as a drug addict multiple different times; Person describes the drug problem on the streets and how the police are rounding up people and some people are lucky and go to rehab; Person says she wants to do something about the drug problem on the streets; Person that is high stumbles into main character; Someone chews nicotine gum to help him quit smoking; Pictures at an art exhibit are said to be “abstract representations of drug addiction and its effects on people”; Newspaper article mentions someone dealing drugs to college kids.