Before the Devil Knows You're Here

Starred review from August 28, 2023
In 1836 Wisconsin, Mexican American 17-year-old Catalina lives with her father and younger brother, Jose Luis. Following the appearance of three mysterious apples on their isolated wilderness doorstep, her father suddenly grows ill and dies. Soon after, the Man of Sap—a monstrous figure, made of bark and leaves, from the fairy tales her father spun for her—kidnaps Jose Luis. To recover her brother, Catalina pursues the man into the woods, along the way witnessing the trail of destruction he has left in his wake, and the myriad horrifying entities that populate the world undetected. Demons both physical and psychological plague Catalina as she endeavors to preserve what’s left of her family and discover how the Man of Sap’s mysterious past connects to her own. Via an intoxicatingly woven dual POV, Krause (A Dress for the Wicked) presents a narrative that splits equal time between Catalina, as she undergoes her fierce and unique journey, and John, the Man of Sap, whose history is enriched by complicated introspection that delves into class differences and addiction. By tapping into fears both folkloric and biblical, Krause pulls no punches, injecting this atmospheric telling with original and inviting horrors. Ages 14–up. Agent: Susan Hawk, Upstart Crow Literary.

Starred review from July 15, 2023
Folklore, fantasy, and horror are interwoven in this story of a 17-year-old's journey to save her brother set in 1836 Wisconsin. The story unfolds as Catalina's father dies and her brother, Jose Luis, is stolen by the Man of Sap, a monstrosity of bark and leaves. Pa ranted about the terror of the Man of Sap's deadly apples before he succumbed to them, but when the monster disappears with her brother, Jose Luis, Catalina's world falls apart. Taking a satchel of supplies, Mam�'s beloved book of poetry by Sor Juana de la Cruz--a treasure from her Mexican homeland--and a knife that belonged to her white Pa, Catalina sets off to find her brother and destroy the Man of Sap. Along the way, she finds friendship, terrifying creatures, whispers of magic, and the key to believing that love is not always lost. Surrounded by poetry, both that of de la Cruz and her own personal writing that she cannot finish, Catalina finds words are a redemptive force. Readers are thrown into an exploration of the heartbreak and loneliness following death and loss, and each character, whether human or otherwise, brings introspection and courage to the tale. Mesmerizingly told through the eyes of both Catalina and the monster, the book invites readers to travel with characters who are reckoning with greed, fear, and love as they consider what makes a monster--and whether monsters can be redeemed. Highly imaginative and powerfully affecting. (author's note) (Speculative fiction. 14-18)

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October 15, 2023
Grades 8-12 In the state of Wisconsin in 1836, Mexican American Catalina lives with Pa and her brother, Jose Luis, in a cabin by the woods. They have heard many tales of the Man of Sap, a being that roams the earth planting seeds that grow into the most beautiful but poisonous apple trees that lure you to your death. One day, three tempting apples show up on their doorstep. Though Pa, understanding the danger, summarily destroys them, he suddenly falls ill, and the Man of Sap appears, taking Jose Luis with him. Catalina immediately embarks on a journey into the woods to find the Man of Sap and save her brother before it's too late. Krause has written an engaging story filled with adventure, curses, twists, and a touch of romance. Told from the points of view of both Catalina and the Man of Sap, this title, presenting an eerie twist on the Johnny Appleseed legend, uses lyrical writing to invite readers into a haunting world riddled with folkloric elements that will hook them from the propulsive opening pages.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2023

Gr 9 Up-Since the death of her mother, Catalina and her younger brother have frequently moved between cabins in the Wisconsin wilderness with their dreamy father. Teenaged Catalina once wrote poetry but has since abandoned her passion, instead working to keep her family fed. With the sudden appearance of three apples outside their door, Catalina's father erupts into uncharacteristic violence, but this is only the beginning of the family's new woes. A sudden illness claims her father and at his deathbed a monster appears; the monster abducts her brother, and Catalina is left determined to pursue them both. On her hunt, she meets a lumberjack named Paul, also searching for the monster. As the two journey deeper into the wilderness, they begin to learn just how entwined their pasts may be with the Man of Sap. In this book told in dual time lines, readers follow Catalina on her quest for the Man of Sap, while learning how the monster's bargain with the devil caused him to become that way. Readers will slowly connect the work's abundant symbolism to the stories of Johnny Appleseed and Paul Bunyan. The work also draws on the Bible and the poetry of Mexican writer Sor Juana. Elements of horror twine to create the feeling of a haunting American folktale, with apples-themselves symbols of both vitality and decay-at the center. Multiple scenes of animal death are included. Catalina and her brother are biracial Mexican and white. VERDICT A lyrical story of greed, generational curses, forgiveness, and self-acceptance, this folkloric tale is a must-read.-Maggie Mason Smith

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2023
When Catalina's pa dies after drinking cider made from a poisoned apple, "wind burst through the cabin like a ferocious intruder...a man, but his skin rose and fell in patchy, lopsided ridges. Bark? Green leaves with serrated edges sprouted from his hair. Birds circled his head." It's Johnny Appleseed -- he goes by "John, actually" -- and this Faustian take on the folk hero posits that he was compelled to plant poisoned apple seeds across North America after selling his soul to the devil. John has come for Catalina's younger brother, Jose Luis, and she sets off to save him by tracking one of John's birds. Soon she finds a companion in a young lumberjack, Paul, who is also hunting John. They gradually open up to each other and acknowledge their growing mutual attraction as they face more harrowing forest obstacles. Interspersed with third-person narration are first-person accounts from John detailing his desperate dealings with the maleficent "banker." Krause's North American frontier is diverse and filled with historically rooted fantastical elements (e.g., "tree weepers": sobbing canopy-dwellers dressed in worn period gowns). Her lyrical prose shines in descriptions of nature: "Late summer rains had fattened the wilderness, making it full and dense, as though it wore a coat it had made for itself." Catalina's emotional growth, including reflections on her maternal Mexican heritage (her mother died years earlier) and identity as a poet, and several surprising plot twists carry this riveting tale to a satisfying conclusion. Monica de los Reyes

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)