STAFF CHIOCE – Gods of Jade and Shadow

Join the Story Line Books Staff Choice Book Club for Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, part of our year of retellings celebrating the power of telling your own stories instead of letting someone else tell them for you.

In 1920s Mexico, Casiopea Tun spends her days cleaning her wealthy grandfather’s house and dreaming of a life beyond her small town. When she opens a mysterious wooden chest and accidentally frees Hun-Kamé, the deposed Mayan god of death, she is swept into a journey across Mexico to help him reclaim his throne from the brother who betrayed him.

Drawing on Maya mythology while embracing the glamour, upheaval, and possibility of the Jazz Age, Moreno-Garcia tells a story in which ancient gods and legends belong not to a distant or vanished past, but to a vibrant, living culture. At its heart is Casiopea herself—a young woman determined to decide who she will become rather than accept the life others have chosen for her.

There’s plenty here to dig into together: mythology and retelling, cultural identity, fate and free will, and what changes when stories rooted in a culture are told by the people whose histories and traditions they represent.

All are welcome—even if you haven’t finished the book!