Review Detail

The Jumbies

Middle Grade Fiction 210

Scary adventure in Trinidad

January 05, 2016 (Updated: June 29, 2026)

Overall rating

5.0

Plot

5.0

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Corinne is happy living with her father in a house very close to the woods on an island near Haiti. She misses her mother, but sells oranges in the market and has some good friends. When the evil Severine shows up, things start getting very strange. Not only does Severine put Corinne's father under a spell, she tells Corinne that her mother was Severine's sister, which makes Corinne half Jumbie. Some Jumbies are nice, but Severine and many of the other magical creatures claim that the isaland was theirs first, and they want it back. There is a white witch who befriends Corinne and her friends, Dru, Malik and Bouki, but if she helps them, she will also have to help the creatures on the other side of the battle. Corinne has a necklace from her mother that holds the answer to this problem, but can the people of the island accept living alongside the Jumbies and their kind?

Good Points

It's nice to see fantasy books that aren't based on Celtic mythology. There are so many of those already, and yet almost every fantasy book that comes out gives a nod to some sort of medieval British story line. The notes on Haitian mythology in the back of the book are very helpful, and this was a great look into the superstitions and beliefs in a place that isn't usually covered.

Readers who like Mary Downing Hahn, Dan Poblocki or series like Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark or Scholastic's Midnight library will find The Jumbies to be a well paced book with engaging characters... some of which just might sneak up on them in the dark!