La sombra del jacarandá

The Shadow of Jacaranda

Two moving stories intertwined by a common wound: the search for justice and truth behind the Argentine dictatorship.

“The need of young people to demand justice, and also to reveal family secrets, is the bridge that unites the two quests, captured by Bombara with delicacy and without obvious lapses in the line of reasoning.” (Natalia Blanc, cultural journalist)

Two moving stories are interwoven in this novel: the story of Roberto, a man who in his youth was involved in one of the clandestine burials carried out by the Argentine dictatorship of ‘76, and the story of Mateo and Agustín, two young brothers who set out to search for their grandparents, who disappeared during those years. A new work from the author of The Sea and the Serpent that once again investigates the painful events that took place in the most terrible years of Argentina’s history, focusing on the work of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team.

They are stories that open up spaces for reflection on the ways of processing deaths, of handling the bones, of dealing with disappearances and mourning. Characters that allow us to understand the life that follows the absence of a loved one, the whirlwind of emotions and curiosity that one feels upon finding a missing relative.

With the passage of time, the experience of the dictatorship is moving inexorably further away, so it is not surprising that the relationship of the new generations with the crimes against humanity committed then changes, transforms, finds new ways of being enunciated and put into action. This novel is an invitation to reflect, to generate opportunities for learning and conversation, to remember and honour democracy.

Key points

2025 – Cuatrogatos Foundation 100 Recommended Books
2024 – ALIJA IBBY Grand Prize Argentina, Best Book of the Year
2023 – National and Latin American Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature La hormiguita viajera (Argentina)

• It is, in a way, a continuation of The Sea and the Serpent.
• More than 5,000 copies sold in its first year of publication.
• It shows the way the prestigious Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team works.

Paula Bombara

2024 – Konex Foundation, Career Achievement Award, Youth Literature Category
2023, 2013 – IBBY Argentina, Grand Prize Best Book of the Year
2022-2014 – Five times winner of Cuatrogatos Foundation Award
2022-2017 – IBBY México, 4 times selected among the best young adult novels of the year
2017 – Banco del Libro de Venezuela, Endearing Novel Mention
2016, 2006 – The White Ravens List

  • Author: Paula Bombara
  • Illustrator:
  • Publisher: Norma Argentina - Santillana
  • Collection: Zona Libre
  • Year: 2022
  • Pages: 152
  • Size: 21 x 14 cm
  • Sold In: Spanish (LAT)
  • ISBN: 9789878070803
  • Category: Juvenil
    Adultos
  • Type : Novel
  • Genre : Fiction
  • Binding : Softcover

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