Paper Boats, Sand, and Hydrogen Balloons: The Meaning Behind the Magic in Cousins in the Time of Magic, a guest post by Emma Otheguy

In high school I had a recurring argument with a teacher about whether symbolism was “real.” I thought there was no way authors thought that much about the meaning or color of random objects; she thought I should quiet down and do my homework. 

Twenty years later, I am an author who owes her teacher an apology. It turns out I do consider the meaning of each tiny details when I’m writing. For the benefit of the next generation of doubting kids, here’s the cheat sheet to important elements in my upcoming novel Cousins in the Time of Magic.

PAPER BOATS: The three kids in Cousins in the Time of Magic travel back in time in a magical boat. Illustrator Poly Bernatene perfectly captured this magic vessel: it looks like a life-size version of one of those toy boats you make with newspapers. My father taught me how to make them when I was a kid, and they always reminded me of a poem by Afro-Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén, which my mother would read aloud from a picture book anthology.

The poem is called “Un son para niños antillanos” (A Son for the Children of the Antilles—a “son” is a type of Cuban music). I loved this poem. I was captivated by the story it tells, in unmistakably Cuban meter, of children wandering the sea in a boat without a helmsman. To me it was a poem about possibility and adventure. Written in the present tense, it suggested that this magic boat was out there right now, if I could only go find it. I can also now appreciate the poem’s exploration of the racial history of the Caribbean.

When I imagined the ship that my protagonists would travel in, I recalled how Guillén’s paper boat inspired my thirst for adventure. I was also reminded of how I have been helped by learning Latino history. The children in Guillén’s boat are navigating the waters of America without a helmsman, engaging in a democratic process that I believe depends on knowing the history of our country and our people. When my protagonists get into a boat that is made of newspaper—literally the events of the past—it foreshadows the history they are about to learn.

SAND: The cousins summon their boat using sand, a reference to a poem by Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges titled “El reloj de arena” (The Sand Timer). This poem talks about how sand measures and witnesses time, and how sand is what is left when time erodes. I read the poem again and again while I was wrestling with Cousins in the Time of Magic.  

HYDROGEN BALLOONS: During the U.S. Civil War, hydrogen balloons were used for spying. In Cousins in the Time of Magic, my protagonists dash behind Confederate lines, rescue a Latino Union officer, and deliver a sword made by Latinos in the United States to the Mexican army in time for the Battle of Puebla (what we now call Cinco de Mayo). How do the kids get from Virginia to Mexico? In one of the Union’s hydrogen balloons—inspired by a real balloon, which was really flown in by a Cuban-American officer, just like the sword is inspired by an actual historical artifact.

I considered for a long time whether to have so much of the book’s action take place in Mexico: perhaps, I thought, it would be more straight forward to have the whole book take place in Virginia. My readers would learn about Latinos who fought in the United States Civil War and hear about Cinco de Mayo from afar, at least giving them the chance to see that these events happened at the same time—surely that was enough? The Mexican sections of the book introduced research challenges, notably visiting my family in Mexico during a pandemic and sourcing books not readily available in New York.

In the end, I got on a plane and went to Mexico. I stayed with my cousins, I visited Puebla with a guide, and I put my own hands on the forts made famous by Cinco de Mayo. I filled a suitcase with books, learning the Mexican historiography of Cinco de Mayo, which is considerably more extensive and in-depth. A full half of the final book takes place in Mexico.

Why did I do it?

I did it because of The Wizard of Oz. No, really. When I think of hydrogen balloons, I don’t think of Civil War technologies. I certainly don’t think of Latinos operating them. Like many kids, I think of Oz. I think of the hours I spent in my public library as a kid, reading one Oz book a week for pretty much all of the fifth grade.

I think of how deeply I was shaped by my childhood reading and also the ways in which these books obscured and omitted what I most needed to know: that magic balloons don’t only fly to Kansas, that Latinos operated these historic artifacts, and that the line between the United States and Latin America is so much fainter than we ever tell children.

The hydrogen balloon has to cross the border. My protagonists’ voyage makes tangible the interconnected histories of the United States Civil War and Cinco de Mayo. The cousins aren’t learning about Latin America from afar, as a curious oddity that just happens to be so close to the United States. They are equally experiencing both places, seeing with every step of their adventure that freedom in the United States depended on freedom in Mexico, and vice-versa.

If someone wants to ask if I planned the significance of these objects, you can tell them yes: with plane flights and research and a lifetime of reading about boats and sand and magical balloons that make large distances small, I planned it all.

Meet the author

Emma Otheguy is the author of several books for young readers, including the picture books A Sled for Gabo and Martina Has Too Many Tías, the bilingual picture book Martí’s Song for Freedom, and the middle grade novels Sofía Acosta Makes a Scene, Cousins in the Time of Magic, Silver Meadows Summer, and, with Adam Gidwitz, The Madre de Aguas of Cuba, part of the Unicorn Rescue Society series. Visit her at EmmaOtheguy.com.

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About Cousins in the Time of Magic

Three cousins get transported back to 1862 to play an important role in the Battle of Puebla, the reason we celebrate Cinco de Mayo today, in this enchanting middle grade fantasy adventure.

History is alive with magic. That’s what zany Tía Xia is always telling cousins Jorge, Camila, and Siggy. Daredevil Jorge couldn’t be more different than his cousins: Camila is a dreamer who adores animals and Siggy is an aspiring influencer who has an exclusive party to attend. And their aunt has many secrets, including a mysterious diamond-encrusted sword that Jorge definitely wasn’t supposed to see.

But when the three stumble upon a time portal in their aunt’s yard, they are transported back to 1862, a past filled with wonders—and dangers. To return to the present, they must race to deliver the sword to General Ignacio Zaragoza in time for the historic Battle of Puebla in Mexico: the foundation of the holiday Cinco de Mayo.

As their journey to Mexico takes them through the Civil War–era United States, the cousins see just how much US history has been shaped by Latin communities. They must find the power within themselves to make sure things happen as they’re supposed to, without altering the past.

ISBN-13: 9781665915182
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date: 02/25/2025
Age Range: 8 – 12 Years

Filed under: Guest Post