Every year on All Souls’ Day, Mara, along with her Nene and Popi, walk throughout their village and sing to those who had loved ones die during the year. But this year is different. This year, Nene and Mara continue the tradition without Popi. Why are they still the ones singing for others? Shouldn’t the townspeople be singing for Popi? But Nene is insistent that Popi would want them to continue the tradition. They go from house to house and Mara becomes more and more sad. When they are done, Nene goes home and Mara has an idea of how to honor Popi. Popi’s All Souls Song is a touching story about simple ways we can affect our communities and bring comfort to others. 

 

All Souls’ Day is on November 2 every year, following Halloween and All Saints’ Day. Monks began the celebration in the ninth century as a day to prayer to commemorate Christians who had died. In 1915, Pope Benedict XV made it part of the church calendar following the tragic losses of life in World War I. In some European areas, singing door-to-door is a traditional way of celebrating and remembering the faithful dead. Popi’s All Souls Song taps into that tradition—almost unknown and uncelebrated in America—to suggest that we would do well, that our communities would benefit, from such a remembrance. 

 

I liked that the celebration of All Souls’ did not seem to be a universal thing in the book. That seems to mirror how it is actually celebrated. Rather, it is this one family who keeps the tradition alive and is perhaps underappreciated for it. I don’t think it’s meant to be a key part of the book, but there is a teaching principle here about how all it takes to build community is the faithful service of a few within the community to be that connective tissue. Overall, Popi’s All Souls Song draws readers into a ritual that helps build community—not just with the living but with the ancestors and honored dead as well.