Solimar: The Sword of the Monarchs

Solimar: The Sword of the Monarchs (2022) is a middle-grade adventure by Pam Muñoz Ryan. On the cusp of her quinceañera, the celebration of her 15th birthday, soon-to-be princess Solimar receives a gift of prophecy and a daunting task: to protect the monarch butterflies that become magically embedded in her red rebozo. Solimar embarks on a dangerous journey to save her royal family, kingdom, and the ancestral home of the monarch butterflies from the clutches of a neighboring king. A new friend, Berto; Solimar’s magical ally, Lázaro, a quetzal bird; and Zarita, a talking doll, help Solimar discover her confidence and inner strength. The novel explores The Importance of Conservation, Girl Power: Finding Your Inner Strength, and Coming of Age: Balancing Independence and Responsibility. Solimar: The Sword of the Monarchs is listed on the 2023-2024 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List.

Pagination in this guide refers to the 2022 Disney Hyperion edition.

Plot Summary

Solimar is the daughter of King Sebastián, ruler of mountainous San Gregorio, one of 12 Mexican kingdoms. Solimar does not like the fuss of being a princess, though she wishes she could have more influence running the kingdom like her brother, heir-to-the-throne Prince Campeón. Solimar decides she is old enough to visit the sacred oyamel forest alone and watch the return of the migrating monarch butterflies. The monarchs are important to San Gregorio. The sale of the villagers’ artwork featuring the butterflies helps the kingdom prosper. Lázaro the quetzal bird accompanies Solimar. The two share an uncanny ability to communicate. Butterflies land on Solimar and her red shawl. Awestruck, Solimar promises to protect their habitat. She hears chanting, is enveloped by a sparkly cloud, and notices that butterflies are embedded in her rebozo.

Solimar returns to the village with her grandmother, an herbolaria who makes medicines from plants and is known familiarly as Abuela. Solimar realizes that she herself is compelled to correctly answer questions that villagers ask about the future. Solimar suspects she is under a spell. The king, Campeón, and the village men will leave the next day to sell their crafts at a market several days journey away in Puerto Rivera. King Sebastián is unconcerned about neighboring King Aveno’s avaricious desire to buy and clearcut their oyamel forest. Sebastián plans to organize an alliance of other kingdoms to stand against King Aveno. Solimar wishes she and other women could join the caravan. Solimar learns, shockingly, that Campeón does not want to be king. In Puerto Rivera, he plans to board a ship, the La Quinta, and travel the world.

After the caravan leaves, Abuela learns about the spell Solimar was under. Abuela takes Solimar to visit her mentor, the curandera Doña Flor. Solimar is frightened at first: Doña Flor practices magic, and has several enchanted, sentient dolls. However, Doña Flor uses her talents for good. She explains that the ancestral spirits of the monarchs chose Solimar to protect butterflies who were weakened during the migration—the ones in her rebozo, or shawl. Solimar must expose the shawl to sunlight, and when the butterflies grow stronger, they will emerge. Solimar has a gift of prophecy, but until the butterflies grow stronger, she will weaken them. Anyone trying to break her connection to the rebozo will suffer the “wrath” of the ancestral monarchs. Solimar accepts the big responsibility. One of Doña Flor’s talking dolls, Zarita, becomes Solimar’s companion.

Solimar suns the rebozo regularly, and butterflies gradually emerge. Preparations for Solimar’s quinceañera celebration continue. At this time, Solimar will symbolically transition from childhood to womanhood in a ceremony where her father exchanges her flat shoes for fancy heeled ones. While getting fitted for her party dress, Solimar goes back to her room for the shoes. When she returns, she sees that King Aveno and his guards, helped by a traitor, Juan Pedro, have seized control of the castle and taken everyone hostage. King Aveno wants to use Solimar’s magical gift for himself. Solimar escapes through a secret tunnel and runs to Doña Flor. Solimar must warn her father in Puerto Rivera. Doña Flor encourages Solimar, giving her a canoe and instructions on how to navigate the deadly Río Diablo and watery cave labyrinth.

Solimar, Lázaro, and Zarita travel down river, but are sucked towards a huge waterfall. A net saves them, but they lose the canoe. When the net is reeled in, Solimar meets Berto, an older boy who lives in a tree house while he follows his late father’s dreams of channeling river water to his parched agricultural homeland. Berto agrees to help Solimar get to Puerto Rivera and save her kingdom and the monarchs.

Pursued by Aveno’s guards, the group takes Berto’s raft over dangerous rapids and river obstacles. Though afraid, Solimar perseveres. The group successfully navigates the final hazard, the labyrinth. Solimar and Berto excitedly realize the new possibilities that the river passage opens for their homelands.

The group hikes to Puerto Rivera. Aveno’s men are everywhere, but the friends successfully connect with Campeón, who gives up his personal plans to help them. They dupe some of Aveno’s guards with a fake King Sebastián, while Lázaro and Zarita distract and frighten guards.

As part of the plan, Solimar and Berto return to San Gregorio as prisoners. King Aveno stages a public display of Solimar’s magic. For the fete, Abuela and the castle chef serve enchanted pastries, making any guards who eat them fall hopelessly in love with an ordinary object. As Solimar helplessly gives Aveno correct answers, she worries about the last butterfly in the rebozo. King Sebastián, Campeón, the crew of the La Quinta, and new alliance members arrive to arrest Aveno. To escape, Aveno and Juan Pedro take the rebozo from Solimar. A dark, angry whirlwind sweeps in and engulfs them. Solimar sees the last monarch emerge safely from the rebozo, and realizes her magic is gone.

Solimar celebrates her quinceañera, changing into practical, yet fancy shoes to commemorate her womanhood. Thankful for Berto’s aid, King Sebastián annexes Berto’s homeland into San Gregorio, and supports his water project. Campeón still plans to travel the world. He and Sebastián name Solimar prince-regent for as long as Campeón is gone, meaning Solimar will likely be king. Solimar is thrilled to have a voice in governing the kingdom.