February 1, 2023
In this series opener, 12-year-old Felice discovers her mother is La Llorona and embarks on a journey of self-discovery. The magical town of Tres Leches, Tejas, is home to La Llorona, a famous spirit from Mexican folklore. Haunting the local river, she cries out for her lost children. When Felice--whose father is absent and who believes her mother is dead--learns the truth, she sets her sights on visiting the river and meeting her mother. However, her overwhelming fear of water is one obstacle. Another is the opposition of her guardian, Uncle Clem. But Felice ultimately travels from her Corpus Christi home to Tres Leches along with its quirky mayor, Reynaldo, Clem's best friend. There she learns that the town is less sweet than advertised: Despite the abundance of bakeries, the townspeople are unkind, and dangers lurk in even a field of bluebonnet flowers. Felice pairs up with two young outcasts who also have supernatural parents--Ava, the daughter of La Lechuza, and Rooster, the son of a devil--to reunite with her mother and save the town from its magical curses. Explorations of bullying, grief, loss, and fear permeate the landscape and are naturally woven into the story. The characterizations of the secondary characters are well developed. This intriguing adventure centering Mexican American characters gives a maligned monstruo a backstory that reframes her story sympathetically. It will leave readers anticipating the sequel. A fresh, feminist take on Mexican folktales, rooted in family, belonging, and acceptance. (author's note) (Fiction. 8-12)
COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
February 1, 2023
Grades 5-8 From the author who brought about the captivating picture book Sing with Me: The Story of Selena Quintanilla (2021), L�pez returns to deliver a charming, yet ghostly, middle-grade fantasy. Twelve-year-old Felice is being raised by her maternal uncle Clem and has a severe phobia of all things aquatic. Believing this terror stems from her mother being La Llorona, she sneaks off to her birth town of Tres Leches to visit the ominous river where it all began. Setbacks such as a mayoral debate and a mob of townsfolk who fear La Llorona add to Felice's obstacles. During the journey, she befriends three amazingly unique individuals who aid in her quest to find and better understand her mother's suffering. L�pez takes a popular Latin folktale and reimagines it as a bewitching adventure sprinkled with Spanish terminology. This story is an excellent reminder of how fear, anger, or sadness can make people do foolish things; though, with the support of friends and family, people can create happy memories.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
February 20, 2023
The surviving child of a grieving ghost sets off to uncover familial mysteries in this folkloric series starter from López (Sing with Me). Twelve-year-old Felice has always lived under the shadow of her mother and brothers’ death by drowning. She was saved from the same fate by her uncle Clem, who has raised her in Corpus Christi, away from the river in Tres Leches, Tex., that “took my family and... almost took me.” With the arrival of Uncle Clem’s old friend Reynaldo, Tres Leches’s mayor, Felice learns that her mother still haunts the river where she and her sons died, seeking her remaining child, Felice. Reynaldo campaigned on the promise of a revitalized river, and he’s easily persuaded to take the girl back to Tres Leches, where she—alongside the children of other creatures from folklore—seeks to meet, and free, her mother’s ghost. Between Felice’s trauma-induced aquaphobia, the frightening reputation Felice’s mother has as La Llorona, and the river running suddenly dry, reuniting mother and daughter proves difficult. Both a loving, magically tinged portrayal of border-town Texas and a literalization of folklore, López’s moving portrayal of familial love and grief interweaves a tale of acceptance with a genuinely chilling ghost story. Characters read as of Mexican heritage. An author’s note concludes. Ages 8–12. Agent: Stefanie Sanchez Von Borstel, Full Circle Literary.
May 19, 2023
Gr 5-7-As a baby, Felice was the sole survivor of an accident where her mother and brothers drowned. Raised by her maternal uncle Clem in Corpus Christi, TX, she lives a fairly normal life, other than a severe case of aquaphobia. But everything changes with the sudden arrival of Reynaldo, the Mayor of Felice's birthplace (Tres Leches, TX). Reynaldo comes with the shocking news that Felice's mother, now known as La Llorona, still haunts the river where she drowned, making it inaccessible. Felice must return to Tres Leches and save the day. Felice's adventure is filled with obstacles, many of them magical, on her way to save her mother and the town. Along with Felice, the town of Tres Leches introduces a quirky cast of characters, some also hailing from Mexican folklore like La Lechuza and the Dancing Devil. The story makes reference to various Mexican traditions along with the use of Spanish terms throughout. The novel presents a great lesson on love, acceptance, and overcoming fears. VERDICT Recommended for readers who enjoy a fast-paced fantasy with folkloric roots. This is a good addition to any juvenile fiction collection, especially for those seeking shorter, less magic-heavy, books in the fantasy genre.-Hannah Pohl
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