March 2023 Latinx Releases

ON SALE MARCH 7

Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter by Aida Salazar; Illustrator Molly Mendoza| PICTURE BOOK

Jovita dreamed of wearing pants! She hated the big skirts Abuela made her wear. She wanted to scale the tallest mesquite tree on her rancho, ride her horse, and feel the wind curl her face into a smile

When her father and brothers joined the Cristero War to fight for religious freedom, Jovita wanted to go, too. Forbidden, she defied her father's rules—and society's—and found a clever way to become a trailblazing revolutionary, wearing pants!

What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez | FICTION

The Ramirez women of Staten Island orbit around absence. When thirteen-year-old middle child Ruthy disappeared after track practice without a trace, it left the family scarred and scrambling. One night, twelve years later, oldest sister Jessica spots a woman on her TV screen in Catfight, a raunchy reality show. She rushes to tell her younger sister, Nina: This woman's hair is dyed red, and she calls herself Ruby, but the beauty mark under her left eye is instantly recognizable. Could it be Ruthy, after all this time?

The years since Ruthy's disappearance haven't been easy on the Ramirez family. It's 2008, and their mother, Dolores, still struggles with the loss, Jessica juggles a newborn baby with her hospital job, and Nina, after four successful years at college, has returned home to medical school rejections and is forced to work in the mall folding tiny bedazzled thongs at the lingerie store.

After seeing maybe-Ruthy on their screen, Jessica and Nina hatch a plan to drive to where the show is filmed in search of their long-lost sister. When Dolores catches wind of their scheme, she insists on joining, along with her pot-stirring holy roller best friend, Irene. What follows is a family road trip and reckoning that will force the Ramirez women to finally face the past and look toward a future—with or without Ruthy in it.

ON SALE MARCH 14

Amcient Night by David Bowles; Illustrator David Alvarez | PICTURE BOOK

Ancient Night is a twist on two Nahuatl traditions: the rabbit which the Feathered Serpent placed on the moon, and Yaushu, the Lord Opossum who ruled the earth before humans came, and who stole fire from the gods to create the sun. David Bowles displays his immense talent with full-color illustrations for the first time.

Will also be available in Spanish: Noche Antigua [9781646142545]

Aniana Del Mar Jumps In by Jasminne Mendez | MIDDLE GRADE

Aniana del Mar belongs in the water like a dolphin belongs to the sea. But she and Papi keep her swim practices and meets hidden from Mami, who has never recovered from losing someone she loves to the water years ago. That is, until the day Ani's stiffness and swollen joints mean she can no longer get out of bed, and Ani is forced to reveal just how important swimming is to her. Mami forbids her from returning to the water but Ani and her doctor believe that swimming along with medication will help Ani manage her disease. What follows is the journey of a girl who must grieve who she once was in order to rise like the tide and become the young woman she is meant to be. Aniana Del Mar Jumps In is a poignant story about chronic illness and disability, the secrets between mothers and daughters, the harm we do to the ones we love the most--and all the triumphs, big and small, that keep us afloat.

ON SALE MARCH 21

Lucha of the Night Forest by Tehlor Kay Mejia | YOUNG ADULT

A scorned god.
A mysterious acolyte.
A forgetting drug.
A dangerous forest.

One girl caught between the freedom she always wanted and a sister she can't bear to leave behind.

An edge-of-your-seat fantasy about a girl who will do anything to protect her sister—even if it means striking a dangerous bargain. Dark forces, forgotten magic, and a heart-stopping queer romance.

The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores | YOUNG ADULT

A queer Rapunzel retelling. Ava and Kaye used to be best friends. Until one night two years ago, vampires broke through the magical barrier protecting their town, and in the ensuing attack, Kaye’s mother was killed, and Ava was turned into a vampire. Since then, Ava has been trapped in her house. Her mother Eugenia needs her: Ava still has her witch powers, and Eugenia must take them in order to hide that she's a vampire as well. Desperate to escape her confinement and stop her mother's plans to destroy the town, Ava must break out, flee to the forest, and seek help from the vampires who live there. When there is another attack, she sees her opportunity and escapes.

Kaye, now at the end of her training as a Flame witch, is ready to fulfill her duty of killing any vampires that threaten the town, including Ava. On the night that Ava escapes, Kaye follows her and convinces her to travel together into the forest, while secretly planning to turn her in. Ava agrees, hoping to rekindle their old friendship, and the romantic feelings she'd started to have for Kaye before that terrible night.

But with monstrous trees that devour humans whole, vampires who attack from above, and Ava’s stepfather tracking her, the woods are full of danger. As they travel deeper into the forest, Kaye questions everything she thought she knew. The two are each other's greatest threat―and also their only hope, if they want to make it through the forest unscathed.

Too Soon for Adiós by Annette Chavez Macias | ADULT

No one expects to meet their father at their mother's funeral. But for Gabby Medina, that's exactly what happens. Her dad abandoned her when she was a baby, and now he's back.

And he wants to give her a house.

Gabby doesn't want the house—or him. But she could use the money. So Gabby agrees to take it under two conditions: First, she can sell the house whenever she wants. Second, accepting it doesn't mean she accepts him.

After they strike a deal, Gabby hires a contractor in preparation for a quick sale. But as she gets to know the town and these two new men in her life, she learns more about herself than she ever dared to think possible.

But is she ready to open herself up to the truth of what happened—and the promise of what could be?

Brighter Than the Sun by Daniel Aleman | YOUNG ADULT

Every morning, sixteen-year-old Sol wakes up at the break of dawn in her hometown of Tijuana, Mexico and makes the trip across the border to go to school in the United States. Though the commute is exhausting, this is the best way to achieve her dream: becoming the first person in her family to go to college.

When her family's restaurant starts struggling, Sol must find a part-time job in San Diego to help her dad put food on the table and pay the bills. But her complicated school and work schedules on the US side of the border mean moving in with her best friend and leaving her family behind.
With her life divided by an international border, Sol must come to terms with the loneliness she hides, the pressure she feels to succeed for her family, and the fact that the future she once dreamt of is starting to seem unattainable. Mostly, she'll have to grapple with a secret she's kept even from herself: that maybe she's relieved to have escaped her difficult home life, and a part of her may never want to return.

ON SALE MARCH 28

Into the Light by Mark Oshiro | YOUNG ADULT

It's been one year since Manny was cast out of his family and driven into the wilderness of the American Southwest. Since then, Manny lives by self-taught rules that keep him moving and keep him alive. Now, he's taking a chance on a traveling situation with the Varela family, whose attractive but surly son, Carlos, seems to promise a new future.

Eli abides by the rules of his family, living in a secluded community that raised him to believe his obedience will be rewarded. But an unsettling question slowly eats away at Eli's once unwavering faith in Reconciliation: Why can't he remember his past?

But the reported discovery of an unidentified body in the hills of Idyllwild, California, will draw both of these young men into facing their biggest fears and confronting their own identity and who they are allowed to be.

Last Sunrise in Eterna by Amparo Ortiz | YOUNG ADULT

Seventeen-year-old goth Sevim Burgos hates elves. Everyone else on earth loves the elves (especially their handsome princes) and would give anything to participate in Eterna's annual Exchange, where three teens can trade their dreams for a week of elven magic.

But Sevim knows things most people don't. She can see through the illusions the elves use to conceal their crimes. Ever since elves killed her father, Sevim has longed for revenge. So to help support her single mother, she has been selling abandoned elf corpses on the black market.

But it turns out that the elf prince Aro has noticed Sevim bodysnatching, so he kidnaps her mother in retaliation. To get her mother back, Sevim must participate in the Exchange.

In the home of the elves, Sevim will have to surrender her dreams and put her trust in the charming prince who took the last family member she has in order to master the art of elf magic. And in working with him, she will discover how the royal elves might be more tied to her own history than she ever suspected.

Saints of the Household by Ari Tison | YOUNG ADULT

Max and Jay have always depended on one another for their survival. Growing up with a physically abusive father, the two Bribri American brothers have learned that the only way to protect themselves and their mother is to stick to a schedule and keep their heads down.

But when they hear a classmate in trouble in the woods, instinct takes over and they intervene, breaking up a fight and beating their high school's star soccer player to a pulp. This act of violence threatens the brothers' dreams for the future and their beliefs about who they are. As the true details of that fateful afternoon unfold over the course of the novel, Max and Jay grapple with the weight of their actions, their shifting relationship as brothers, and the realization that they may be more like their father than they thought. They'll have to reach back to their Bribri roots to find their way forward.

Cool Green: Amazing, Remarkable Trees by Lulu Delacre | PICTURE BOOK

As he works with his young granddaughter to nurture a potted sapling, a Latino landscaper shares his love and admiration of trees. From the extraordinary rainbow gum tree to the mighty, towering redwood, each of the thirteen specimens he tells of is a miracle of the natural world—and some are strange beyond the wildest imagining. Brimming with exuberance and color, this ode to trees of the world—and the vast knowledge of landscapers and gardeners—offers a feast for the eyes.

Right Girl, Wrong Side by Ginny Baird | ADULT

Busy flower shop manager Evita Machado can't wait to get to Nantucket. With a bad breakup behind her, relaxing at the shore with her folks and her brothers and their families sounds like the sure cure for heartache, and their vacation destination looks like an amazing place! But when they arrive at the quaint rose-covered cottage, another group has already put down stakes: the Hatfields.

Ryan Hatfield was Evita's former crush from high school, but their business rival moms refused to let them date. Now history professor Ryan is here for a week with his parents, who won them this oceanfront rental in a society silent auction. Once it's clear there's been a double-booking due to a bidding mistake, Ryan's mom digs in her heels, meaning to stay. When Evita's mom won't back down either, both sides tepidly agree to share the luxury accommodations by dividing the cozy space.

With the boisterous Machados livening things up and the strait-laced Hatfields tamping them down, can Evita and Ryan keep the peace between the warring factions while fostering a growing chemistry between the two of them?

Calling the Moon: 16 Period Stories from Bipoc Authors Edited by Aida Salazar and Yamile Saied Mendez | MIDDLE GRADE

An essential, highly relatable collection of short fiction and poems around the topic of menstruation, written exclusively by authors who are Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color

For Angela, it came on the basketball court—while playing on the boys' team. For Penny, it came on a lakeside field trip, inspiring some cringeworthy moments of humor. And to Layla's disappointment, it came at the start of her first fasting Ramadan, mandating that she take a "holiday." Whether their period's coming spurs silence or celebration, whether they are well prepared for it or totally in the dark, the young people in these sixteen stories find that getting a period brings not only changes to their bodies, but also joy, sorrow, and self-discovery. Featuring BIPOC contributors who are some of today's most talented authors in middle-grade fiction, from funny to heartbreaking to powerful, all of them reassuring readers that they are not alone in their period journey.

Review and Excerpt: Our Ancestors Did Not Breathe This Air: A Collection of Poems

Note: The review and poems associated with this post majorly focus on author Ayse Guvenilir

Our Ancestors Did Not Breathe This Air is an anthology written by six Muslim women and it is about how they view culture, identity, womanhood, and so much more. Afeefah Khazi-Syed, Aleena Shabbir, Ayse Guvenilir, Maisha M. Prome, Mariam Dogar, and Marwa Abdulhai are a dynamic group of women of various backgrounds who met as undergrads at MIT. Not only do they share a love of STEM, but they also have a passion for poetry. Aside from their studies, they spent their days discussing their shared love of the art form and that love proved to be strong as even COVID-19 couldn’t deter them from continuing what they dub their “grounding medium.” 

The poems “when i think sunshine” and “comb through from root to end” are written by Ayse Guvenilir. Ayse Guvenilir was born in Austin, Texas to a Venezuelan mother and a Turkish father. When I read her poems, I found them to be relatable and very interactive, which added to the experience of her serene and powerful writing. On their website, Ayse says that she sees poetry as, “a form of writing that can surpass the bounds of what words are expected to be.” I truly believe readers will find that sentiment in her entries as well as in the poems of Afeefah, Aleena, Maisha, Mariam, and Marwa.

Reading “when i think sunshine” felt like I was reading about almost every memory I have of enjoying the summertime when I was a kid. Remembering those feelings of running around with my siblings and many cousins, enjoying the hot weather, and feeling like stress didn’t even exist during summer. With being written in haibun, a combination of prose and haiku, there was that added emphasis on those endless summer days that always ended as quickly as they started. Ayse perfectly captured that with the haiku at the conclusion, which only further showcases her strong writing style.

I found “comb through from root to end” to be another powerful entry, not just because of the message but also because of its format. Some lines are written to the left, some to the right, with the last few lines placed in the middle. It felt like I was moving my head back and forth between a conversation of people giving their perceived notions of a person, how they think someone should present themselves based on their identity (or identities), and almost making that person feel less than in terms of who they are. When the format ended in the middle, it felt like a powerful stop to the side comments. Like going in the middle and forging your own path in terms of who you are and who you want to be.

There are many other entries that are uniquely written in terms of format and various poetry styles, making them incredibly immersive. What’s also noteworthy about this collection is that some of the poems come with notes containing extra information, personal and not, about the entry. The additional knowledge makes them even more captivating because readers get to see the inspiration behind the story.

Our Ancestors Did Not Breathe This Air has many poems written by Ayse and her fellow co-authors that are incredibly immersive, captivating, and beautiful to read. They are multi-layered and there is always something to take away from their writing. It is a wonderful collection that contains their experiences and explorations into the many facets of their identity.

---

Enough

Ayse Guvenilir

I have never been where

I will never go stuck

in this house with a heavy ceiling

reaching for the truth of what

I was trying to do

with you when I said

that I had to go

book the next flight out

would they ever trust me

a gringa—as Abuela dutifully reminds me—

otherwise?

Not that

given the current state of affairs

they would ever trust anyone

outside of whom could fix

every one of their problems bringing

them light

in the middle of the night

it’s so hot

they can hear

their brain sweating feel

their sense slipping waiting

hours upon hours for gas shifts switching

in a car that is going to burn

anyways

the ground beneath my feet has never

felt more unstable than it feels right now

kids in CAGES the world AVOIDING

the humanitarian CRISIS—

like they avoid every crisis—

does anyone hear their cries into the echo

of the storage building

is it real? Does it matter?

How can I be

and not be saving

my home once-removed y

gente who I feel are my gente

bonded by lengua y risas y cultura

rooted in over exaggerations y bendiciones y

Dios te cuide y no te amo te adoro y

seemingly excessive abrazos y besos

that keep us whole.

Will I ever be enough

to save them all?

Enough: The two crises referenced are the immigration deportation and detainment along the border in the United States, and the continued political and economic hardships faced by many in Venezuela.

Excerpted from “Our Ancestors Did Not Breathe This Air: A Collection of Poems,” used with permission from Beltway Editions. (c) Ayse Guvenilir.

---

Ayse Angela Guvenilir was born in Austin into a family with a Turkish father, a Venezuelan mother, and three older brothers. Growing up in Texas, France, and various parts of upstate New York, Ayse has always used reading and writing for connection, reflection, and relaxation as she moved from place to place. She sees poetry in particular as a form of writing that can surpass the bounds of what words are expected to be, in turn connecting her with others. Ayse got her bachelor’s degree in biological engineering with a minor in creative writing from MIT and is currently a master’s student in the Biomechatronics Group at the MIT Media Lab. Through her work, Ayse aims to empathize, educate, and inspire, the way that the works of others have always done for her.

Melissa Gonzalez (she/her) is a UCLA graduate with a major in American Literature & Culture and a minor in Chicana/o & Central American Studies. She loves boba, horror movies, and reading. You can spot her in the fiction, horror/mystery/thriller, and young adult sections of bookstores. Though she is short, she feels as tall as her TBR pile. You can find Melissa on her book Instagram: @floralchapters

Book Review: Secret Identity by Alex Segura

“This book spans genres and has something for every type of reader: historical fiction, mystery, romance, and murder, all interwoven in Segura’s fast-paced and electric style.”

Secret Identity by Alex Segura is definitely one of the most interesting books I have read in a long time. This book spans genres and has something for every type of reader: historical fiction, mystery, romance, and murder, all interwoven in Segura’s fast-paced and electric style.

Set in 1970s New York City, Carmen Valdez is just an assistant at the low-budget and struggling Triumph Comics, but she has dreams of becoming more. She has loved comics since she was a kid in Miami, and is in New York to make something of herself. When she finally gets a chance to co-write a female superhero, the Lethal Lynx, with her coworker Harvey, he is murdered before giving her any of the credit. Carmen starts on a quest to find out what happened to Harvey and trying to save the Lynx from being put in the hands of lesser writers while being haunted by the life she left in Miami. Segura keeps readers hooked from every angle. Will Carmen get the credit she deserves with the Lynx? Will she clear her name in Harvey’s murder case? What made Carmen leave Miami so quickly?

As someone with a moderate interest in Marvel and other superhero franchises, it was interesting to learn so much comic industry history in this book. The comic strips between chapters were unique and added an extra layer to the story, with the Lynx’s struggles coinciding with Carmen’s journey throughout the book.  

If you are looking for a page-turning read that will keep you hooked until the very last page, Secret Identity by Alex Segura is the pick for you.

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Alex Segura is the bestselling and award-winning author of Secret Identity, which The New York Times called “wittily original” and named an Editor’s Choice. NPR described the novel as “masterful,” and it received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist. It was also listed as one of the Best Mysteries of the Year by NPR, Kirkus, Booklist, LitReactor, Gizmodo, BOLO Books, and the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

His upcoming work includes the YA superhero adventure Araña/Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow, the spiritual sequel to Secret Identity, Alter Ego, and the sci-fi/espionage thriller, Dark Space (with Rob Hart). Alex is also the author of Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall, the Anthony Award-nominated Pete Fernandez Miami Mystery series, and a number of comic books – including The Mysterious Micro-Face (in partnership with NPR), The Black Ghost, The Archies, The Dusk, The Awakened, Mara Llave – Keeper of Time, Blood Oath, stories featuring Marvel heroes Sunspot, White Tiger, Spider-Man and DC’s Superman and The Question, to name a few. His short story, “90 Miles” was included in The Best American Mystery and Suspense Stories for 2021 and won the Anthony Award for Best Short Story. Another short story,“Red Zone,” won the 2020 Anthony Award for Best Short Story.

A Miami native, he lives in New York with his wife and children.

Sabrina Moorer (she/her) is a senior at Towson University double majoring in English and Mass Communications. Even though she works at the library, she still spends all her free time there, searching for the next 5-star read to obsess over.

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Colorful Palate: A Flavorful Journey Through a Mixed American Experience by Raj Tawney

Latinx in Publishing is pleased to exclusively reveal the cover for COLORFUL PALATE written by Raj Tawney, publishing October 3, 2023 from Empire State Editions/Fordham University Press. Read on for the official book synopsis and to view the gorgeous cover!

A timely self-examination of the "mixed" American experience featuring exclusive recipes and photographs from the author’s multicultural family.

Designer: Mark Lerner; Photo: Jeppestown

As citizens continue to evolve and diversify within the United States, the ingredients that comprise each flavorful household are waiting to be discovered and devoured. In Colorful Palate, author Raj Tawney shares his coming-of-age memoir as a young man born into an Indian, Puerto Rican, and Italian-American family, his struggles with understanding his own identity, and the mouthwatering flavors of the melting pot from within his own childhood kitchen.

While the world outside can be cruel and unforgiving, it's even more complicated for a mixed-race kid, unsure of his place in the world. Turning to his mother and grandmother for guidance, Tawney’s assistance in the kitchen provided intimate moments and candor as he listened to the tales behind each culinary delicacy and the women who perfected them. Each lovingly prepared meal offered another opportunity to learn more about his extraordinary heritage. The ability to create delicious fare with his family wasn’t just a duty for the grand ladies who raised him; they were a survival tactic for navigating new and unknown cultures, not always willing to accept them at first or even a hundredth glance. As Tawney examines both himself and his loved ones through the formative stages of his life, from boyhood through adulthood, he begins to realize, through all of the chaos and confusion, just how "American" he actually was. 

In this contemporary coming-of-age tale, Tawney tackles personal hot-button issues about race and identity through poignant, heartfelt moments centered around delicious meals. From succulent tandoori chicken to delectable arroz con habichuelas to scrumptious spaghetti and meatballs, Tawney shares his family recipes along with the intimate stories he overheard in the kitchen as he played sous chef to hundreds of recipes that not only span continents but come with their own personal histories attached. Colorful Palate is a tale of the mixed experience, one of the millions that rarely gets told, undefined by a single group or birthright, and unapologetic about its lack of classification. 

Raj Tawney is a writer and journalist whose work largely reflects his New York upbringing and sensibility. Raised in an Indian, Puerto Rican, and Italian-American household, Tawney has explored his own race and identity through stories published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, USA Today, Smithsonian Magazine, and many other outlets throughout the country.

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Frontera by Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo

Latinx in Publishing is pleased to exclusively reveal the cover for FRONTERA written by Julio Anta, illustrated by Jacoby Salcedo; publishing July 18, 2023 from HarperCollins. Read on for the official book synopsis and to view the gorgeous cover!

A debut young adult graphic novel that combines social commentary with a touch of magical realism, Frontera is a supernatural borderland odyssey that follows Mateo as he makes the dangerous journey back home to America through the Sonoran Desert with the help of a new friend, a ghost named Guillermo.

As long as he remembers to stay smart and keep his eyes open, Mateo knows that he can survive the trek across the Sonoran Desert that will take him from Mexico to the United States. That is until he’s caught by the Border Patrol only moments after sneaking across the fence in the dead of night.

Escaping their clutches comes at a price, and lost in the desert without a guide or water, Mateo is ill-prepared for the unforgiving heat that is sure to arrive come sunrise. With the odds stacked against him, his one chance at survival may be putting his trust in something, or rather someone, that he isn’t even sure exists.

If you’d asked him if ghosts were real before he found himself face-to-face with one, Mateo wouldn’t have even considered it. But now, confronted with the nearly undeniable presence of Guillermo, he’s having second thoughts. Having spent his afterlife guiding migrants to safety, Guillermo knows things about the Sonoran Desert far beyond what could be explained by a mere hallucination. But even as Mateo forms an uneasy partnership with Guillermo, survival is still uncertain.

The Sonoran Desert, with its hostile temperatures and inhabitants, is teeming with danger as the Border Patrol, rogue militias, and animals prowl its deadly terrain. As his journey stretches on, Mateo will have to decide exactly what and who he’s willing to sacrifice to find home.

Praise for Frontera

“Frontera gives us moments of solidarity, grief, bravery, and love,  and shows us the beauty of these human feelings when they stand against the machine of American imperialism.”  —Kiku Hughes, author of Displacement

“An action-packed and heartfelt story that highlights the resiliency of immigrants and the power of ancestral history.” —Alexis Castellanos, author of Isla to Island

“A story about sacrifice, immigration, home, and ultimately, love, Frontera carries an important message in the world today.”  —Laura Gao, author of Messy Roots

“An absolute gut punch of a story. This book belongs in every high school and middle school library in our country.” —Maggie Tokuda-Hall, author of Squad

Julio Anta is an author from Miami, Florida, known for his comic book series Home. He currently resides in New York City, where he works to tell narratively rich stories about diverse Latinx characters for readers of all ages. This is his debut graphic novel. Visit him at julioanta.com.

Jacoby Salcedo is a comic book artist who works day and night from his bed in Portland, Oregon. He has published multiple short stories with frequent collaborator Julio Anta, and is the cocreator of the Dark Horse Comics miniseries It’s Only Teenage Wasteland. Visit him at jacobysalcedoart.com.

Exclusive Excerpt: Turtles of the Midnight Moon by María José Fitzgerald

Latinx in Publishing is pleased to exclusively reveal a chapter from Turtles of the Midnight Moon by debut Honduran author María José Fitzgerald.

Knopf, on-sale March 14, 2023

Twelve-year-old Barana lives in a coastal village in Honduras, where she spends every spare minute visiting the sea turtles that nest on the beach. Abby is feeling adrift in sixth grade, trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs after her best friend moved away from New Jersey.

When Abby’s papi plans a work trip to Honduras, she is finally given the opportunity to see his homeland—with Barana as her tour guide. But Barana has other plans: someone has been poaching turtle eggs, and she’s determined to catch them! Before long, Abby and Barana are both consumed by the mystery, chasing down suspects, gathering clues, and staking out the beach in the dead of night. . . . Will they find a way to stop the poachers before it’s too late?

Barana

Barana woke to the crescent moon–shaped scar between her shoulder blades tingling, calling her to the beach. To Luna. She turned to face Tulu’s side of the room. Her brother’s body was still, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

Barana slipped out of bed and tiptoed to the doorway. She pushed the curtain aside and entered the main room of the small wooden house that teetered on stilts above the sand. Papá snored from the other bedroom. Mamá was probably cuddled up next to him with Marisol. The baby was like a tick, always attached to Mamá’s body.

Nobody would notice Barana’s absence.

The tingling on her back turned to a persistent prickle. She hadn’t sensed Luna all season. As far as she knew, her leatherback turtle had yet to lay a clutch. Maybe tonight would be the night.

Barana slipped on her chancletas and opened the front door. The waves and crickets muffled her footsteps as she stepped off the rickety stairs and onto the shimmering sand. The wind sang through the palm fronds, and the moon above smiled. Guided by Luna’s call, the warm breeze, and the sea, Barana approached her favorite place on earth, the place where turtles roamed, where turquoise waters met the

Caribbean sky—la playa.

The mighty Atlantic was three minutes from her house, and Barana knew the way to her beach by heart. She kicked off her sandals and ran barefoot through the palm trees, let- ting the fine sand brush against her brown toes.

The wind cooled both her nerves and the sweat upon her brow. Pataya’s sweltering June weather was not for the faint of heart. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she paused to look up. The moon’s barely visible crescent shape smiled down at her. Miles of sand stretched out before her.

The cemetery was a few minutes away, at the west end of the beach. She was in no mood to bump into ghosts or the creepy creatures of local myth, so she ran east, energized by the starry sky, the ocean, and the knowing that her turtle was nearby.

The waves lapped hungrily at her feet, the foam tickling them as she let the prickle in her scar guide her. She searched for tracks—any sign that Luna had come ashore—but there were none. She kicked the surf and wandered farther down la playa. Still no evidence of her baula. Maybe she needed to stay in one place. Her scar’s tingling had become faint. Perhaps she had missed the sea turtle, or maybe Luna hadn’t come onto the shore at all.

Barana sank onto a large piece of driftwood. Ten minutes became twenty. Finally, the prickle grew stronger. Luna was close. The cobalt sea glowed with green. Something was stirring the fluorescent plankton. As if it had been waiting for Barana, a leathery black head poked out of the surf.

Flippers met sand as the baula’s enormous body emerged— close to six hundred pounds, if Barana had to guess. Her white star-like speckles glimmered against her black body. Barana approached the majestic creature, the moon-shaped scar confirming it was her beloved Luna. Side by side, they made their way up the sloping beach, Barana carefully keeping her distance. María always reminded them that turtles were wild creatures and told them to “mind a turtle’s space.” Though Barana knew Luna’s face by heart and could recognize the pink and white spots on her body, this turtle was not her pet. She belonged to the sea and sand. La mar y la arena.

“Hola, amiga. I’ve missed you.” Barana’s eyes teared up as she remembered the first time she saw Luna crawl ashore. She was five years old when it happened. Ever since then, when the nesting season drew near, Barana wondered if Luna would show up. Every other year, her scar would tingle, and she knew Luna had returned.

Barana rubbed her eyes and sat quietly to watch as the baula shifted her heavy body. She struggled awkwardly on the sand as she prepared to dig a pit.

Tears slipped from the leatherback’s face as she pushed the sand with her flippers to form the chamber for her eggs. Ba- rana knew the sea turtle’s lágrimas were a way to rid her body of salt, a simple scientific phenomenon. But she liked to believe the mama turtle cried for her babies, knowing she’d have to leave them and their lives to fate. Both good reasons to cry.

The night was eerily quiet, and Barana had the unsettling feeling of being watched. She rubbed her neck to smooth the hairs that had prickled up. She shouldn’t be out by herself. In the distance she noticed two small, distinct lights. Slowly they moved closer. And then she exhaled a sigh of relief. It was the night patrol, doing their rounds to monitor the beach for sea turtles and to record any new nests.

Still, a twelve-year-old girl had no business being out on the beach alone at midnight. She’d heard enough ghost stories to know better. El Cadejo could get you, or if the devil’s dog didn’t, La Llorona might. Barana turned back to her turtle and held her hand several feet above the leathery carapace, sensing that spark of connection with Luna. She wasn’t sure how old Luna was, but her eyes seemed to hold decades of memories. “I’ll see you again, old girl,” Barana said. If this was Luna’s first clutch, Barana knew she’d be back to lay another one in a week or so.

Before the turtle finished laying her eggs, Barana ran home, stopping only to rest behind a palm tree and ensure that she hadn’t been seen. She didn’t want whoever was on patrol to tattle to her parents. Everybody knew everybody in her village. Mamá would throw a fit if she knew Barana had been out. She’d been caught once before, and the consequences had been diaper-washing duties for a month. She’d vowed to never let that happen again.

Barana picked up her sandals and quietly crept up the stairs of her house, sprinkling a trail of sand behind her. She brushed a few grains off her toes and out of her hair and tiptoed into the casita, carefully closing the door. Before taking another step, she looked around to make sure everything was as she’d left it. There were no sounds from the other side of the flower-patterned curtain sectioning off her parents’ room.

Tulu also slept soundly. Barana crawled under her soft sheet and thought about her secret excursion. Despite not being there to watch Luna go back to the ocean, it had been worth it. She promised herself that first thing in the morning she’d find out if the night patrol had marked the nest. María, who oversaw the turtle conservation project in Pataya, would know. Other people cared and helped out too, but it was María who had taken on the project almost ten years ago. She knew all of the leatherbacks’ markings by heart.

A short poem formed in Barana’s mind as she fell asleep.

Mama turtle tears,

Shed in sorrow,

Filled with love.

Precious cycle carries on.

She pictured Luna gliding through the water when she felt a new sensation in her scar. The gentle tickle she’d sensed earlier was replaced by a throbbing burn.

Excerpted from Turtles of the Midnight Moon, used with permission from Knopf Books for Young Readers. (c) María José Fitzgerald.

María José Fitzgerald is a former teacher and current writer of children’s books. Her favorite stories usually include animals, friendship, family, and magic. She grew up snorkeling and hiking in her homeland of Honduras, where nature and culture nourished her soul. Her debut novel, Turtles of the Midnight Moon, will be published by Knopf in the spring of 2023. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading, walking her dogs, or maybe out on a family mountain-bike ride.

Book Review: The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes

““The House in the Pines” is a fast-paced powerful thriller that really pulls the reader unlike anything I have read before. ”

I love thrillers. The way my heart races as the main character starts putting together the clues, the gasps when new suspects arise, the way I will be on the edge of my seat waiting for the big reveal at the end. The House in the Pines checked all of my boxes.

The eerie backdrop of a small New England town with a mysterious toxic lake is atmospheric and pulls the reader in from the first page.

I really enjoy an unreliable narrator, and Maya is as unreliable as it gets. She witnessed her best friend die a sudden and mysterious death and has been trying to forget it ever since. Everyone says the death was natural, but Maya knows that it was Frank, her mysterious summer fling. Seven years later, Maya is still running from her past and her drug dependency, suppressing it all. But she has no choice but to confront the past when she sees a viral video of another woman dying suddenly and mysteriously in the same way as her friend. Maya knows Frank is somehow responsible for both deaths, but no one believes her. With large gaps of time slowly coming back to her, while also fighting drug withdrawal, Maya must go back to her hometown to find the truth of what happened to both girls and find evidence that Frank is to blame.

The dual timeline from the summer her best friend died to the present day made for a trippy and compelling story that went perfectly with our unreliable narrator putting the pieces together. The House in the Pines is a fast-paced powerful thriller that really pulls the reader unlike anything I have read before. 

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Ana Reyes has an MFA from Louisiana State University and a BA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her work has appeared in Bodega, Pear Noir!, The New Delta Review, and elsewhere. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and teaches creative writing to older adults at Santa Monica College. The House in the Pines in her first novel.

Sabrina Moorer (she/her) is a senior at Towson University double majoring in English and Mass Communications. Even though she works at the library, she still spends all her free time there, searching for the next 5-star read to obsess over.

Book Review: Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking by Raquel V. Reyes

Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking by Raquel V. Reyes, her second Caribbean Kitchen mystery, returns to Coral Shores, Miami to pick up where Miriam Quinones-Smith left off after her last mystery. With the Halloween season upon the small town, when a body is found among the tombstones on Miriam’s front yard, it seems that her decorations are in the spirit. That is until see realizes that it is not a decoration, but an unconscious woman, and from that moment forward, the bodies keep popping up. Miriam struggles to balance the bodies that keep appearing, no matter what she does, on top of her mother in law’s expectations for the Women’s Club annual gala, which is shortly approaching.

Despite the stressors going on in Miriam’s life, she tries to focus on her everyday activities: taking care of her young son and working on her cooking show segments, on the local Spanish television network. However, Miriam, Coral Shores very own Veronica Mars, cannot stop stumbling onto tiny hints and information that she wants to puzzle together, in order to solve the mystery that seems to be surrounding her.

Visits from her old partner Detective Pullman go from collaborative, to warnings, to stay out of it. But wherever Miriam stumbles, chisme follows or appears at her door unexpectedly. Even her prep for the Women’s Club gala grows dangerous as hints keep appearing. But will Miriam’s “luck” finally catch up to her and leave her in a less than warm embrace?

Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking is a fun and light mystery that takes the reader on a fast pace adventure, filled with the smells and tastes of delicious cultural food (Miriam’s anthropology degree never fails to inspire new information.) Guided by the planning and execution of the Women’s Club gala, the reader works in tandem with the shifting social hierarchy of Coral Shores, in hopes of solving who is behind these sudden murders, before more bodies can be found. Reyes writes in a delightful fashion making the reader fall in love with Miriam and those close to her, no matter how many sticky situations arise. Even though the story is lighthearted, Reyes does address discrimination and stereotypes that Latinx individuals face in a thought-provoking way, without being heavy headed.

“Reyes writes cultural love letters to Latinx communities.”

Miriam consistently stumbles into places she shouldn’t be, but she also shows incredible kindness to those around her, sees the best in people, and is delicate with the cultures around her. This book, while having the perfect dashes of Halloween shivers and mysterious fun, manages to feel like a warm hug. Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking holds community, family, and the joy of food at the heart of it; keeping it immensely joyful, while being an incredibly fun read. For readers that want something a little different, dashes of fun and spooky, to diversify their TBR lists, Reyes and her Caribbean Kitchen Mysteries are perfect. Reyes writes cultural love letters to Latinx communities.

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RAQUEL V. REYES writes Latina protagonists. Her Cuban-American heritage, Miami, and Spanglish feature prominently in her work. Mango, Mambo, and Murder, the first in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series, won a LEFTY for Best Humorous Mystery. It was nominated for an Agatha Award and optioned for film. Raquel’s short stories appear in various anthologies, including The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022. Find her across social media platforms as @LatinaSleuths and on her website LatinaSleuths.com

TEREZA LOPEZ (she/her) is a recent graduate from Clark University with a double major in English and history. She attended Clark University again in Fall 2021 and obtained a Master’s in communication. When she is not studying, you can find her obsessively reading or taking care of her new kitten.

Exclusive Excerpt: Are We Ever Our Own

THE BALLAD OF TAM LIN

Before the oyster folk took him from me, my father gave me his fiddle and told me the story it carried. On the island, he said, there were two sisters. I didn’t know if he meant his island—cane and tobacco fields wracked by war—or Mam’s—sea cliffs and highland meadows emptied by famine—or one of the many islands where he’d lived. The crowded island city where he met Mam. Or maybe an island he’d never even been to. My father held his fiddle up so that it seemed to hover in the air between us. Two sisters, he said, one dark-haired and the other one fair and they both fell in love with the miller’s son.

I rolled my eyes. I hated stories about fair-haired sisters and miller’s sons. My father cuffed my ear to make me listen. You’ll like how this one goes, he told me. Both sisters loved the miller’s son, but he had eyes for the fairer one. I scoffed again, but he just smiled. The smile that always made our audience—no matter what town we were in, how small, how ragged, how hungry they were for food other than flour and lard cakes—lean in and listen. The smile that told them he didn’t care how side-eyed the townsfolk had first looked at him, at Mam and him together, at Mrs. Zhao leading her wagon, her daughter June behind her. The smile that said, if they just listened, if they just waited, he’d give them some-thing as fine as stacks of cash-not-company-scrip, as the right amount of rain, as an answer to these hard times that wouldn’t end. I waited for him, just like his smile told me to, just like every audience always did.

My father said the miller’s son only wanted the fairer sister, so the dark-haired one went for a walk with her sister to the furthest point of their island. They passed palm groves and sea grape, walked until they were at the cliff’s very edge. Then the dark-haired sister pushed the fair one over the cliff and down into the waves.

My father paused and raised his eyebrows, as if daring me to stop him, knowing I wouldn’t now. Stories about

miller’s sons and fair sisters never went this way. The fair sister almost always died—on a riverbed or beneath a willow, run through by a saber, dropped by poison wine, or mad in an asylum like Cecilia Valdés—but never by her own sister’s will. My father said the waves swept the fair sister out to sea. Fight as she did, clawing at water, kicking at waves, she sunk beneath the surface. The sea tugged her and carried her and stole her final breath. The sea pulled her deep. Sharks fed on her ribs, shrimp clung to her fingernails, until she was just a body, not a sister anymore and no longer fair.

Finally, the waves spit her back up. A wandering musician found her washed ashore and he didn’t run away or call the priest or the mayor. The wanderer knelt down beside the mound of bones and hair.

My father asked me what I thought the wanderer did and I shook my head. I didn’t know.

The wanderer picked up her finger bones, my father said, and he cut off her long, fair hair. He plucked her sternum from between her ribs and, because he was in need of it, he made a fiddle out of her. Her finger bones became the fiddle pegs, her hair the long bow strings, her white sternum the fiddle bridge.

Then my father handed me his fiddle, which he’d never before let me touch. We’d just crossed the border from Oregon to Washington, and were camped outside a logging town. The mud streets were empty, everyone deep in the woods sawing down cedar and sitka, the ground too wet for our wagons to move through and the rain too hard for even us to play a show in. I crouched on my bunk, tucked in a corner of our wagon. The rain beat down on the canvas tent above us, but it was warm inside. We’d start off again as soon as it was dry, searching for a town with people in it, though what kind of people and what they might ask of us, we never knew.

The pegs of my father’s fiddle were deeply concaved, paper-thin in the middle and a pale yellow like old teeth, with hair-strand-wide dark cracks running over them. The bridge was the same color as the pegs, almost translucent in its delicacy. Since I could remember, I’d wanted to hold his fiddle: to trace the flor de mariposa and banana flowers carved across the back, to touch the wood stained almost black around the f-holes and deep red on the edges where it was constantly touched.

No matter what role he took in our show, my father always played his fiddle. He’d play a fast song at the beginning to rile up the crowd and a sad song at the end because everyone wants a lonesome ending. It brings the audience back again, hopeful they didn’t remember right, that we’ll give them the right ending the next time around. Though my father could play any instrument you could name, the fiddle was his favorite. But when he handed it to me in our muggy wagon—the horses chewing oats out of their feed box, Mam curled around him in their bunk, braiding the fringes on his jacket sleeve—I didn’t question that I should get it. I had wanted it, had wanted the sound it made, the catch and pluck, its power to mold a crowd, to decide how

well we would eat, how long we would stay by this mill or that farmstead. I had wanted the fiddle for what felt like an unimaginably long time. Back then, in our tent, steam rising off the horses and mixing with Mam’s wordless hum, I would have used the word forever.

I didn’t know how young I was. Didn’t doubt what was owed me. Now, I wonder if my father gave me his fiddle because he knew something I didn’t. If he had an idea of what would happen when we reached the oyster town we were headed towards. If he could scent some particular danger in the combination of mud, sea, and sawed cedar, and he gave me what mattered most to him. Offered me his fiddle for safe-keeping, heedless of my clumsy, too-small hands.

My father asked me what I thought the fiddle in the story sounded like. I was still holding his fiddle up in the air as he had handed it to me, not yet believing I could pull it close. When the wanderer first played the fiddle he’d made of the sister’s bones and hair? What was the song? I couldn’t speak, I shook my head again. Finally, I eased the fiddle down into my lap and traced its carvings: the flor de mariposa petals, the spider—intricate as a thousand I’d seen—perched on the flower’s stem.

The fiddle sounded like the wind, my father said. The wind off the sea that carried the sister away, like the water dragging her under and spitting her back a heap of scraps, like the fishes that eat drowned girls. The fiddle sounded like the dark-haired one pushing her only sister off a cliff and the sound the dark-haired one made when she did what she thought she’d wanted and the sea carried her sister away. The fiddle sounded like the dark-haired sister’s cruel heart, like her broken heart. Like the wind too, and like the rain that fell on her sister when she was only bones for a wanderer to comb through.

I nodded. He was right. That was how my father’s fiddle sounded.

Excerpted from "The Ballad of Tam Lin," published in Are We Ever Our Own, copyright May 24, 2022 by Gabrielle Lucille Fuentes, BOA Editions, Ltd., www.boaeditions.org.

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Gabrielle Lucille Fuentes is the author of Are We Ever Our Own, winner of the BOA Short Fiction Prize, and the novel The Sleeping World (Touchstone-Simon & Schuster, 2016). She has received fellowships from Hedgebrook, Willapa Bay Artists in Residency, Yaddo, the Millay Colony, Lighthouse Works, and the Blue Mountain Center. Her work has appeared in New England Review, The Common, One Story, Cosmonauts Avenue, Slice, Pank, NANO Fiction, Western Humanities Review, and elsewhere. She holds a BA from Brown University, an MFA from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. She grew up in a Cuban-Irish-American family in Wisconsin. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland where she teaches creative writing and Latinx literature

Meg Medina: The first Latina National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

Congratulations to Cuban American author, Meg Medina, who on January 18, 2023, was named national ambassador for young people's literature by the Library of Congress. Medina is taking over the role from Jason Reynolds and has become the FIRST Latina to hold the position.

As reported by NBC, “Medina will be promoting books and libraries, but she said that with her job as ambassador she also hopes to encourage parents and families not to undervalue their oral stories of "how we came to be, of the people who loved us, the people still over there loving us [in the case of immigrant families], the people who imagined us before we ever were." Sharing oral stories, she said, is pivotal for developing basic literacy in children.”

Latinx In Publishing is proud to support Medina and looks forward to what she will accomplish during her time as ambassador for young people’s literature.

Photo credit: Scott Elmquist

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Meg Medina is current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. She is the author of the Newbery Medal–winning book Merci Suárez Changes Gears, which was also a 2018 Kirkus Prize finalist, and which was followed by two more acclaimed books about the Suárez family: Merci Suárez Can’t Dance and Merci Suárez Plays It Cool. Her young adult novels include Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, which won the 2014 Pura Belpré Author Award, and which will be published in 2023 as a graphic novel illustrated by Mel Valentine Vargas; Burn Baby Burn, which was long-listed for the National Book Award; and The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind. She is also the author of picture books Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away, illustrated by Sonia Sánchez, Jumpstart’s 2020 Read for the Record selection; Mango, Abuela, and Me, illustrated by Angela Dominguez, which was a Pura Belpré Author Award Honor Book; and Tía Isa Wants a Car, illustrated by Claudio Muñoz, which won the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award; and the biography for young readers She Persisted: Sonia Sotomayor. The daughter of Cuban immigrants, she grew up in Queens, New York, and now lives in Richmond, Virginia. [https://megmedina.com/]