"A perfect pick for kids who love Rick Riordan." --Booklist (starred
review)
"A winner for all kids, but it will be especially loved by Latinx and
Hispanic families." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
The Lightning Thief meets the Story Thieves series in this middle
grade fantasy inspired by Hispanic folklore, legends, and myths from the
Iberian Peninsula and Central and South America.
Charlie Hernández has always been proud of his Latin American heritage.
He loves the culture, the art, and especially the myths. Thanks to his
abuela's stories, Charlie possesses an almost encyclopedic knowledge
of the monsters and ghouls who have spent the last five hundred years
haunting the imaginations of children all across the Iberian Peninsula,
as well as Central and South America. And even though his grandmother
sometimes hinted that the tales might be more than mere myth, Charlie's
always been a pragmatist. Even barely out of diapers, he knew the
stories were just make-believe--nothing more than intricately woven
fables meant to keep little kids from misbehaving.
But when Charlie begins to experience freaky bodily manifestations--ones
all too similar to those described by his grandma in his favorite
legend--he is suddenly swept up in a world where the mythical beings
he's spent his entire life hearing about seem to be walking straight out
of the pages of Hispanic folklore and into his life. And even stranger,
they seem to know more about him than he knows about himself.
Soon, Charlie finds himself in the middle of an ancient battle between
La Liga, a secret society of legendary mythological beings sworn to
protect the Land of the Living, and La Mano Peluda (a.k.a. the Hairy
Hand), a cabal of evil spirits determined to rule mankind. With only the
help of his lifelong crush, Violet Rey, and his grandmother's stories to
guide him, Charlie must navigate a world where monsters and brujas
rule and things he couldn't possibly imagine go bump in the night. That
is, if he has any hope of discovering what's happening to him and saving
his missing parents (oh, and maybe even the world).
No pressure, muchacho.
