The turn of a card could change your destiny in this captivating
middle grade adventure based on the Lotería card game and perfect for
fans of Coco. While searching for her missing cousin, a young girl is
transported to a mythical kingdom, becoming entangled in a perilous game
of chance.
"A magical, philosophical tale rooted in Mexican lore." --School
Library Journal, starred review
In the hottest hour of the hottest day of the year, a fateful wind blows
into Oaxaca City. It whistles down cobbled streets and rustles the
jacaranda trees before slipping into the window of an eleven-year-old
girl named Clara. Unbeknownst to her, Clara has been marked for la
Lotería.
Life and Death deal the Lotería cards but once a year, and the stakes
could not be higher. Every card reveals a new twist in Clara's fate--a
scorpion, an arrow, a blood-red rose. If Life wins, Clara will live to a
ripe old age. If Death prevails, she'll flicker out like a candle.
But Clara knows none of this. All she knows is that her young cousin
Esteban has vanished, and she'll do whatever it takes to save him,
traveling to the mythical Kingdom of Las Pozas, where every action has a
price, and every choice has consequences. And though it seems her fate
is sealed, Clara just might have what it takes to shatter the game and
choose a new path.
Karla Arenas Valenti weaves an adventure steeped in magic and
mythology--gorgeously illustrated by Dana Sanmar--exploring the notion
of free will in a world where fate holds all the cards.
