Playing for the Devil's Fire

by Phillippe Diederich Narrated by Ozzie Rodriguez

Overview

Thirteen-year-old Boli and his friends are deep in the middle of a game of marbles. An older boy named Mosca has won the prized Devil's Fire marble. His pals are jealous and want to win it away from him. This is Izayoc, the place of tears, a small pueblo in a tiny valley west of Mexico City where nothing much happens. It's a typical hot Sunday morning except that on the way to church someone discovers the severed head of Enrique Quintanilla propped on the ledge of one of the cement planters in the plaza and everything changes. Not apocalyptic changes, like phalanxes of men riding on horses with stingers for tails, but subtle ones: poor neighbors turning up with brand-new SUVs, pimpled teens with fancy girls hanging off them. Boli's parents leave for Toluca and don't arrive at their destination. No one will talk about it. A washed out masked wrestler turns up one day, a man only interested in finding his next meal. Boli hopes to inspire the luchador to set out with him to find his parents.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

* "As this grim murder mystery unfolds, 13-year-old Boli and his best friend Mosca become reliant on a luchador named Chicano, a masked wrestler working the amateur circuit, as a real-life hero and protector after Boli's parents go missing, and the body count mounts. . . . Diederich (Sofrito) portrays Mexico with a stark intensity and raw emotional turmoil as Boli navigates a mercilessly cruel world." — Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Full of grim and shocking violence, Izayoc here represents a demoralizing reality perhaps already too familiar. . . . Childhood at its most hopeful and heartbreaking; readers seeking lighthearted, sanitized fare should turn away." — Kirkus Reviews

"It's that rare book that addresses moral issues and current events in a story that never stops tugging at the reader's heart. . . . We need these kinds of books so different minorities can see themselves in the pages, but also so that other realities can be experienced and perhaps understood by a general audience." — The Huffington Post

"This fictionalized depiction of the real terror the drug war has brought to Mexican communities will have readers rooting for Boli as he tries, in vain, to save his town." — Horn Book Magazine

"Boli's loss of innocence—as his initial belief that bad things happen to other people grows into the knowledge that there is no redemption, no miracle that will quickly disappear the violence, corruption and destruction all around—echoes the real situation in Mexico and much of Latin America. . . . Playing for the Devil's Fire is highly recommended." — De Colores: The Raza Experience in Books for Children

"Phillippe Diederich, who grew up in Mexico City, brings firsthand experience as well as tremendous compassion to this poignant coming-of-age novel." — Booklist

Impressively well written and a consistently entertaining read from beginning to end, "Playing for the Devil's Fire" is very highly recommended for school and community library children's fiction collections for ages 12 to 15. — Midwest Book Review

"Philippe Diederich puts a very human face on the cost of the neverending war on drugs . . . I'd suggest this for upper high school, young adult, and adult readers, because it is a brilliantly written book that will make readers think, and hopefully, talk." — Mom Read It

Kirkus Reviews

2016-01-09
In photojournalist Diederich's harrowing debut novel, 13-year-old Liberio "Boli" Flores endures the effects of narcoviolence sweeping Mexico. Brutal change comes to the pueblo of Izayoc when the townspeople discover the severed head of a teacher. Soon, new cars with California plates appear in the village, driven by men in flashy clothes. After another body—a woman's—turns up in a field, Boli and his village suspect the worst: "Something was going on." Boli's parents go to nearby Toluca to request assistance from the federal police. Meanwhile, life goes on, and Boli and his best friend, Mosca, shine shoes to scrape together enough money for a wrestling event at a fair. When his parents fail to return, Boli longs to uncover the truth behind their disappearance, as he solicits help from El Chicano Estrada, a washed-up, jaded luchador. Though he filters this narrative through Boli's starry-eyed perspective, Diederich doesn't hold back in his depiction of corruption and loss. Full of grim and shocking violence, Izayoc here represents a demoralizing reality perhaps already too familiar. Boli and Chicano's investigative efforts expose nothing but bad news: "We are a country built on lies. Listen, forget the illusion that the world is a good place. It's not." The conclusion provides only a dubious sense of closure. Childhood at its most hopeful and heartbreaking; readers seeking lighthearted, sanitized fare should turn away. (glossary) (Fiction. 12-15)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169295412
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	06/28/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

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