Paola Santiago and the River of Tears (Paola Santiago Series #1)

by Tehlor Kay Mejia Narrated by Frankie Corzo

Overview

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents author Tehlor Kay Mejia and her thrilling fantasy adventure based on the Mexican legend of La Llorona (the Crying Woman).

Space-obsessed 12-year-old Paola Santiago and her two best friends, Emma and Dante, know the rule: Stay away from the river. It's all they've heard since a schoolmate of theirs drowned a year ago. Pao is embarrassed to admit that she has been told to stay away for even longer than that, because her mother is constantly warning her about La Llorona, the wailing ghost woman who wanders the banks of the Gila at night, looking for young people to drag into its murky depths.

Hating her mother's humiliating superstitions and knowing that she and her friends would never venture into the water, Pao organizes a meet-up to test out her new telescope near the Gila, since it's the best stargazing spot. But when Emma never arrives and Pao sees a shadowy figure in the reeds, it seems like maybe her mom was right. . . .

Pao has always relied on hard science to make sense of the world, but to find her friend she will have to enter the world of her nightmares, which includes unnatural mist, mind-bending monsters, and relentless spirits controlled by a terrifying force that defies both logic and legend.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

*"A new hero's fantastic and fantastical debut—her next appearance can't come soon enough."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

*"A warm, thrilling Mexican American ­adventure. An essential purchase."—School Library Journal (starred review)

*"Mejia draws upon her Latinx heritage to conjure creatures from folklore . . . and layer[s] in realistic plot points: socioeconomic and immigration concerns, the tension between science and superstition."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

*"This fast-paced journey into Latinx folklore, with its clever protagonist, is sure to keep readers turning pages into the night."—Booklist (starred review)

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2020-05-18
A 12-year-old girl must leave behind her preconceived notions of what is real if she wants to save her missing friend.

Paola Santiago looks forward to summer days filled with daydreaming and “ponder[ing] algae or other fuel experiments” with her best friends, Dante and Emma, down at the riverbanks. Her mother has forbidden Pao from hanging out down at the Gila River, but Pao disregards her advice, as most of her mom’s warnings include folkloric elements, like the fabled La Llorona. Pao, a self-professed scientist, cannot fathom believing in things like ghosts that have “no scientific basis to them.” That is, until Pao and Dante wait in vain for Emma to show up at the river. Emma’s disappearance, along with those of many other young people in the area, leads Pao and Dante on a journey that will shatter the laws of physics and other scientific truths Pao holds dear. As the duo searches for Emma, they will encounter lands and creatures that Pao held to be fictitious, along with her mother’s beliefs, which Pao has often pushed away along with the connection to her Mexican ancestry. Mejia’s writing is fast-paced and engaging, as the colorful imagery places readers in Southwestern cacti fields and in the tumultuous mindset of an insecure 12-year-old. For all its exploration of Pao’s internal landscape, there is action aplenty. Dante is Latinx, like Pao; Emma is white.

A new hero’s fantastic and fantastical debut—her next appearance can’t come soon enough. (Fantasy. 8-13)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940177389363
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Series:	Paola Santiago Series , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

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