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From School Library Journal

October 1, 2024

Gr 5 up-A Latine magical adventure where the forces of good and evil are at odds. Bruja Esmerelda Santos is a descendant of one of the four original witches who gave rise to the magic in her town of San Bosco. She and her best friend Tiago are looking forward to learning the ways of the brujxes (witches) and maturing into full brujxes in the coming year, but an unexpected storm thrusts them into another world where nothing is quite as it seems. While in this alternate world, they forge an unlikely friendship with a fox who guides them on their quest to save their family members and their hometown's magic from ruin. Readers will enjoy the trio's dynamics and the plot's twists and turns throughout. The importance of family, friendship, and loyalty are primary themes. The fast-paced and easily readable story is reminiscent of folklore-inspired adventures like Kwame Mbalia's Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky and Roshani Chokshi's Aru Shah and the End of Time. VERDICT This story of hope and self-exploration will appeal to middle grade fantasy readers who can't get enough of otherworldly quests.-Misty Schattle

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Booklist

September 15, 2024
Grades 3-6 Cervantes takes readers into a magical world to follow 12-year-old Esmerelda (Esme) Santos on an unforgettable journey filled with unexpected twists and turns. A descendant of one of the original four witches (sisters of legend who brought magic into the world), Esme is six months away from becoming a full witch, or brujx--a guardian of Original Magic. One day, the brujxes of her hometown, San Bosco, mysteriously disappear, including her father and her older sister, Lenny. Lenny leaves Esme with a puzzling clue, indicating that she must travel to the world of oblivion and find an original witch to save the San Bosco brujxes. However, Esme, a witch of Chaos, does not know her true power, and Tiago, Esme's best friend and a water witch, is just learning to use his. Together, they travel through magical worlds, befriending a talking, cursed fox and battling entities to save their friends and families. Cervantes fills her exciting adventure with Latinx characters and original mythology rooted in Latinx culture. Themes of parental loss, grief, and depression are also thoughtfully integrated.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Publisher's Weekly

July 15, 2024
All the brujxes of the city of San Bosco have a magical specialty that involves dominion over one of four elements: fire, earth, water, and air. All except 12-year-old Esmerelda Santos. She's secretly a witch of Chaos, an element considered
illegal by magical society. Following her mother's death in an accident, Esme is
desperate to help her father, who has since "curled up into a ball of grief." She soon finds a spell to "render a heart full again," but before she can cast it, all the other witches of San Bosco suddenly disappear. At her older sister's final behest before her vanishing, Esme and her involuntarily shape-shifting friend embark on a quest to find one of San Bosco's original witches, whom no one has seen in over a century. A somewhat slow start evolves into an adventure of epic proportions, brimming with talking animals, mysterious realms, and witch hunters. Cervantes (Dawn of the Jaguar) doesn't let the rollicking fun overshadow themes such as sisterhood and grief, all of which is handled with care. Major characters cue as Latinx. Ages 8—12. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary.

From Kirkus

July 15, 2024
A 12-year-old witch is responsible for saving her family and town from evil. Esmerelda Santos is a bruja--a descendant of one of the four original witches, who vanished along with their special daggers. Usually, brujxes can command one element. Esme's sister, Lenny, is of Water, and her best friend, Tiago, is of Air, but Esme is a Chaos witch. All she wants to do with her power is ease her father's grief over her mother's death. When she finds a heart spell, Esme believes she can use it to heal him. While she and Tiago are off gathering the ingredients, however, a storm hits, and all the witches vanish, along with the town's magic. Esme returns to find Lenny, who's been stabbed with a dagger. Lenny delivers a cryptic message before going up in smoke: They must find an original witch from the Legend of Ire. Esme and Tiago travel to a "banished realm where forbidden magic runs wild," befriend a cursed fox, and find their way through portals to confront an unknown evil. If they fail, their families will be lost to Oblivion and their town of San Bosco will cease to exist. While readers must initially follow many different threads, the storyline smooths out as it develops. Once the worldbuilding is established, readers will be rewarded by being transported into the magical, mysterious world Esme inhabits as they follow her journey of self-discovery through grief and love. Final art not seen. An adventurous, otherworldly story that explores emotional themes.(Fantasy. 8-12)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.