paola santiago and the river of tears book 2

Set in Arizona during the summer before seventh grade, Paola and her two best friends are just starting out their vacation with hopes of spending as much time as they can together. In Paola Santiago and the River of Tears, Tehlor Kay Mejia spins a middle grade retelling of the Latinx legend that is both fun and accessible for readers of any age. I’ll never forget being told the story for the first time, at ten years old by my parents, no less, and being way too unsettled to sleep well that night. It is this detail that haunts the memories of most children who hear it early on in life. She is rumored to roam at night, searching and wailing for her offspring.

She is the author of Paola Santiago and the River of Tears and the YA fantasy novels We Set the Dark on Fire and We Unleash the Merciless Storm.The story of La Llorona has been told and re-told for years, and there are many variations on some details, but what never changes is the bone-chilling fact that, according to Mexican legend, a woman drowned her own children in a depression-induced rage. When she's not writing, you can find her plucking at her guitar, stealing rosemary sprigs from overgrown gardens, or trying to make the perfect vegan tamale. Tehlor Kay Mejia is an Oregon native in love with the alpine meadows and evergreen forests of her home state, where she lives with her daughter. Once again Tehlor Kay Mejia draws on her Mexican heritage to tell a wild and wondrous story that combines creatures from folklore with modern-day challenges. Will the truths her father has been hiding save the people Pao loves, or destroy them? Pao's search for her father will send her far from home, where she will encounter new monsters and ghosts, a devastating betrayal, and finally, the forest of her nightmares. And when Dante's abuela falls mysteriously ill, it seems that the dad Pao never knew just might be the key to healing the eccentric old woman. Even more troubling? At their center is her estranged father, an enigma of a man she barely remembers. Pao has no one to tell that she's having nightmares again, this time set in a terrifying forest. Even with her chupacabra puppy, Bruto, around, Pao can't escape the feeling that she's all alone in the world. She is barely speaking to her best friends, Dante and Emma, and what's worse, her mom has a totally annoying boyfriend.

Six months after Paola Santiago confronted the legendary La Llorona, life is nothing like she'd expected it to be. Rick Riordan Presents a thrilling sequel starring science obsessed Paola Santiago

Paola santiago and the river of tears book 2