Lotería

By: Karla Arenas Valenti

Narrated by: Frankie Corzo

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, exploring the notion of free will in a world where fate holds all the cards.

nice storyline

a little hard to focus on certain parts of the book good translation a little confusing

Maybe Not Written For Me?

Teacher here. I listen to a lot of middle grade books, and almost always enjoy them. But I did not enjoy this one. Could it be cultural, and I'm just too much of a white lady to enjoy a book predicated on the Mexican culture's more mature outlook on death? Possibly. I'll just say, and, spoiler alert here..
...
... the ending had a lot in common, feeling-wise, with the ending of the original story of The Little Mermaid. I don't want to give too much away, but I don't feel that the ending is the triumph for the main character that the author considers it.

I was disappointed, because I'm always on the lookout for Latino stories for my Latino students, and I don't feel that I can recommend this one. I could be wrong, but I don't think they would care for the ending, either.