Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls

By: Kaela Rivera

Narrated by: Almarie Guerra

When a powerful desert spirit kidnaps her sister, Cece Rios must learn forbidden magic to get her back, in this own voices middle grade fantasy perfect for fans of The Storm Runner and Aru Shah and the End of Time.

Living in the remote town of Tierra del Sol is dangerous, especially in the criatura months, when powerful spirits roam the desert and threaten humankind. But Cecelia Rios has always believed there was more to the criaturas, much to her family’s disapproval. After all, only brujas—humans who capture and control criaturas—consort with the spirits, and brujeria is a terrible crime.

When her older sister, Juana, is kidnapped by El Sombrerón, a powerful dark criatura, Cece is determined to bring Juana back. To get into Devil’s Alley, though, she’ll have to become a bruja herself—while hiding her quest from her parents, her town, and the other brujas. Thankfully, the legendary criatura Coyote has a soft spot for humans and agrees to help her on her journey.

With him at her side, Cece sets out to reunite her family—and maybe even change what it means to be a bruja along the way.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

just like Pokemon

if you are interested in looking for something that is a Pokemon book then I highly recommended this book.

We all loved it

I listened to this with my kids (10,8 &6)
We all really enjoyed it. If your kids get scared easily it might be a little scary.

Latina culture, myths and action at it’s best

I loved the plot and culture of the story. Excellent narration. I’m glad it will probably go onto the next book of cc changing in the world!

Action, suspense, and folklore

This is one you’ll want to read all at once because you can’t wait to hear what happens next. Great storytelling!

Not that bad

I think that this was a great book. I definitely think that I will be listening to the other books that come after this one.

I want more!

This is a great adventure story for young readers and I wish it existed when I was a kid. The story is interesting and the criaturas were so cool. I want more. I haven’t checked yet, but I hope this is part of a series.

Gripping Intense and Soulful

An amazing story to listen to with my 9 yo daughters. Magical, suspenseful and intriguing, we couldn’t wait to listen to each chapter’s twists and turns as the story (and expert narrator) spun a unique tale of loyalty and love where the protagonist and her unlikely new extended familia chooses to set aside prejudices, biases and stereotypes all for the sake of hope for a better world.

Great combination of fantasy and folklore

The world building in this Latin American fantasy is a great combination of some traditional folklore characters like El Cucuy and El Sombrerón. The criatura whose souls are contained in a bead are interesting characters. My favorite character is Cece, who cuts off her hair to become a bruja and save her sister. The magical rules are complex, but interesting. The story has action, suspense, family problems, and an interesting, damaged characters who grow. It’s great to hear such a compelling fantasy that isn’t based in Western European traditions.

Unique characters

Loved the plot and narration! Your children will love this book for the fantasy element, too.

This was a phenomenal read!!

I absolutely adored the way the story integrated Latinesque culture and mythology and into a story of brave young girl. Straightforward writing style, beautiful imagery- I had a good feeling about this book when I bought it, and it has not disappointed. Muchas gracias!!