Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls
(Book)

Lone Star Reading List 2022.

Tierra del Sol is a city of heat and sunlight, where the bravest girls dance every year to frighten away the criaturas who haunt the outskirts of their desert town. It's also the home of Cecelia Rios, who once rescued a criatura from punishment by the town's police. Already an outcast, Cece is truly ostracized when her well-loved sister, Juana, is kidnapped by a dark criatura and carried away to his home in Devil's Alley. Cece is determined to rescue Juana and repair her shattered family, but there's only one way for a human to reach Devil's Alley: steal the soul of a criatura, force it into battle, and win the notorious bruja fights. It doesn't take long for Cece to realize she doesn't have the cruelty necessary to be a true bruja, but her kindness may be her greatest ally. This #ownvoices narrative is packed with magic, adventure, friendship, and Latinx-inspired mythology. Twelve-year-old Cece ("Almost thirteen!") struggles with what she sees as weakness and personal failure, with a lack of self-worth coming as much from saving the criatura as from living in Juana's shadow. There's a compelling complexity in the worldview of Coyote, the criatura Cece befriends, who both loves humans and wants them to pay for persecuting criaturas. Rivera offers no solutions for the conflict between humans and criaturas, but her ambiguous ending suggests that a change might be around the corner. Fans of Rick Riordan Presents titles will delight in exploring Cece's world and may be inspired to explore the myths that influenced its creation.