Description
The turn of a card could change your destiny in this captivating middle gradeadventure based on the Loteria card game, perfect for fans of Coco . Whilesearching for her missing cousin, a young girl is transported to a mythicalkingdom, 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 whistlesdown cobbled streets and rustles the jacaranda trees before slipping into the window of aneleven-year-old girl named Clara. Unbeknownst to her, Clara has been marked for la Loteria. Life and Death deal the Loteria cards once a year, and the stakes could not be higher. Everycard reveals a new twist in Clara's fate--a scorpion, an arrow, a blood-red rose. If Life wins, Clarawill 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, andshe'll do whatever it takes to save him, traveling to the mythical Kingdom of las Pozas, whereevery action has a price, and every choice has consequences. And though it seems her fate issealed, 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--gorgeously illustrated by Dana Sanmar--exploring the notion of free will in a world where fate holds all the cards.