Review by Booklist Review
Cuevas mixes Cuban culture and traditions with magic and themes of belonging in this engrossing fantasy adventure. Mari Feijoo struggles with her Cuban heritage, as it makes her feel like an outsider at school--largely due to a classmate who constantly teases her about it. When Mari decides not to participate in her family's important Cuban New Year's Eve tradition, she finds herself cursed by the creepy El Cocodrilo and dogged by increasingly troublesome supernatural situations. As the curse gains power and begins to spread, Mari's bravery shines as she endeavors to protect her friends and realizes that her family's ancestry might just be what will save the day. Cuevas vividly showcases the struggles that can arise in tween friendships and highlights the power found in a united family and in embracing one's culture and differences. This book will not only captivate readers with its fantasy elements; it will leave them deeply touched by the characters and their adventures. Fans of Claribel A. Ortega's Ghost Squad (2020) and Tehlor Kay Mejia's Paola Santiago books will be enamored.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this uplifting tale by Cuevas (The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto), a Cuban American 12-year-old must reckon with the mystical consequences of breaking tradition. Maricel Yanet Feijoo's family is proud of its Cuban identity and customs. Sometimes, though, their "Peak Cubanity" embarrasses Mari, and a white classmate's frequent racist remarks add to her discomfort. When she shuns her family's annual New Year's Eve burning of an effigy to expel bad luck, her refusal to participate awakens a powerful ghostly entity called El Cocodrilo. Realizing that feeding off Mari's negative emotions boosts his power, El Cocodrilo engages in disruptive mischief--possessing Mari's belongings and sabotaging her school pursuits--that causes her public humiliation. After El Cocodrilo begins haunting her bestie, Mari must rely on her family, friends, and ancestors to expel the spirit. El Cocodrilo's schemes include humor-laced, unsettling situations starring black lizards and flooded backpacks that add levity to this meditative look at the literalization of how rejecting one's identity can have detrimental ramifications. Strong tween friendships, tight-knit familial bonds, and an emphasis on taking pride in one's roots round out this eerie supernatural adventure. An end note discusses Latin American New Year's celebrations. Ages 8--12. Agent: Stefanie Sanchez Von Borstel, Full Circle Literary. (Oct.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
Twelve-year-old Mari loves her family but tries to avoid "Peak Cubanity," the times she feels their Cuban heritage sticks out in her small Texan town. When everyone else burns effigies in the backyard on New Year's Eve to ward off bad luck, Mari refuses to burn hers, worried that a neighbor girl, who bullies her for her ethnicity, is watching. This curses Mari: a crocodile-shaped mark appears on her arm, bugs follow her in school, and her violin attacks her during mariachi practice. Worse, the curse spreads to a friend. Luckily, Mari has a newfound power to summon the ghosts of her ancestors, some of whom died trying to flee Cuba alongside her abuelitos. They explain that she has the curse of El Cocodrilo, who feeds on misery. The plan she concocts to vanquish "this Cocodrilo guy" relies on the embrace of her Peak Cubanity. Although the text deals with heavy themes, Cuevas keeps a light tone and inserts moments of humor (a young ancestor's superpower is super-snot). Readers will relate to Mari's self-consciousness and fear of change in her friend group, and an explanation of microaggressions from one of Mari's peers is easy to digest. Spanish is interspersed, translated contextually for readers, and an author's note gives more details on Cuevas's bilingual family and Latine New Year's traditions. Monica de los ReyesJanuary/February 2024 p.92 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A Cuban American girl who's ashamed of her heritage contends with a curse--and a gift--from her ancestral land. Twelve-year-old Maricela Feijoo just wants to be a normal sixth grader and avoid the scorn of her racist white bully neighbor, Mykenzye. But her family's "ridiculous traditions" are constant sources of shame. On New Year's Eve, when they "reach Peak Cubanity" and the time comes to burn the effigy representing last year's bad luck, Mari spots Mykenzye recording her and pockets the doll instead. Later, a painful black crocodile-shaped mark appears on Mari's arm and with it, all manner of bad luck and scary visions befall her: Maggots infest her food, her pencils turn into worms, and a creeping black shadow writes ominous messages. The curse jeopardizes her upcoming mariachi audition; worse, her best friend, Keisha, develops the same mark, imperiling her shot at the elite fencing team. When Mari accidentally summons the ghosts of dead relatives, she learns she has the family gift of magic. By learning about her ancestors, Mari realizes that only by embracing her Cubanity--and her family, past and present--will she be able to break the curse. Dynamic action scenes rendered in vivid detail bring Cuevas' imaginative (and terrifying) interpretation of Cuban cultural traditions to life, while Mari's relationships provide a rich emotional backdrop. Strong plotting, high stakes, and the curse's evolving rules of engagement make this a satisfying page-turner. A delightful horror novel with emotional and cultural resonance. (author's note) (Paranormal. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
