Paola Santiago and the Forest of Nightmares (Paola Santiago Series #2)

by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Overview

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents the sequel to Tehlor Kay Mejia's critically acclaimed own-voices novel about science-obsessed Paola Santiago.

"Paola is a brilliant, furious girl who often trusts her brain but trips over her heart."—Sarah Gailey, Hugo and Locus award-winning author of River of Teeth

Six months after Paola Santiago confronted the legendary La Llorona, life is nothing like she'd expected it to be. She is barely speaking to her best friends, Dante and Emma, and what's worse, her mom has a totally annoying boyfriend. Even with her chupacabra puppy, Bruto, around, Pao can't escape the feeling that she's all alone in the world.

Pao has no one to tell that she's having nightmares again, this time set in a terrifying forest. Even more troubling? At their center is her estranged father, an enigma of a man she barely remembers. And when Dante's abuela falls mysteriously ill, it seems that the dad Pao never knew just might be the key to healing the eccentric old woman.

Pao's search for her father will send her far from home, where she will encounter new monsters and ghosts, a devastating betrayal, and finally, the forest of her nightmares. Will the truths her father has been hiding save the people Pao loves, or destroy them?

Once again Tehlor Kay Mejia draws on her Mexican heritage to tell a wild and wondrous story that combines creatures from folklore with modern-day challenges. Endorsed by Rick Riordan, author of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, soon to be a series on Disney+.

Complete your middle grade collection with these best-selling fan favorites:

• Rick Riordan Presents Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
• Rick Riordan Presents Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
• Rick Riordan Presents Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
• The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan
• The Trials of Apollo series by Rick Riordan

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781368049344
Publisher:	Disney Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/03/2021
Series:	Paola Santiago Series , #2
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	639,725
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Tehlor Kay Mejia is an Oregon native in love with the alpine meadows and evergreen forests of her home state, where she lives with her daughter. When she's not writing, you can find her plucking at her guitar, stealing rosemary sprigs from overgrown gardens, or trying to make the perfect vegan tamale. She is the author of Paola Santiago and the River of Tears and the YA fantasy novels We Set the Dark on Fire and We Unleash the Merciless Storm. Follow her on Twitter @tehlorkay.

Editorial Reviews

PRAISE FOR PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE RIVER OF TEARS

"Paola Santiago and the River of Tears is just plain marvelous. Paola is a brilliant, furious girl who often trusts her brain but trips over her heart. This book is a thrilling adventure from start to finish, with a bright core of emotional honesty anchoring it to reality."—Sarah Gailey, Hugo and Locus Award-winning author of River of Teeth

PRAISE FOR PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE RIVER OF TEARS

"A clever, twisty, imaginative take on the ever-spooky folktale La Llorona. Filled with love and fear and courage. Readers will delight!"—J.C. Cervantes, New York Times best-selling author of THE STORM RUNNER

PRAISE FOR PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE RIVER OF TEARS

"Mejia pulls no punches in showing us the monsters—whether fantastic or all too real—that children who live on the border between two cultures face every day. Even better, she gives readers the tremendous gift of a third way, one that shows us science and folklore aren't enemies, but rather allies, and that reason and myth are strongest when they work together."—Carlos Hernandez, award-winning author of Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe

PRAISE FOR PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE RIVER OF TEARS

"Paola Santiago and the River of Tears has the perfect blend of action, heart, and honesty in showing a painful world that most readers will already recognize—and proving the perfect amount of hope that they will survive and thrive. Tehlor Kay Mejia's writing is pure magic."—Karen Callender, Stonewall Book Award-winning author of Hurricane Child

PRAISE FOR PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE RIVER OF TEARS

"Paola Santiago is a whip-smart Latina who dares to explore the shadows between folklore and middle-school friendship. A thrilling adventure full of culture, magic, monsters, and a mystical chancla, Mejia offers readers a fresh, modern take on La Llorona while creating a legend of the intrepid Paola."—Nina Moreno, author of DON'T DATE ROSA SANTOS

PRAISE FOR PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE RIVER OF TEARS

*"A warm, thrilling Mexican American adventure. An essential purchase."—School Library Journal (starred review)

From the Publisher

2021-05-26
A 13-year-old once again rises to face magical challenges.

Six months after defeating La Llorona, Paola Santiago is pulled back into the magical world when her vivid dreams return, this time featuring her absent father. Distanced from her best friends, Dante and Emma, Pao feels increasingly isolated and out of place, especially since her mother’s new boyfriend came into the picture and apparently will be moving into their apartment. Alone in her struggles and feeling frustrated, Pao finally jumps into action when Señora Mata, Dante’s grandmother, falls into a magically induced coma after appearing in her dreams and confusing her with Pao’s mother, Maria. Pao and Dante’s enmity continues as they set out, traveling from Arizona up the West Coast, reuniting with an old ally and battling fantasmas, in order to reach Pao’s dad and bring Señora Mata out of her coma. The journey is peppered with conversations about and instances demonstrating the vulnerability of minority populations around police and in health care. Queer Emma, whose characterization falls a bit flat, is active in their school’s Rainbow Rogues group and feels distant from Pao as her new social circle consists mostly of well-off White kids, in contrast to Latinx Pao’s financial struggles. Additionally, Emma’s zealous sharing of her newfound social justice awareness and efforts to be a White ally sometimes push Pao further away.

An interesting twist uplifts the ending of this second series entry. (Fantasy. 8-13)

Kirkus Reviews