Lotería

by Karla Arenas Valenti (Author) Dana Sanmar (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

The turn of a card could change your destiny... The Phantom Tollbooth meets Coco in this captivating magical realist adventure based on the Lotería card game. 

A perilous game of chance. A journey among myths and monsters. A girl whose fate hangs in the balance... It is the hottest hour of the hottest day in Oaxaca City when Life and Death walk into town, ready to begin a new game of la Lotería. But first, they need a pawn, a child whose fate will be determined by the winner of the game: a long and prosperous life or an untimely death. Fate finds this child in a robin-egg blue house, tucked beneath a massive jacaranda tree.  And so, the game begins. Every card reveals a new twist in Clara's fate: a tree, a scorpion, a fateful arrow, a mermaid, a deer, a treacherous rose. But Clara knows none of this. All she knows is that her cousin Esteban has vanished, and she'll do whatever it takes to save him, traveling to the mythical Kingdom of Las Pozas in her search. And although it seems her fate was sealed as soon as the cards were dealt, Clara just might have what it takes to shatter the game and choose a new path.

Author Karla Arenas Valenti weaves an adventure steeped in magic and mythology, exploring the notion of free will in a world where fate holds all the cards

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Publisher's Weekly

Starred Review

"And so it was that the fate of a child... hung on a pile of beans and a deck of cards." In Oaxaca City each year, Life and Lady Death come together for 36 hours to play Lotería, a game of chance that will decide the future of one human being without their knowledge or consent. After arriving on a hot summer day, Life and Lady Death let loose their magic, which chooses as its next target Clara, a steadfast 11-year-old who draws fantastical creatures. But when the consequences of the game and grief drive Clara’s eight-year-old cousin Esteban to enter the perilous Aztlán through a nopal cactus, Clara must go after him-and face dangerous obstacles awakened by the Lotería cards-to keep a promise. From the first line of this philosophical debut, Arenas Valenti demonstrates a gift for interweaving immersive, sensory-rich storytelling ("Life sauntered into town on a wave of heat") with a thoughtful discussion of fate vs. determinism. Fans of Coco will savor this tale and Sanmar’s occasional illustrations, which visualize Clara and Esteban’s journeys and the Lotería cards as the game progresses. Ages 8-12.

Copyright 2021 Publisher’s Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Starred Review

Gr 3-6-Life and Death have met up for their yearly game of Lotería and the silver strands of fate have chosen Clara this year, a seemingly ungifted dark-haired girl born into a family of gifted people in Oaxaca, Mexico. She does not know that she is being watched, but her prescient cousin Estaban foresees something bad about the happen. And bad things do happen and keep happening. When Clara's aunt dies suddenly, Estaban is blinded by grief for his mother and walks into the dangerous kingdom of Las Pozas where the Man in Red kidnaps him. Clara must follow to save her young cousin before he is trapped there forever by the king. She must learn the rules of this kingdom and begin to trust her talents. All the while, Life and Death play their game to determine her next obstacle and finally, which one will claim her in the end. The discussion of our lives being controlled by fate or free choice appears throughout and while all gets resolved and final choices are made, part of the beauty and brilliance of this tale is making readers comfortable with the concept that life or death can be equally important, and even fulfilling, destinies. The magical realism employed adds a warmth and imaginative quality to the world-building that is only enhanced by the rich feast of language Valenti offers up. Readers will be able to smell the chocolate in Clara's family's restaurant and feel the plants in her aunt's garden. The illustrations that are interspersed as partial and full-page spreads add another access point to this world full of Mexican mythology and characters; detailed imagery of each round of Lotería cards is a powerful tool to see where we are in the game. The use of Spanish is prevalent throughout and is always translated or explained so it can certainly be understood by readers not at all familiar with Mexican culture or mythology. Additionally, the explanations of characters and stories referenced in the back of the book make this story even more meaningful and accessible. VERDICT A magical, philosophical tale rooted in Mexican lore that will hold readers from beginning to end with its verdant language and setting.

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Karla Arenas Valenti
Karla Arenas Valenti escribe historias para niños y sobre niños, en ellas, acerca a los lectores a aventuras llenas de realismo mágico y dudas filosóficas. Su escritura tiene una gran influencia de su herencia mexicana e incluye varias capas de conceptos e ideas que ha recogido en muchos de sus viajes alrededor del mundo. Actualmente reside en el área de Chicagoland con su esposo y tres hijos, dos gatos y cientos de libros. Karla escribe libros ilustrados para niños (es la creadora de la serie "My Super Science Heroes"). Lotería es su primera novela para lectores de grado medio.

Dana Sanmar es ilustradora y diseñadora gráfica originalmente de colombiana y ahora reside en Atlanta, Georgia. Su pasión por la ilustración comenzó desde una temprana edad debido al amor por los libros de parte de sus padres. El haber estado expuesta desde niña a las artes y manualidades por parte de su madre alimentó su pasión por crear cosas a mano, mientras que su padre le enseñó cómo trabajar con diferentes materiales y la importancia de ser ingeniosa. Siguiendo estas influencias, obtuvo un B.F.A en Diseño Gráfico en su país de origen. Recientemente se graduó con un M.F.A en Ilustración en Savannah College of Art and Design y actualmente trabaja como ilustradora independiente.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780593176962
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication date
September 20, 2021
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV039040 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Drugs, Alcohol, Substance Abuse
JUV012070 - Juvenile Fiction | Legends, Myths, Fables | Caribbean & Latin American
Library of Congress categories
Mexico
Adventure and adventurers
Magic
Fate and fatalism
Free will and determinism
Oaxaca de Juaarez (Mexico)
Loteraia (Game)
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 07/01/21

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