Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa (Pilar Ramirez Duology #1)
by Julian Randall (Author)
The Land of Stories meets Dominican myths and legends come to life in Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa, a blockbuster contemporary middle-grade fantasy duology starter from Julian Randall.
Twelve-year-old Pilar Violeta "Purp" Ramirez's world is changing, and she doesn't care for it one bit. Her Chicago neighborhood is gentrifying and her chores have doubled since her sister, Lorena, left for college. The only constant is Abuela and Mami's code of silence around her cousin Natasha--who vanished in the Dominican Republic fifty years ago during the Trujillo dictatorship. When Pilar hears that Lorena's professor studies such disappearances, she hops on the next train to dig deeper into her family's mystery. After snooping around the professor's empty office, she discovers a folder with her cousin's name on it . . . and gets sucked into the blank page within. She lands on Zafa, an island swarming with coconut-shaped demons, butterfly shapeshifters, and a sinister magical prison where her cousin is being held captive. Pilar will have to go toe-to-toe with the fearsome Dominican boogeyman, El Cuco, if she has any hope of freeing Natasha and getting back home. Magic awaits around every corner in Zafa.
"Nonstop action and plenty of heart create a story worth escaping into." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review
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Kirkus Reviews
Pilar’s humorous, authentically tweenage voice shines as she makes astute observations about the world around her. Nonstop action and plenty of heart create a story worth escaping into.
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Publishers Weekly
Vividly built Dominican mythology distinguishes Randall's (Refuse, for adults) middle grade debut, an epic adventure that effectively interweaves historical and current affairs. Pilar Violeta Ramirez, 12, lives with her Dominican Mami and Abuela in a quickly gentrifying Chicago neighborhood. Dreaming of becoming an Oscar-winning filmmaker, the rising eighth grader wants to capture untold stories--for a summer project, she's making a documentary about her mother's cousin, Natasha, who disappeared as a young teen in 1957 during Trujillo's dictatorship. When her university student sister encounters a visiting sociology professor who studies Trujillo-era disappearances, Pilar hops on the chance to meet with him. But when he's nowhere to be found, she enters his office, finding a folder with Natasha's name on it that sucks her into an alternate island realm, Zafa, where her Abuela's stories come to life. As Pilar meets its inhabitants, she learns that El Cuco, the Dominican bogeyman, is not only powerfully real and menacing, but may hold the answer to Natasha's disappearance. Fusing a vibrant, self-assured narrative voice; subtly wrought intergenerational concerns; and rich, Dominican-inspired worldbuilding, Randall creates an undeniable page-turner. Ages 8-12. Agent: Patrice Caldwell, Howard Morhaim Literary. (Mar.)
Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
"Incredible voice that jumps right off the page. Pilar is the hilarious hero we need right now. My Dominican heart BURST reading this story, but in the best way."—Claribel A. Ortega, author of Ghost Squad
JUV001000 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure
JUV001010 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure | Survival Stories
JUV002270 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Dragons, Unicorns & Mythical
JUV011030 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - Hispanic & Latino
JUV012070 - Juvenile Fiction | Legends, Myths, Fables | Caribbean & Latin American
Families
Family life
Folklore
Missing persons
Memory
Animals, Mythical
Dominican Americans
Dominican Republic
Novels
