Daggers of Ire

Gr 5 up–A Latine magical adventure where the forces of good and evil are at odds.  Bruja Esmerelda Santos is a descendant of one of the four original witches who gave rise to the magic in her town of San Bosco. She and her best friend Tiago are looking forward to learning the ways of the brujxes (witches) and maturing into full brujxes in the coming year, but an unexpected storm thrusts them into another world where nothing is quite as it seems. While in this alternate world, they forge an unlikely friendship with a fox who guides them on their quest to save their family members and their hometown’s magic from ruin. Readers will enjoy the trio’s dynamics and the plot’s twists and turns throughout. The importance of family, friendship, and loyalty are primary themes. The fast-paced and easily readable story is reminiscent of folklore-inspired adventures like Kwame Mbalia’s Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky and Roshani Chokshi’s Aru Shah and the End of Time.