The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto
by Adrianna Cuevas (Author)
A new middle grade novel from Adrianna Cuevas--author of the Pura Belpré Honor Book The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez--about a Cuban American boy who's sent to work on a ranch as punishment for a school prank gone wrong, where's he's confronted with a mystery as inexplicable as it is familiar and discovers that uncovering secrets will lead to learning hard truths about himself.
Rafa would rather live in the world of The Forgotten Age, his favorite role-playing game, than face his father's increasing restrictions and his mother's fading presence. But when Rafa and his friends decide to take the game out into the real world and steal their school cafeteria's slushie machine, his dad concocts a punishment Rafa never could've imagined--a month working on a ranch in New Mexico, far away from his friends, their game, and his mom's quesitos in Miami.
Life at Rancho Espanto isn't as bad as Rafa initially expected, mostly due to Jennie, a new friend with similarly strong snack opinions, and Marcus, the veteran barn manager who's not as gruff as he appears. But when Rafa's work at the ranch is inexplicably sabotaged by a man who may not be what he seems, Rafa and Jennie explore what's behind the strange events at Rancho Espanto--and discover that the greatest mystery may have been with Rafa all along.
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Kirkus
An intriguing mystery with a satisfying emotional payoff.
ALA/Booklist
Readers of all ages will be compelled to reflect upon their own lives and legacies after this gripping read.
Publishers Weekly
Ten-year-old Cuban American Rafa Alvarez and his friends Beto and Yesi, who are obsessed with the fantasy tabletop role-playing game The Forgotten Age, take the adventure out of doors and into the real world in this boisterous telling by Cuevas (Cuba in My Pocket). When a prank they pull as part of their game goes wrong, Rafa's father sends him from Florida to New Mexico, to spend a month helping Marcus Coleman, an old college friend, run Rancho Espanto--Terror Ranch. There, Rafa meets Marcus, a Black Army veteran turned barn manager, and affable Korean American Jennie Kim, the snack-obsessed daughter of the local librarian. Rafa slowly acclimates to the ranch's sedate lifestyle, which helps him process his mother's worsening cancer. But a stranger in a green jacket, believing the ranch to be haunted, pressures him to leave, even going so far as to frame Rafa for vandalism around the ranch, which puts the youth at odds with his new friends. Via Rafa's vulnerable first-person narration, Cuevas crafts a whirlwind mystery populated by a compassionate community of lovable characters with effervescent personalities, to explore themes of grief, healing, and PTSD with tenderness and well-timed humor. Ages 8-12. (Apr.)
Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Review quotes
"Adrianna Cuevas deftly weaves together friendship and mystery in a tale that is not just about the ghosts of the departed, but also of love, loss, and lingering grief." —Julie C. Dao, author of Team Chu and the Battle of Blackwood Arena
JUV013030 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Multigenerational
JUV058000 - Juvenile Fiction | Paranormal, Occult & Supernatural
JUV011030 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - Hispanic & Latino
Secrets
Cuban Americans
Novels
Ranches
