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. Fans of Tristan Strong and The Storm Runner, here is your
next obsession.
"A
breathtaking journey . . . readers better hold on tight." —Kwame
Mbalia, New York Times bestselling author of the Tristan Strong
series
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