Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa
Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa
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Henry Holt & Co.
Just the Series: Pilar Ramirez Duology Vol. 1   

Series and Publisher: Pilar Ramirez Duology   

Annotation: While doing research for her documentary about her cousin Natasha--who disappeared in the Dominican Republic fifty years ago during the Trujillato--twelve-year-old Pilar Violeta Ramirez is transported to Zafa, an island where Dominican myths and legends come to life and where her cousin is being held captive in a sinister magical prison, and Pilar must defeat the Dominican bogeyman if she hopes to free Natasha and return home to Chicago. Includes author's note.
 
Reviews: 5
Catalog Number: #317266
Format: Perma-Bound from Publisher's Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Copyright Date: 2022
Edition Date: 2022 Release Date: 03/01/22
Pages: 285 pages
ISBN: Publisher: 1-250-77410-1 Perma-Bound: 0-8000-1752-8
ISBN 13: Publisher: 978-1-250-77410-1 Perma-Bound: 978-0-8000-1752-1
Dewey: Fic
LCCN: 2021023055
Dimensions: 21 cm
Language: English
Reviews:
Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Magic awaits around every corner in Zafa.Pilar Ramirez grew up hearing stories of the Dominican boogeyman El Cuco-alongside accounts of dictator Rafael Trujillo, whose ruthlessness forced her abuela to flee the country with Mami long before Pilar was born. A sharp-tongued resident of Chicago living in a neighborhood that seems to be gentrifying overnight, Pilar aspires to be a documentary filmmaker and share untold stories of silenced voices, including that of her cousin Natasha, who vanished in 1957 during the Trujillo regime. Pilar can't believe her luck when Lorena, her annoyingly perfect college student sister, arranges for her to interview a sociology professor who happens to be studying missing persons from this era. Pilar arrives at the professor's office, notices a file folder with her missing cousin's name on it, and before you can blink an ojo, she is magically pulled into the file and whisked away to the supernatural island of Zafa. Pilar must team up with its scrappy, otherworldly inhabitants to unravel the mystery of Natasha's disappearance and help save the island from dark forces. Spanish words and phrases are woven into the English text in ways that enhance the character development and anchor the Dominican culture that permeates the story. 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. (Adventure. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Magic awaits around every corner in Zafa.Pilar Ramirez grew up hearing stories of the Dominican boogeyman El Cuco-alongside accounts of dictator Rafael Trujillo, whose ruthlessness forced her abuela to flee the country with Mami long before Pilar was born. A sharp-tongued resident of Chicago living in a neighborhood that seems to be gentrifying overnight, Pilar aspires to be a documentary filmmaker and share untold stories of silenced voices, including that of her cousin Natasha, who vanished in 1957 during the Trujillo regime. Pilar can't believe her luck when Lorena, her annoyingly perfect college student sister, arranges for her to interview a sociology professor who happens to be studying missing persons from this era. Pilar arrives at the professor's office, notices a file folder with her missing cousin's name on it, and before you can blink an ojo, she is magically pulled into the file and whisked away to the supernatural island of Zafa. Pilar must team up with its scrappy, otherworldly inhabitants to unravel the mystery of Natasha's disappearance and help save the island from dark forces. Spanish words and phrases are woven into the English text in ways that enhance the character development and anchor the Dominican culture that permeates the story. 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. (Adventure. 9-13)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

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.)

Reviewing Agencies: - Find Other Reviewed Titles
Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)
Starred Review for Publishers Weekly
School Library Journal Starred Review (Wed Jul 06 00:00:00 CDT 2022)
Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)
Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)
Word Count: 64,010
Reading Level: 5.8
Interest Level: 4-7
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 5.8 / points: 10.0 / quiz: 515848 / grade: Middle Grades

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


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