Starred Review Two 17-year-olds from diverging time lines forge a connection through a magical conch. It's June 2019, and Sitlali must flee Veracruz to escape the womanizing narcotraficantes who are approaching her. With no family left in Mexico, she treks across the border into the U.S. to stay with her madrina (godmother) and find the father who abandoned her. The story then shifts to June in 1521 Tenochtitlan, where Calizto's people are at war with Hernán Cortés' men, who are invading their villages. Calizto's family has been taken by the plague, and the only thing keeping him going is a promise made to his deceased father ong with the desire to fight. Overburdened and filled with grief, both characters plead to the moon for relief from their woes. During the moon's changing phases, the teens discover a magical conch shell that allows them to speak to each other in Spanish and Nahuatl. Amid their frightful journeys, both characters find comfort and support in each other. Pura Belpré Honor Book author Bowles and Pura Belpré Medal winner McCall deliver an excellent romantic fantasy woven with timeless themes. The authors juxtapose historical aspects of Aztec civilization with today's current events, calling attention to strains that migrants experience in modern-day detention centers. Young adults will thoroughly enjoy this riveting, long-distance love story.

In 2019, the night before she plans to flee Mexico for the U.S. seeking safety and her father, Sitlali discovers a conch in ocean waves. Five centuries earlier, in 1521, Calizto, who is under threat from Spanish invaders in the Aztec Empire, finds the same sacred conch, associated with the goddess of the moon. Magically connected, at first through thoughts and then with physical senses increasing with the moon's waxing, the two teens separated by time form a friendship that blossoms into a smoldering, centuries-defying romance. The fantastical elements of the conch and Sitlali's ability to see spirits enhance the deeply human experiences of love and perseverance through strife but do not alleviate the historical and present-day horrors wrought on the teens by colonialism and its effects, via conquistadors and ICE. The novel's in-depth battle scenes, war strategizing, and world-building will appeal to fans of fantasy and action (though other readers may find them too numerous). Modern-day teens will recognize the trials in Sitlali's life as she tries to battle systemic injustice and to forge a relationship with the father who abandoned her years earlier. Acts of violation and brutality are excruciatingly captured, but so are scenes of tenderness and transcendence. By turns heartfelt and heart-pounding, this story will grip readers to the final pages. Front matter includes a glossary of Nahuatl terms and information on gods and legendary and historical figures.

Lovers separated by time fight for their lives.Calizto and Sitlali are not from the same world: They may come from the same place, but they're living centuries apart, pursuing completely different lives, and struggling with their own battles. In 1521 in the city of Tenochtitlan, Calizto is fleeing from pursuit by colonizing Spaniards when he throws a sacred shell, a moon conch, into the sea. In 2019, Sitlali is walking along the beach when it washes up at her feet. Sitlali's father has left, and her mother passed away years ago; now her Abuela Lucía has died too. Forced by gang activity to quit her job and threatened by a young man who wants to force her into marriage, Sitlali decides to cross the border from Mexico to the United States in hopes of finding her father. Although all of Calizto's family died in the recent plague, he's accompanied by Ofirin, a Yoruba man formerly enslaved by the Spaniards whom his father rescued. Sitlali and Calizto start to communicate in Nahuatl and Spanish as the conch connects their thoughts. Calizto learns from Sitlali what the future brings, and the two fall in love. Although the premise is interesting and the worldbuilding is solid, the narrative moves slowly, and the characterization makes it difficult to understand why the two main characters connect so deeply with each other, keeping readers from fully investing in the story.A clever concept not quite fully realized. (historical figures, gods and legendary figures, maps) (Fantasy romance. 14-18)

Two Mexican teens in separate timelines fall in love via a magical conch shell in this sweeping fantasy by Bowles (They Call Her Fregona) and McCall (Echoes of Grace). In 1521 Tenochtitlan, Calizto, a 17-year-old orphan, contends with Spanish colonizers. While escaping pursuers, Calizto throws a sacred shell tied to the moon goddess into the ocean; it washes ashore in 2019, where it’s found by 17-year-old Sitali, who is desperate to leave Mexico. After her father abandoned her family to immigrate to the United States and her mother died of a broken heart, Sitali’s abuela Lucia—the girl’s last tie to Mexico—has also died. When a crime lord attempts to force her into marriage, Sitali determines to flee to the U.S., hoping to find her father. By communicating through the moon conch, Sitali tells Calizto of the fallout of colonization while they comfort each other through their struggles. Though occasionally dense prose prioritizes historical context, Sitali and Calizto’s alternating perspectives capably center their individual conflicts and depict the treatment of Indigenous communities through engaging present-day and 16th-century lenses. A gentle love story and action-packed sequences elevate this sobering read. Ages 13–up. Agent: Taylor Martindale Kean, Full Circle Literary. (June)