In a book that features both Spanish and English text between the same covers, Garza offers fourteen short stories featuring Mexican and Mexican American characters battling (sometimes none too successfully) the forces of darkness. Most of the stories are of the slumber-party variety, with ironic endings and people being devoured by creatures with big teeth. One of the stories, "Llorona 911," even features a slumber party, with the participants playing the familiar slumber-party scary games, leading to tragic results. Of course, as with most of these scary collections, some of the stories are more successful at eliciting chills than others, although the title story is not without humor, as a masked Mexican wrestler battles the devil himself. Garza's own black-and-white drawings add to the spookiness. Robert San Souci's collections Dare to Be Scared (2003) and Double-Dare to Be Scared (2004) offer similar chills to readers in need of a fright.

Gr 6-10 A compendium of scary short stories featuring popular characters from Mexican folklore. Characters such as La Llorona and El Chupacabras are sure to give readers the chills. In "The Witch Owl," a witch wants to steal a baby from her 14-year-old sister to have as a meal. In another selection, Maya and Vincent, Kid Cyclone's niece and nephew, say that no one could defeat their uncle. The Devil himself takes the challenge and decides to fight Kid Cyclone. "The Saints" is one instance where Garza uses a common superstition among Latin elders. In this story a star football player gets injured and can't play anymore. His grandmother promises that he will feel better if he prays to the Saints every day. However he forgets his promise and faces bad consequences. These short stories can be helpful in a bilingual classroom where reluctant readers will learn new vocabulary. They could also be used as read-alouds to illustrate the constant struggle between good and evil characters. The black-and-white illustrations complement each story and add to its dramatic appeal. The Spanish translation is accurate and smooth. Patricia Bashir, The Brentwood Library, TN