Bicho Raro, Colorado, is a town where the people, particularly the Mexicans and Mexican Americans, are mysterious and magical. Strangers travel far and wide in search of the town where miracles happen or, alternately, find themselves in this town not realizing that they need a miracle. Stiefvater puts the three Soria cousins at the center of the narrative. Each cousin has their own propensity for miracles, but Daniel, the oldest, is the one with the power to perform miracles for strangers and friends. His cousins Beatriz and Joaquin struggle to form their own futures. This is an intensely character-driven narrative, and Stiefvater's use of magic realism is at times too dependent on commonplace Latinx stereotypes. For example, Beatriz is the archetype Latina vixen, or, in Stiefvater's words, "la chica sin sentimientos" (the woman without feelings). Still, this makes for a great opportunity for YA readers and educators to discuss how people of color get represented in literature as subservient, mystical beings, and it would pair interestingly with Anna-Marie McLemore's When the Moon Was Ours (2016). HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Stiefvater is one of YA's biggest stars, and her first stand-alone since the Raven Cycle will demand lots of attention.

In 1962 Colorado, the Mexican American Soria family has the power to work miracles. Daniel Soria has broken a taboo by falling in love with one of the pilgrims seeking the family's help and has exiled himself to the desert, starting a chain of events that will upset their dysfunctional community. Paying homage to Latin American magical realism, Stiefvater employs evocative and philosophical prose and matter-of-fact strangeness.

The line between truth and legend is obscured in the high desert of the San Luis Valley, a world of tall tales and miracles that draws literary pilgrims.In 1962 the teenage Soria cousins of Bicho Raro, descended from Los Santos de Abejones of Oaxaca, Mexico, continue the family legacy of miracle working. However, pilgrims seeking a miracle here find their inner darknesses brought to life, tangible metaphors for their psychic pain. When the eldest cousin and acting Saint, Daniel, interferes with a miracle in progress, the darkness falls upon him as well, and he flees into the night. Barred by their fearful parents from seeking him directly, the remaining cousins decide to reach out in the only way they know how—through their pirate radio station. Coolly intellectual Beatriz and passionate Joaquin join forces with white-bread Pete Wyatt, a salt-of-the-earth transplant from Oklahoma, using the technical marvel of AM radio to perform a practical miracle and hopefully bring Daniel home. In the process, the family rediscovers that the best way to fight the darkness is with someone you love by your side. Stiefvater weaves a rich history for this mythical homestead. Though not an own-voices narrator, she well-captures the rural, mountain West and the Latinx culture that provides the foundation for the Sorias' twilight world. True history blends with traditional and fanciful folklore as fallen saints find salvation in the lyrical power of family, community, and rock-'n'-roll. (Fabulism. 14-adult)

In this lushly written tale set in 1962 Colorado, Stiefvater explores the complex and interconnected nature of desires, fears, and miracles via a Mexican-American family known for producing saints. Pilgrims come to the desert of Bicho Raro seeking cures to their woes, but the miracles they receive from the Soria saints are seldom what they expect. One winds up covered in moss, another only able to repeat what is said to her; these miracles are a -two-step process,- and it-s up to the pilgrims to unlock the meanings behind these transformations. When Daniel, the current saint, violates the Sorias- greatest taboo, his family, including intellectual Beatriz and pirate radio deejay Joaquin, and the pilgrims of Bicho Raro must drive off the darkness that emerges. The language of legend and magical realism suffuse this sprawling and intimate novel; while the book-s tone is all its own and Stiefvater remains a summarily confident wordsmith, the setup, which sees a volatile family wrestling with unpredictable magic and forbidden romances, echoes her Raven Cycle books fairly closely. Dense, tricky, and thought-provoking. Ages 14-up. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. (Oct.)

Gr 8 Up-ilgrims travel to Bicho Raro, Colorado, for a miracle from the Sorias, a Mexican American family of saints who can "cure" people of their darkness. When the pilgrims' darkness manifests, they have to overcome it on their own. If the Sorias interfere, their own inner darkness takes over. In 1962, Bicho Raro is overrun by pilgrims who haven't been able to complete the miracle, and the current saint, David, has fallen in love with one of the pilgrims. He helps her and his darkness manifests. His younger cousins, Beatriz and Joaquin, are afraid to interfere because of the curse. But two visitors, including a handsome teen who catches Beatriz's interest, might be the key to helping the Sorias. The desert setting, intricate family dynamics, and the power of love and music resonate in this lush but often overwrought tale. Subplots distract from the core story and character development is often weighed down by the convoluted language. The rules of the family curse are laid down just to be broken and remade for the convenience of the plot. The influence of Latin American storytelling is woven throughout, and the family's ranch's name can be translated in Mexican Spanish as "Strange or Rare Insect." But it also has a more explicit translation in other countries. Also, the family is saved by the machinations of the ingenious (and possibly neuro-atypical) Beatriz, but she's inspired to do so because of her white love interest. VERDICT This title will be popular with the author's fans, but for readers interested in well-crafted YA magical realism, turn to Laura Ruby and Anna-Marie McLemore instead.Shelley M. Diaz, School Library Journal

Reminiscent of the mystical world of Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, this series starter is set in a tiny desert enclave in the American West named Bicho Raro, where generations of a family have existed only to provide miracles to pilgrims. Their miracles do not come easy, however. Once granted a miracle, the pilgrim will experience unpleasant manifestations, such as having the head of an animal, developing a desire to live in the dark, or only being able to repeat what others have already said until coming to terms with and accepting their miracle. Hence, a dozen or so pilgrims with such vestiges live in the family compound waiting to find their personal redemption. A handyman seeking employment and a forlorn disc jockey propel the plot as the family reels from a disaster in which one of them tries to intervene with a pilgrim’s struggle—a lethal error. Another family member coincidentally yearns to be a disc jockey, nightly pirating the airwaves above their town with his homemade radio and an anonymous name. Even the desert has a personality in this tale, luring and shunning characters and goading the handyman to become a catalyst for change. Bicho raro is Spanish for weirdo, and no book could have a more apt name for its setting. Such a rich exploration of perception and the power of love, it will not be for all readers, but for the mature ones who can appreciate a lyrical and literate journey to a different kind of place where things make sense in a most unusual way.—Kevin Beach.