Charlie Hernandez & the League of Shadows by Ryan Calejo (review)

Twelve-year-old Charlie has had a rough time: he lost his home to a fire, his parents are missing, and now he's magically growing horns and feathers. When classmate Violet Rey, an aspiring investigative journalist and a longtime crush of Charlie's, discovers Charlie's secret, she takes it surprisingly well, and the two team up to investigate what's happening and find Charlie's missing parents. As Charlie and Violet encounter many threats and allies, they learn of a millennia-old conflict between the Land of the Living and that of the Dead, which Charlie is the key to solving. This magical adventure brings the Hispanic mythologies Charlie learned from his abuela as bedtime stories to life, from Mexican calacas, living skeletons, to the Argentine La Luz Mala, a light that leads followers to misfortune, to a horse-faced Aztec queen. As in Cervantes' The Storm Runner (BCCB 9/18), the detailed attention to various Hispanic folkloric and mythological traditions is accessible to readers new to the legends as well as old hands, and this multicultural story proves to be a satisfying read for anyone interested in fantasy action. WJ