Hispanic Heritage Chapter Books for Halloween

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By Bailey Keimig-Gehrke, Youth Services

As the weather starts to cool and the sun sets a little earlier each night, we know the season of chills and thrills is upon us. It’s also the perfect time of year for middle-graders to stock up on some new spine-tingling stories! These spectacularly spooky chapter books are also written by Latinx authors, so readers can celebrate the Halloween season and Hispanic Heritage Month at the same time. Find these books and more at the library.

“Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls” by Kaela Rivera

This is a fantastical tale is about a girl named Cece Rios, a mysterious town called Tierra del Sol, and magical desert spirits from Mesoamerican folklore. Everyone in Tierra del Sol is terrified of the spirits, or criaturas, but Cece has always thought they were just misunderstood. When her sister is kidnapped by El Sombrerón, a dark criatura, Cece is so determined to get her back that she takes a chance and teams up with a (hopefully) friendly spirit called Coyote. In order to get into Devil’s Alley to save her sister, Cece must also learn a forbidden magic to win her back. Will she have what it takes to learn the magical powers she needs to reunite her family and maybe build a bridge between humankind and the criaturas? 

“Curse of the Night Witch” by Alex Aster

This story takes place in a place called Emblem Island. Here, everybody is born knowing their fate. Everyone knows their lifeline, and everyone gets an emblem that dictates how they will spend their lives. The problem for Tor Luna is that he hates his emblem. His mark indicates a life of leadership like his mother’s, and Tor has no interest in living that life. But when he tries to change his fate, Tor is marked with a curse and a shortened lifeline. With only the chilling ancient stories of his village as a guide, Tor has one week to figure out how to break the curse and get his life back—and that means a dangerous journey to visit the Night Witch. Will Tor and his friends survive the treacherous journey across Emblem Island and the terrifying creatures that lurk in the dark? 

“The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez” by Adrianna Cuevas

This book explores the challenging realities of growing up in a military family, the search for one’s place in the world, and the importance of cultural heritage and family legacy.
Nestor and his mom have just moved to Texas to live with his grandmother after his father’s recent deployment. Nestor isn’t looking for drama in his new home, but he’s immediately pulled into a mystery when animals around town start to go missing. Things take a turn for the worse when his grandmother gets accused of being responsible for the disappearances. As Nestor and his friends start to investigate, they discover the person behind all of the trouble is a tule vieja—a witch who can absorb an animal’s powers when she bites them during a solar eclipse. What nobody knows is that Nestor has his own power: he has the ability to talk to animals. Will Nestor be able to channel that power to figure out what is happening to the animals and clear his grandmother’s name before the next eclipse? he novel explores 


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