PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE RIVER OF TEARS
by TEHLOR KAY MEJIA
About Paola Santiago and the River of Tears:
Space-obsessed 12-year-old Paola Santiago and her two best friends, Emma and Dante, know the rule: Stay away from the river. It’s all they’ve heard since a schoolmate of theirs drowned a year ago. Pao is embarrassed to admit that she has been told to stay away for even longer than that, because her mother is constantly warning her about La Llorona, the wailing ghost woman who wanders the banks of the Gila at night, looking for young people to drag into its murky depths. Hating her mother’s humiliating superstitions and knowing that she and her friends would never venture into the water, Pao organizes a meet-up to test out her new telescope near the Gila, since it’s the best stargazing spot. But when Emma never arrives and Pao sees a shadowy figure in the reeds, it seems like maybe her mom was right. . . . Pao has always relied on hard science to make sense of the world, but to find her friend she will have to enter the world of her nightmares, which includes unnatural mist, mind-bending monsters, and relentless spirits controlled by a terrifying force that defies both logic and legend.
Join Tehlor Kay Mejia on Tuesday, August 4th as she can discuss:
What was the inspiration behind this book? Why focus on ghost stories?
Why write for younger audience? What is it about this genre that spoke to you more than others in the market?
How are the race and class conflicts in the fictionalized town of Silver Springs addressed?
Finding a home at Rick Riordan Presents, an imprint of Disney Publishing Worldwide that publishes #OwnVoices stories that integrate world folklore and mythology.
BIO: TEHLOR KAY MEJIA is the author of the critically acclaimed young adult fantasy novel We Set the Dark on Fire, as well as its forthcoming sequel, We Unleash the Merciless Storm, and Miss Meteor (co-written with National Book Award nominee Anna-Marie McLemore). Her debut novel received six starred reviews, and was chosen as an Indie’s Next Pick and a Junior Library Guild selection, as well as being an Indiebound bestseller in the Pacific Northwest region. It has been featured in Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and O by Oprah Magazine’s, and named a best book of 2019 by Kirkus and School Library Journal. Tehlor lives in Oregon with her daughter, two very small dogs, and several rescued houseplants.
About Rick Riordan Presents:
The newly created Disney-Hyperion imprint, Rick Riordan Presents, is designed to elevate the diversity of mythologies from around the world through the voice of the best storytellers for middle grade readers. Bestselling author Rick Riordan, “the storyteller of the gods” (as dubbed by Publishers Weekly), along with Editorial Director, Stephanie Lurie, are carefully curating a list to feature entertaining, mythology-based, and diverse fiction by debut, emerging, and under-represented authors. Audio rights have been sold to Listening Library.
Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians and other bestselling series (The Kane Chronicles, The Heroes of Olympus, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, and The Trials of Apollo) have over 90 million copies in print, and have delighted millions of fans across the world, turning young people on to reading while also giving them a new understanding of and appreciation for mythology. Rick’s fans are constantly asking him to write about other cultures. He sees this as an opportunity for other authors to provide their cultural expertise and unique perspectives in highly entertaining stories.
Rick Riordan Presents is part of Disney Book Group, which has been creating stories that foster a love of reading, inspire a child’s natural curiosity, and excite families and fans for almost 90 years. The business has grown its collection of imprints including Disney*Hyperion, Kingswell, Disney Press, Marvel Press, Freeform, Lucasfilm Press and more, to keep pace with rich content opportunities from across The Walt Disney Company (TWDC). The portfolio of content, which includes a roster of best-selling authors such as Riordan, also includes Mo Willems, Melissa de la Cruz, Alexandra Bracken, Robert Beatty, Jennifer Donnelly, and 53 New York Times best-selling titles in 2016 alone, spanning a mix of formats, genres, and play patterns that target a broad range of demographics—from children to adults.
The LOWE-Down!
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