The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year-that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega.

Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Sensitive topics and themes, like slavery and racism, emerge in the novel’s original and compelling storylines.Ī breath of fresh air for the genre readers will be spellbound.Ī Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart. The protagonist’s voice feels refreshingly authentic, and the supporting characters are diverse and multidimensional, with well-developed relationships. Sambury’s prose is fluid and eloquent and will enthrall readers. But Voya has never been in love, so she must now find someone, fall in love, and then sacrifice him. During the ritual, Voya finds out that the stakes for her Calling are even steeper than she could have imagined: Before the Caribana carnival in a month’s time, she must kill her first love. Refusing to accept the task means no future members of Voya’s bloodline will be Called by the ancestors and therefore can never become witches accepting but failing the challenge set for her will cause every witch in her family to lose the magic upon which their livelihood depends. Every witch-to-be is assigned a test by one of their ancestors, and if they are successful, they receive their magic and the specially chosen gift of an ability.

Her ascension to becoming a proper witch is dependent on her performance at her Calling. Voya Thomas is a 16-year-old Black Canadian girl with Trinidadian roots-and a fledgling witch. A Black teenager faces a difficult choice to bring about her magical awakening.

Blood Like Fate by Liselle Sambury