The Smoking Mirror: Garza Twins Book One

Abstract

Layered with rich references to cultural life in Mexico, this book offers a compelling, fast-paced new addition to the world of fantasy.

The Smoking Mirror: Garza Twins Book One Written by David Bowles IFWG Publishing, 2015, 226 pp., ISBN 978-1-925148-64-0

Fantasy lovers have a new family to follow in the Pura Belpré Honor Book The Smoking Mirror. Carol and Johnny Garza are 12-year-old twins who learn their mother is a nagual, a shapeshifter, and that they have inherited her ancient powers. Readers will be enthralled by the twins' dangerous quest through the Aztec underworld to find their mother following her unexplainable disappearance from their home in Texas. The language is both rich and at times mature as the tweens engage in sibling banter that is typical for this age group. Carol and Johnny feel real in their near-teen angst and in their stubborn willfulness toward one another as they unite on their search. Layered with rich references to cultural life in Mexico, this book offers a compelling, fast-paced new addition to the world of fantasy. Part folklore, part mythology, this first in a series of stories about the Garza twins will leave readers with a more nuanced understanding of regional histories from Mexico and a desire to read more of the Garza twins' mystical adventures. (KEC)