CEMETERY BOYS

Avi Roque gives an earnest and authentic, if inexperienced, performance of this supernatural mystery/magical love story. Sixteen-year-old Yadriel is trans and is desperate for his family to accept him as a brujo who has the power to summon and release the spirits of the dead. When he accidentally summons the spirit of a boy he knows from school a few days before the Día de Muertos festivities, Yadriel and his friend Maritza embark on a quest--with Julian's spirit in tow--to find out what happened to him. Roque brings the book's diverse East Los Angeles Latinx community to life, and their narration for the endearingly impulsive Julian is especially effective. The more time Yadriel and Julian spend together, the closer they become, but can their journey have a happy ending? J.M.D. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2020]