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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Otheguy, Emma

Cousins in the Time of Magic

240 pp. | Atheneum | February, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9781665915182 $17.99 | Ebook ISBN 9781665915205 $10.99
(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Poly Bernatene. Cousins Siggy, Camila, and Jorge spend their Monday afternoons in the care of their distracted tía Xía, who works at the local history museum. One afternoon, Jorge sees Tía Xía holding a “dazzling sword, with a solid gold hilt and silver engravings, dotted with diamonds and rubies.” He watches her crawl into a tinajón, a large clay pot in her garden, with the sword and emerge a minute later without it. Curious, Jorge later enters the tinajón; his cousins follow, and the three are magically transported from present-day Miami to 1862 Virginia during the Civil War. On their journey they meet Alfonso, a Cuban American drummer boy in the Union Army; and Oscar, an enslaved child. Eventually, the cousins travel via hot-air balloon to Puebla, Mexico, to rescue Tía Xía, recover the sword, and deliver it to Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza. Otheguy incorporates a wealth of historical research into this action-packed adventure, keeping readers engaged with a propulsive plot. Extensive back matter gives historical context to this escapade, which is accompanied by occasional black-and-white illustrations.
Reviewer: Yesica Hurd

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