Charlie Hernández – serie

“A perfect pick for kids who love Rick Riordan.” —Booklist (starred review)“A winner for all kids, but it will be especially loved by Latinx and Hispanic families.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) The Lightning Thief meets the Story Thieves series in this middle grade fantasy inspired by Hispanic folklore, legends, and myths from the Iberian Peninsula and Central and South America.Charlie Hernández has always been proud of his Latin American heritage. He loves the culture, the art, and especially the myths. Thanks to his abuela’s stories, Charlie possesses an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the monsters and ghouls who have spent the last five hundred years haunting the imaginations of children all across the Iberian Peninsula, as well as Central and South America. And even though his grandmother sometimes hinted that the tales might be more than mere myth, Charlie’s always been a pragmatist. Even barely out of diapers, he knew the stories were just make-believe—nothing more than intricately woven fables meant to keep little kids from misbehaving. But when Charlie begins to experience freaky bodily manifestations—ones all too similar to those described by his grandma in his favorite legend—he is suddenly swept up in a world where the mythical beings he’s spent his entire life hearing about seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Hispanic folklore and into his life. And even stranger, they seem to know more about him than he knows about himself. Soon, Charlie finds himself in the middle of an ancient battle between La Liga, a secret society of legendary mythological beings sworn to protect the Land of the Living, and La Mano Peluda (a.k.a. the Hairy Hand), a cabal of evil spirits determined to rule mankind. With only the help of his lifelong crush, Violet Rey, and his grandmother’s stories to guide him, Charlie must navigate a world where monsters and brujas rule and things he couldn’t possibly imagine go bump in the night. That is, if he has any hope of discovering what’s happening to him and saving his missing parents (oh, and maybe even the world). No pressure, muchacho.

Inspired by Hispanic folklore, legends, and myths from the Iberian Peninsula and Central and South America, this fifth and final book in the Charlie Hernández series follows Charlie as he ventures into the Land of the Dead.The League of Shadows has done everything they can to keep the Land of the Living safe from La Mano Peluda, but it hasn’t been enough. The barriers between the worlds are falling, and the forces of the dead are only days away from launching an invasion. Only one hope remains for the living: unleashing the full power of the Morphling—all five of them, to be exact. But to do so, Charlie and his friends will have to journey into the very heart of the Land of the Dead to track down Charlie’s predecessors. Determined to fulfill his destiny as the final morphling, Charlie will risk everything to bring balance back to the realms. But the Land of the Dead is no place for the living. Danger lurks everywhere, from ancient malevolent forests to legendary beasts that haven’t been seen for millennia. Yet, in the end, it is death itself the friends will have to overcome in this epic conclusion to the Charlie Hernández series.