Loteria by Karla Arenas Valenti illustrated by Dana Sanmar

"The issue of free will was one the two friends often debated. At the heart of the debate was the question of choice: whether a person's destiny was determined by past events or if people had the ability to shape their own future. Life believed that people created their own destiny. ... 

Catrina (Lady Death), on the other hand, argued that choice was an illusion."

Long ago I read the Greek myth based on the three women, the fates, who cut the strings of life. The Moirai, or Fates as they are known in English, wove the threads of fate on a great loom. Clotho, “The Spinner,” spun the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle. At the moment of birth, she created the thread of a person’s lifetime. Lachesis, “The Drawer of Lots,” measured each thread. Finally Atropos, “The Unturning,” cut each thread at the appointed length, setting the person’s death. I don't know why but the image of this has lingered with me for over 40 years. 

In this book there are two players - Life and Lady Death. Once each year they play a game, in this instance to set the fate of a young girl named Clara. 

"La Loteria was a simple game of chance. The first to get four cards in a straight line - horizontal, vertical or diagonal - would win. A win by Catrina (Lady Death) would deliver Clara into her hand. A win by Life would spare the child, granting Clara a long life. ... The players had three days to complete the game and deliver their prize, after which they would part ways for another year, meeting only to play another round. "

Each player has set before them a placard with a different image printed one each of the sixteen squares. (Here are some you could print for a class) Beside this the players have a set of fifty-three cards (here are a set to use with the game) each with a different image and the players also have a handful of frijoles - small beans as black as night. Lady Death and Life take turns to flip the cards and find matching images on their own placards - a bit like bingo (but this game might not have a happy outcome). 

The cards contain sayings that need to be interpreted such as EL QUE A BUEN ARBOL SE ARRIMA BUENA SOMBRA LE COBIJA - He who approaches a good tree is blanketed by good shade. Lady Death places a bean on the image of a tree on her tabla. 

Catrina and Life begin their game. A scorpion hides in Clara's sketchbook emerging as she shares her dragon drawing at a family picnic; nearby a young boy is trying out his new bow and arrow; Estaban's mother, a healer, rushes home for some herbs to help with the scorpion sting; at that moment the boy unleashes his arrow. These are the awful events that create enormous grief. Estaban has already lost his father and now his mother. When a stranger arrives, rather like the Pied Piper, Estaban believes he will be taken to see his mother. He can hear her singing. He follows the man in the red coat into another world.

Clara has promised to keep her young cousin Estaban safe and so she follows them into this dangerous and unpredictable place. Clearly the man has evil intentions but why does he want this young boy? As you might suspect this is all about power but you might be surprised to learn it is also about the elixir of youth. Yes, this sounds complex and it is, but it is also utterly riveting. 

One thing Clara has to do to survive and to find her cousin, is work out the bargaining system. At one point she meets a fawn hiding from some hunters. He will tell her how to climb through some impenetrable vines in exchange for colour - the colour of her hair! Pages 140-143 in my paperback copy could be a fabulous section to read aloud as a book talk to a group of students. 

The descriptions in this book are fabulous - they would be wonderful to use with a writing group:

"He looked quite dapper in his black suit and matching vest, with a crisp white shirt and the tiniest hint of red peeking out of his jacket pocket: a crimson handkerchief, monogrammed."

"Two fig trees heavy with fruit flanked the entrance to the path. Ceramic pots of various shapes and sizes lined the way. Some held tall and spiky cacti, while others boasted flowering plants with buds of yellow and orange; a pair of succulents grew in a rooster shaped pot."

"As she spoke, she plucked a petal off her crown and released it into the air. The petal folded into a rose-scented butterfly."

"The baby deer has left its hiding place and now stood behind her. It was completely white, a bright beacon against the greens and reds and yellow surrounding them. Its large black eyes gazed at her openly."

"A waterfall roared down the side of the cliff into a pool of clear water that branched off into dozens of canals. The canals snaked along the jungle floor toward fountains carved in the shape of mermaids or fish or outstretched hands with fingers reaching upward."

This book is filled with Spanish food and words but you will have no problem working things out. There is no glossary but this book does have a useful set of notes at the back. I did look up one important word: El diablo - the devil (the man in the red coat).

Loteria is a totally engrossing story. I know the bravery of Clara and the horrible scene where we discover why the boy king has taken these children will linger with me for years to come. This is another one of those books where I marvel at the imagination of the author.

You can read the first nine chapters here. The publisher - Random House Kids suggests ages 8-12 for this book but I would say it is for 11+. I have labelled it as Young Adult because a loved character does die very early in the story and the fate of Clara and her young cousin Esteban is a very complex one - not something a young reader would understand. Also, this book is written using a sophisticated vocabulary, and it is, as I said, filled with Spanish expressions and food. The scene with the enormous spiders when Clara is tossed into the underground prison are truly frightening. (Chapter 28).

Publisher blurb: In the hottest hour of the hottest day of the year, a fateful wind blows into Oaxaca City. It whistles down cobbled streets and rustles the jacaranda trees before slipping into the window of an eleven-year-old girl named Clara. Unbeknownst to her, Clara has been marked for la Lotería. Life and Death deal the Lotería cards but once a year, and the stakes could not be higher. Every card reveals a new twist in Clara’s fate—a scorpion, an arrow, a blood-red rose. If Life wins, Clara will live to a ripe old age. If Death prevails, she’ll flicker out like a candle.  But Clara knows none of this. All she knows is that her young cousin Esteban has vanished, and she’ll do whatever it takes to save him, traveling to the mythical Kingdom of Las Pozas, where every action has a price, and every choice has consequences. And though it seems her fate is sealed, Clara just might have what it takes to shatter the game and choose a new path.

Read some review comments on Karla Arenas Valenti's web page. Here's the Horn Book review. And here is a radio interview with the author. Here is a set of excellent discussion questions. See the cover being made here. And here is an interview with Betsy Bird - she loved this book too. And finally here is another interview from the blog - From the Mixed-up files.