Playing for the Devil's Fire

Starred review from February 15, 2016
A severed head in the town square is the first sign of trouble in the small Mexican town of Izayoc, where new money is moving in with bloody force. As this grim murder mystery unfolds, 13-year-old Boli and his best friend Mosca become reliant on a luchador named Chicano, a masked wrestler working the amateur circuit, as a real-life hero and protector after Boli's parents go missing, and the body count mounts. The boys' lost innocence is represented with a game of marbles, which dovetails and overlaps with the disillusionment and loss of the entire community, Chicano's transformation from caped crusader to mere man as he ditches the affectations of his theatrical profession, and a host of new responsibilities for Boli, including helping to run the family business and care for a grandmother whose mind is slipping. The narration and dialogue are shot through with Spanish words and phrases, readily discernable through context, and also collected in a glossary. Diederich (Sofrito) portrays Mexico with a stark intensity and raw emotional turmoil as Boli navigates a mercilessly cruel world. Ages 12âup. Agent: Stephany Evans, Fineprint Literary Management.

January 15, 2016
In photojournalist Diederich's harrowing debut novel, 13-year-old Liberio "Boli" Flores endures the effects of narcoviolence sweeping Mexico. Brutal change comes to the pueblo of Izayoc when the townspeople discover the severed head of a teacher. Soon, new cars with California plates appear in the village, driven by men in flashy clothes. After another body--a woman's--turns up in a field, Boli and his village suspect the worst: "Something was going on." Boli's parents go to nearby Toluca to request assistance from the federal police. Meanwhile, life goes on, and Boli and his best friend, Mosca, shine shoes to scrape together enough money for a wrestling event at a fair. When his parents fail to return, Boli longs to uncover the truth behind their disappearance, as he solicits help from El Chicano Estrada, a washed-up, jaded luchador. Though he filters this narrative through Boli's starry-eyed perspective, Diederich doesn't hold back in his depiction of corruption and loss. Full of grim and shocking violence, Izayoc here represents a demoralizing reality perhaps already too familiar. Boli and Chicano's investigative efforts expose nothing but bad news: "We are a country built on lies. Listen, forget the illusion that the world is a good place. It's not." The conclusion provides only a dubious sense of closure. Childhood at its most hopeful and heartbreaking; readers seeking lighthearted, sanitized fare should turn away. (glossary) (Fiction. 12-15)

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March 1, 2016

Gr 7 Up-Nothing ever happens in the small Mexican town of Izayoc, where 13-year-old Boli spends his time playing marbles with his friends, working at his family's bakery, and reading about the luchadores, who not only wrestle but fight crime, too. That changes one hot Sunday morning when the severed head of Boli's teacher is found in the plaza; less than a week later, another murder is discovered. As fear and suspicion escalate, Boli begins to notice the subtle changes happening around him, especially the flashy newcomers arriving in expensive cars with California license plates. When Boli's parents fail to return from their trip to request federal assistance, he sets out to discover the truth behind their disappearance with the help of washed-up wrestler El Chicano Estrada. Gritty and unflinching, Diederich's narrative doesn't shy away from the ugliness of Mexico's ongoing narcoviolence, which stands in stark contrast to Boli's idealism and innocence. Young but grounded, Boli is the moral center of the story, and while others around him succumb to the allure of drug culture, he stands his ground but pays the price for his choice; unsurprisingly, it's through his eyes that the author, who grew up in Mexico City, comments on the widespread corruption and bloodshed. Heavily peppered with Mexican Spanish, the dialogue is authentic, and while a glossary is included, having to consult it repeatedly might disrupt some teens' reading experience. VERDICT A compelling yet horrifying read that will resonate with murder-mystery and thriller fans.-Audrey Sumser, Kent State University at Tuscarawas, New Philadelphia, OH

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 1, 2016
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Boli, 13, and his loving family live in a tiny rural village in Mexico, where his father is a baker. Although the town and Boli's friends are quite poor, life is pleasant and easygoing; he spends afternoons playing marbles with his best friend and is excited by the upcoming visit of luchadores (Mexican wrestlers). Against this realistically poor but serene backdrop, Diederich inserts the drug wars: corruption in the form of newcomers flaunting money, currying favor with police and the village priest, and seducing high-school girls. When the schoolteacher's severed head is found in the town square after Sunday mass, Boli's parents decide to go to police in a larger town for help. They never return, and no one seems interested in helping find them, until a second-rate luchador with a drinking problem is taken in by Boli. El Chicano Estrada becomes the boy's surrogate father and partner in fighting the graft now running rampant. Striking imagery and symbolism, along with the timeliness of the subject, make this title a natural for classroom discussion, and a Spanish glossary will aid English-only speakers. Diederich, who grew up in Mexico City, brings firsthand experience as well as tremendous compassion to this poignant coming-of-age novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2016
Thirteen-year-old Boli's life changes forever when drug cartels come to his small Mexican town. When his parents fail to return from a trip, Boli is certain they have been murdered. He finds hope in an unlikely hero: a washed-up (lucha libre) wrestler. Readers will root for Boli as he tries to save his town. A searing, violence-drenched depiction of the terror of the drug war. Glos.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2016
Boli is your average thirteen-year-old boy, concerned with winning at marbles, scraping together money to see the lucha libre, and pining over a beautiful older girl. But one morning, his life changes forever: "It was a hot Sunday morning when we discovered the severed head of Enrique Quintanilla propped on the ledge of one of the cement planters in the plaza" -- the first sentence of this searing, violence-drenched novel. The small, sleepy town of Izayoc, tucked away in a valley west of Mexico City, is suddenly populated by well-dressed strangers driving late-model SUVs. Long-standing businesses close; people disappear; and one by one Boli's friends find suspicious work with the newcomers. When his parents fail to return from a trip, Boli, full of dread, is certain they have been murdered and knows something must be done. In a town that seems resigned to its fate, Boli finds hope in an unlikely hero, El Chicano Estrada, a washed-up luchador who arrives with the fair. "Together we would fight whoever was destroying the town. And I knew, like all the great heroes of Mexican history, we would win." This fictionalized depiction of the real terror the drug war has brought to Mexican communities will have readers rooting for Boli as he tries, in vain, to save his town. A glossary of Spanish words and phrases is provided. celia c. perez

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)