THE BRUJOS OF BORDERLAND HIGH

An accessible and witchy romantic adventure told in verse.

Alejandro Zamora’s brujería is the ability to see the past. Lately he’s been particularly fixated on bygone times—ever since his boyfriend dumped him after cheating on him. Trying to avoid more pain, Ale vows not to fall in love again, but even focusing his energy on his classes at Borderland High, a magical school in Texas, seems difficult when mysterious events start happening. Ale’s deck of brujo cards is only supposed to contain 40 cards, but people keep finding extras with his initials on them. A giant cicada with murderous intent breaks into school, and then, to top it all off, there might be someone watching him. At least Ale can still count on his dad and his friend Zander Avaloz to be by his side as his emotional state worsens and he feels lower and lower. But a brujo who looks just like him starts wreaking havoc with Cold Magic—a sinister, forbidden type of magic that “freezes / your heart / alive”—and the situation worsens as everyone except for Zander believes Ale is responsible. The poems are laid out within a gorgeous interior design that resembles tarot cards and at times takes the form of text threads. This exciting story about believing in love again, set in an intriguing and magical world, seamlessly weaves Spanish into the reluctant reader–friendly text.

A sweet and hopeful story of queer love and brujo magic.