PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE FOREST OF NIGHTMARES

A 13-year-old once again rises to face magical challenges.

Six months after defeating La Llorona, Paola Santiago is pulled back into the magical world when her vivid dreams return, this time featuring her absent father. Distanced from her best friends, Dante and Emma, Pao feels increasingly isolated and out of place, especially since her mother’s new boyfriend came into the picture and apparently will be moving into their apartment. Alone in her struggles and feeling frustrated, Pao finally jumps into action when Señora Mata, Dante’s grandmother, falls into a magically induced coma after appearing in her dreams and confusing her with Pao’s mother, Maria. Pao and Dante’s enmity continues as they set out, traveling from Arizona up the West Coast, reuniting with an old ally and battling fantasmas, in order to reach Pao’s dad and bring Señora Mata out of her coma. The journey is peppered with conversations about and instances demonstrating the vulnerability of minority populations around police and in health care. Queer Emma, whose characterization falls a bit flat, is active in their school’s Rainbow Rogues group and feels distant from Pao as her new social circle consists mostly of well-off White kids, in contrast to Latinx Pao’s financial struggles. Additionally, Emma’s zealous sharing of her newfound social justice awareness and efforts to be a White ally sometimes push Pao further away.

An interesting twist uplifts the ending of this second series entry.