Mari and the Curse of El Cocodrilo

Name: Mari and the Curse of El Cocodrilo
Rating: 4.667 (3 reviews)
ISBN: 9780063285514

By Adrianna Cuevas

Publisher Description

From Pura Belpré Honor–winning author Adrianna Cuevas comes Mari and the Curse of El Cocodrilo, a new middle grade novel about a young Cuban American girl who must fight to break a curse of bad luck set upon her by El Cocodrilo when she rejects her family’s traditions.

If Mari Feijoo could, she would turn her family’s Peak Cubanity down a notch, just enough so that her snooping neighbor and classmate Mykenzye wouldn’t have anything to tease her about. That’s why this year, there’s no way that Mari’s joining in on one of the big-gest Feijoo family traditions—burning the New Year’s Eve effigy her abuela makes.

Only Mari never suspects that failing to toss her effigy in the fire would bring something much worse than sneering words at school: a curse of bad luck from El Cocodrilo. At first, it’s just possessed violins and grade sabotaging pencils, but once El Cocodrilo learns that he becomes more powerful with each new misery, her luck goes from bad to nightmarish as the curse spreads to her friend Keisha.

Instead of focusing on Mari’s mariachi band tryout and Keisha’s fencing tournament, the pair, along with their friend Juan Carlos, are racing against the clock to break the curse. But when Mari discovers her family’s gift to call upon their ancestors, she and her friends will have to find a way to work with the unexpected help that arrives from the far corners of Mari’s family tree. Only will it be enough to defeat El Cocodrilo before he makes their last year of elementary school the worst ever and tears their friendship apart?

Perfect for Halloween reading
A charming cozy seasonal pick

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Mari and the Curse of El Cocodrilo Reviews

4.5

MrsCHeidrich

Created almost 2 years ago

“4.5 rounded up to 5”

CakeBasedLifeForm

Created about 2 years ago

“Mari would so rather be spending her New Year's playing video games with her friends rather than participating in tired Cuban traditions with her family. Sure enough, her nosy neighbor and classmate is watching as her abuelos burn effigies, and when it's Mari's turn, she can't bring herself to participate, knowing that if she does, a video of her peak Cubanity will circulate on the school social media. But That turns out to be a mistake because when she doesn't burn the effigy, Mari unwittingly releases El Cocodrillo, a malevolent spirit intent on bringing bad luck to everyone he touches. Mari must seek out her family history and traditions, risking being seen as very Cuban, if she doesn't want to spend the rest of her life with the worst luck possible. Mari is the least superstitious book character I've ever read about. Most protagonists, upon seeing magical realism, shake their heads and try to convince themselves it can't possibly be real. Mari goes through no such phase and instead simply knows it can't be real. Until it is. That felt weird to me and threw off a lot of the first half of the book, but I can appreciate the other elements, including friendships breaking under the strain of so much bad luck, family being overprotective and embarrassing, Mari learning how to define a microaggression, and a really cool magic system. This wasn't a perfect read for me, but it was fun and thought-provoking. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for this ARC. All opinions are my own.”

Vanessa B

Created over 2 years ago

“Hay que echar fuera la mala suerte. You have to throw out your bad luck. Wouldn't that be awesome? I love novels with dialogue in their native language. This Cuban family is surrounded by folklore, and eerie mythology, Fun! Mari is cursed. Mari starts as someone ashamed of her family, their rituals, and Cuban love, but on her journey, she will learn to respect her ancestors and their learning the good and bad about her family's past. She gets a journal as a gift during one of the many traditional rituals during New Year and discovers that she has inherited a power that has been in the family for generations. This will unlock good and bad things. Because she was ashamed of getting caught in these traditions she failed to keep her bad luck away by burning a doll, now her luck is running out and affects the people she cares for. On top of that, her curse passed to her best friend as well. Will their friendship survive this? Will Mari vanquish the Luck Eater? A fun read, great for the Spooky season with a lot of folklore, friendship, family, personal growth, and acceptance giving life to the past with memories. Por si las moscas! Just in case... you don't know what to read next. This is a good one. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the Arc. My opinions are my own and honest.”

About Adrianna Cuevas

Adrianna Cuevas is the author of the Pura Belpré Honor Book The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez, Cuba in My Pocket, The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto, and Mari and the Curse of El Cocodrilo. She is a first-generation Cuban American originally from Miami, Florida. A former Spanish and ESOL teacher, Adrianna currently resides outside of Austin, Texas, with her husband and son. When not working with TOEFL students, wrangling multiple pets including an axolotl, and practicing fencing with her son, she is writing her next middle grade novel.