The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez by Cuevas, Adrianna

2021 Pura Belpr Honor Book
NYPL Best Book of 2020
2020 Evanston Public Library Great Books for Kids

In this magical middle-grade debut novel from Adrianna Cuevas, The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez, a Cuban American boy must use his secret ability to communicate with animals to save the inhabitants of his town when they are threatened by a tule vieja, a witch that transforms into animals.

All Nestor Lopez wants is to live in one place for more than a few months and have dinner with his dad.

When he and his mother move to a new town to live with his grandmother after his dad's latest deployment, Nestor plans to lay low. He definitely doesn't want to anyone find out his deepest secret: that he can talk to animals.

But when the animals in his new town start disappearing, Nestor's grandmother becomes the prime suspect after she is spotted in the woods where they were last seen. As Nestor investigates the source of the disappearances, he learns that they are being seized by a tule vieja--a witch who can absorb an animal's powers by biting it during a solar eclipse. And the next eclipse is just around the corner...

Now it's up to Nestor's extraordinary ability and his new friends to catch the tule vieja--and save a place he might just call home.

Author: Adrianna Cuevas
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Published: 07/21/2020
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.40w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780374313609
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.7
Point Value: 7
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 508742 / Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez

Award: Pura Belpre Award - Honor Book

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 04/13/2020
Booklist 04/15/2020 pg. 74
School Library Journal 05/01/2020 pg. 54
Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2020

About the Author
Adrianna Cuevas is the author of The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez and Cuba in My Pocket. She is a first-generation Cuban-American originally from Miami, Florida. After teaching Spanish and ESOL for sixteen years, she decided to pursue her passion for storytelling. Adrianna currently resides outside of Austin, TX with her husband and son where they enjoy hiking, traveling, and cooking lots of Cuban food. adriannacuevas.com