Days of the Dead

Glorieta Espinosa doesn’t hate that Papi married Alice, the nice white woman from Texas, or the fact that he’s happy again after years of mourning Mamá. But she hates that the urn containing Mamá’s ashes disappeared into a drawer the day Alice moved in.

She hates that there even is an urn—if only her Tía Diosonita, the town patrona, would overlook the Catholic Church’s strict condemnation of suicide, Mamá could be buried with her family and her community.

If everything about Glory’s life is going to change, then she wants one thing to go her way: this year, she wants to greet Mamá’s spirit during los Días de los Muertos—something that’s only possible if Mamá’s ashes can be buried. So with the help of her best friend Mojo and her prankster cousin Riley, Glory sets out to change her Tía’s mind. To do so, she’ll have to learn to let hate go—and to love the people who stand in her way.

In lovely prose that sparkles with magical undertones, author Kersten Hamilton weaves a tender story about grief, faith, immigration, and the redemptive power of love.