04/11/2022
An urban legend turns all too real in Tirado’s genre-bending debut, a suspenseful love letter to the Bronx. As missing-person reports rise within the borough, 16-year-old Raquel, a Black student of Dominican descent, takes AP classes, attends an after-school art club, and hangs out with best friend Aaron. But things turn chaotic for Raquel when her mother is attacked, resulting in a mold infection and requiring a medically induced coma. Soon after, Raquel and Aaron’s mutual crush, Charlize, seeks out Raquel’s help to find her missing cousin, Francisco, a Fordham University student who has recently disappeared. As Raquel, who usually lives with her Christian mother, adjusts to staying at her dad’s apartment, where he practices Santeria, she begins having nightmares about a burning Bronx and a man in a corduroy jacket—and awakening from these dreams covered in abrasions. The friends work to locate Francisco, uncovering a cursed challenge that seems connected to the missing people. But the only way to be sure is to play the strict three-rule game, which employs insidious traps and often claims players, placing them in a hellish imprint of a given area’s most tragic period. Desperate to save their loved ones, the friends agree to take part. In a speculative novel that blends elements of horror with a history of gentrification and systemic racism, Tirado explores, with insight, the importance of community in the face of trauma and adversity. Most characters are Afro-Latinx; an author’s note concludes. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kristina Pérez, Zeno Agency. (May)
"Clever, tying into ripped-from-the-headlines police violence in the present-day world..." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"With wonderful characters, nighttime chills, and a terrifying adventure at the heart of it all, Burn Down, Rise Up is a breathtaking, read-it-in-one-sitting thrill of a novel." — Marieke Nijkamp, #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Is Where It Ends
"A sense of dread and... plenty of vivid action sequences to keep readers engaged. " — Youth Services Book Review
"A deadly game meets social commentary in an ode to the Bronx." — Kirkus
"Prepared to be thrilled—a creepy, mysterious rollercoaster of a novel that had me hooked from the explosive start. Tirado packs both action and heart into this timely story." — Natasha Ngan, New York Times bestselling author of the Girls of Paper and Fire trilogy
"Readers will be on the edge of their seats and will have the chance to explore societal issues in a new way to answer the question “What are monsters?” when reading this book" — School Library Journal
A New York Public Library Book of 2022
"A speculative novel that blends elements of horror with a history of gentrification and systemic racism..." — Publishers Weekly
"A queer, heart-pounding thrill ride. Fans of Attack the Block and Vampires vs. the Bronx: prepare for your newest obsession." — Ryan Douglass, New York Times bestselling author of The Taking of Jake Livingston
06/01/2022
Gr 10 Up—What are monsters? Does society create monsters or do they plague the earth regardless of what we do? In this book, a 16-year-old from the Bronx named Raquel is determined to find the answers to these questions. For years, kids in the Bronx have mysteriously gone missing without a trace, taken by the monsters. Center to the plot is an urban legend called the Echo Game, which is said to trap people under the city. Raquel and her friends team up when their friend Francisco (the cousin of Raquel's crush Charlize) is taken and enter a sinister world drenched in the dark past of New York. Tirado drops readers into a suspense-filled, terrifying world. Readers will be immediately struck with alarm, terror, and the feeling that something is about to sneak around a corner. This feeling propels the story forward and builds tension that does not release until the conclusion. The story holds many secrets, twists, and surprises for readers, touching into the supernatural and merging fiction and reality. This is a fast-paced, psychologically engaging, and terrifying novel that takes everyday traumas such as slumlords and racism and personifies them as monsters. There is Black and Latinx representation among the characters. VERDICT Readers will be on the edge of their seats and will have the chance to explore societal issues in a new way to answer the question "What are monsters?" when reading this book.—Tracey S. Hodges
Julienne Irons delivers a robust performance of this rich audiobook. Despite the number of teens disappearing from the Bronx, Raquel steers clear of the crisis until Charlize's cousin, her crush, is taken. Charlize and Raquel trace the disappearances to an underground movement called the Echo Game, a savage game that determines what happens to those captured. Irons's performance packs a punch in this fully developed story with dark themes. Her narration sets a steady pace for the audiobook's immense world-building and exceeds all expectations with its horror. Suspenseful beats are followed by high-action sequences and harrowing reveals. The romance adds depth to the characters, strong-minded individuals who are desperate to save their beloved city. G.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Julienne Irons delivers a robust performance of this rich audiobook. Despite the number of teens disappearing from the Bronx, Raquel steers clear of the crisis until Charlize's cousin, her crush, is taken. Charlize and Raquel trace the disappearances to an underground movement called the Echo Game, a savage game that determines what happens to those captured. Irons's performance packs a punch in this fully developed story with dark themes. Her narration sets a steady pace for the audiobook's immense world-building and exceeds all expectations with its horror. Suspenseful beats are followed by high-action sequences and harrowing reveals. The romance adds depth to the characters, strong-minded individuals who are desperate to save their beloved city. G.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
2022-02-09
Bronx high schooler Raquel gets tangled up in a dangerous game while trying to save a friend.
After Fordham University student Francisco Cruz goes missing, Raquel offers to help Charlize, his cousin who is also her childhood friend and secret crush, start up a search. But the circumstances signal that something even bigger than the mystery of his disappearance is wrong. Cisco seems to have been infected with a condition no one can explain that has spread to a nurse at a local hospital who just happens to be Raquel’s Mami. Now Raquel’s mother is comatose, and hints of a strange and fatal game start popping up as Raquel and Charlize try to get to the bottom of Cisco’s disappearance. The novel’s highlight is its premise that the Echo Game, an urban legend centered around historical atrocities that occurred in the Bronx, might be more than just a legend. As Raquel and Charlize grow closer during the course of their search, they learn about the horrors that shaped the community they love. Certain decisions made by characters—along with the central game itself—feel a bit underdeveloped; regardless, Tirado does an excellent job of portraying the Bronx and its people, especially in depicting the often villainized spiritual practice of Santeria with care. The cast is majority Afro-Latine.
A deadly game meets social commentary in an ode to the Bronx. (author's note) (Thriller. 14-18)
