The Lightning Queen

Written by Laura Resau

Narrated by Christian Barillas and Thom Rivera

Nothing exciting happens on the Hill of Dust, in the remote mountains of Mexico in the 1950s. There's no electricity, no plumbing, no cars, just day after day of pasturing goats. And now, without his sister and mother, eleven-year-old Teo's life feels even more barren. And then one day, the mysterious young Esma, who calls herself the Gypsy Queen of Lightning, rolls into town like a fresh burst of color. Against all odds, her caravan's Mistress of Destiny predicts that Teo and Esma will be longtime friends. Suddenly, life brims with possibility. With the help of a rescued duck, a three-legged skunk, a blind goat, and other allies, Teo and Esma must overcome obstacles-even death-to fulfill their impossible destiny. Inspired by true stories derived from rural Mexico, The Lightning Queen offers a glimpse of the encounter between two fascinating but marginalized cultures--the Rom and the Mixtec Indians--while telling the heart-warming story of an unlikely friendship that spans generations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scholastic
• Release date: Oct 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9780545921183

Laura Resau

Laura Resau is the award-winning author of nine highly acclaimed young adult and middle grade novels, including The Lightning Queen, Tree of Dreams, What the Moon Saw, Red Glass, Star in the Forest, The Queen of Water (with María Virginia Farinango), and the Notebooks series.Loved by kids and adults alike, Laura's novels have garnered many starred reviews and honors, including the International Reading Association's YA Fiction Award, the Américas Award, five Colorado Book Awards, spots on "best-of" book lists from Oprah, School Library Journal, the American Library Association, Bank Street, and more. Resau's writing has been called "vibrant, large-hearted" (Publishers' Weekly on Red Glass) and "powerful, magical" (Booklist on What the Moon Saw).You might find Laura writing in a vintage trailer in her backyard in Fort Collins or in her tiny cabin in the Rocky Mountains or on her travels in Latin America and Europe. When she's not writing, she's often wandering in the forest with her husband, cuddling with her senior rescue beagle, or head-banging (very carefully) at her teenage son's rock shows.