“They called you La Llorona
And told terrible tales
But I know who you were
I know the truth
You are the woman
As big as all the stars
You are the woman
As big as all the land and sea
The river mirrors your face
The wind carries your wail
The grass and cool soil your beautiful body
When I am here
I am with you in total
You are never alone…
I know because
I am the woman
Who loves you forever
I will count every star and say I love you
A thousand times
Like our last night together, my love
I will tell the truth of your tale
A thousand times
So you remember who you once were
Your name is my name now
I am La Llorona
I cry for you
I cry for me
I cry for all of us
Who bear the burden of these times.”
Aaaaaaaaaaaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!
One day at the river changed everything.
So begins the terror from the pale ones who remake the lands and the people to suit their pale vision.
But the ghost woman and her one true love conjure a plan.
Will La Llorona’s heart be strong enough to fulfill it?
More importantly, when the time comes….will the people be ready?
A supernatural, queer love story that spans the ages and the Americas to reunite the people with their ghosts and mend what was torn apart.
In her debut YA novella, award-winning children’s book artist and author Maya Gonzalez takes readers on an emotional and layered journey that weaves history with love, spirit with flesh, and merges ancient myths with current political times. Powerful themes of love, pre-colonial queer identity, sacred feminine, loss and endurance course through the pages as the story gathers and flows and gathers again to support healing, negotiate deep ancestral trauma and ultimately, transformation. In a style akin to poetic prose with a potent cathartic undercurrent that lies shimmering just beneath the surface, Ma Llorona’s reach doesn’t end at the page. Like a river, she will flow into your dreams, call up your ghosts and have you howling in the night.
Back Materials tie the story in further to MesoAmerican history and present day with a brief discussion about the goddesses IxChel and Coyolxauhqui, a timeline that spans 1325 to 2017, historical information and more.
Check out some live book reading videos from Maya’s Facebook Page:
Ma Llorona book reading & tour (Part 1)
Ma Llorona book reading & tour PART 1:
Here I'm in front of the mural at the Women's Building in San Francisco talking briefly about the goddess Coyolxauhqui presented whole by local artist, Irene Pérez, as well as the first children's book I ever illustrated, Prietita and the Ghost Woman / Prietita y la Llorona another reclamation of the La Llorona myth by Gloria Anzaldúa. I then do a short reading from the middle of my new YA book, Ma Llorona.(Catch part 2 of the reading & tour here: https://www.facebook.com/mzmayagonzalez/videos/1552931024777567/)
– more about the book: reflectionpress.com/ma-lloronaPosted by Maya Gonzalez – Author & Artist on Thursday, June 29, 2017
Ma Llorona book reading & tour (Part 2)
Ma Llorona book reading & tour PART 2:
The next stop on my tour, here I am in front of Mission Dolores and the adjacent cemetery in San Francisco. I talk about the impact of the missions on the indigenous people in the area and how these themes are echoed in the book. I then do a short reading from the Ma Llorona book where La Llorona is walking this particular area.(Catch part 3 of the reading & tour here: https://www.facebook.com/mzmayagonzalez/videos/1552943694776300/)
– more about the book: reflectionpress.com/ma-lloronaPosted by Maya Gonzalez – Author & Artist on Thursday, June 29, 2017
Ma Llorona book reading & tour (Part 3)
Ma Llorona book reading & tour PART 3:
The third and final part of the tour today, here I'm at the top of Dolores Park in San Francisco. I talk about the river that used to run along where 18th street currently is. I then do a short reading from the end of my new YA book, Ma Llorona when Xóchitl becomes the next La Llorona.(If you missed the beginning, catch part 1 of the reading & tour here: https://www.facebook.com/mzmayagonzalez/videos/1552907274779942/)
– more about the book: reflectionpress.com/ma-lloronaPosted by Maya Gonzalez – Author & Artist on Thursday, June 29, 2017
Read more behind the scenes of this book in Maya’s Blog post, The Ghosts and The Writing, and how writing this book changed her. Also her post on Remembering Orlando and how the tragedy at Pulse nightclub in 2016 tied into the writing of this book.