Loteria

<p><strong>A taut fraught look at tragedy its aftermath and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. With suspense dread and always the possibility for redemption we watch as Zambrano flips the cards of chance and fate. -- Justin Torres author of <em>We The Animals</em></strong></p><p><strong>In <em>Lotería</em> the spellbinding literary debut by Mario Alberto Zambrano a young girl tells the story of her family's tragic demise using a deck of cards of the eponymous Latin American game of chance.</strong><br/> <br/>With her older sister Estrella in the ICU and her father in jail eleven-year-old Luz Castillo has been taken into the custody of the state. Alone in her room she retreats behind a wall of silence writing in her journal and shuffling through a deck of <em>lotería</em> cards. Each of the cards' colorful images--mermaids bottles spiders death and stars--sparks a random memory.<br/> <br/>Pieced together these snapshots bring into focus the joy and pain of the young girl's life and the events that led to her present situation. But just as the story becomes clear a breathtaking twist changes everything.</p><p>By turns affecting and inspiring <em>Lotería</em> is a powerful novel that reminds us of the importance of remembering even when we are trying to forget.<br/><br/>Beautiful images of <em>lotería</em> cards are featured throughout this intricate and haunting novel.</p>