by Roxanne Schroeder-Arce

Young Pedro and his family make their home in a barn on the Mexican border. Pedro complains of having nothing and brings his mother many headaches. On one occasion, she invites a hungry woman to share the family dinner. But this Señora returns time and again to eat and tell fantastical stories of the enchanted serpent and Cucuy of Latin American legend, filling Pedro’s nights with heroic, yet frightening dreams. Surprisingly, Pedro is learning from these wisdom tales, but his mother is suspicious of the Señora until it is revealed that Señora Tortuga holds the thread that ties their past dreams to their future.