Darlene Pagán
Darlene Pagán was born in Chicago, IL to a Puerto Rican father and a German/Czech mother. She earned a PhD in the Humanities and has published essays and poetry that reflect her deep interest in identity, language, culture, family, and the environment. Her debut middle grade novel, Lucía and the Sombra Trees, is set on an island shrouded in darkness, where a fearless climber must scale a labyrinth of limbs for the rare medicinal fruit that might save her grandmother. She teaches at Pacific University in Oregon where she lives with her family, and enjoys the beach and the woods. Sometimes, around a full moon, she still climbs trees.
Lucía and the Sombra Trees
A fearless climber, 12 year-old Lucía must scale the labyrinth of limbs that shrouds her island in darkness for the rare medicinal fruit that can save her ailing grandmother.
Every morning, twelve-year-old Lucía scales the massive Sombra Trees that shroud her island in darkness in search of their rare medicinal fruit. Her secret advantage is a parrot named Malo with a sharp sense of smell, and a sharper tongue. But when her grandmother's health deteriorates and the fruit grows scarce, Lucía sneaks out in the middle of the night chasing rumors of a new patch of fruit in a foggy labyrinth of limbs where even the most nimble climbers vanish.
Publication
US: Little Brown& Co. (Books for Young Readers)
Release date: Summer 2027
