Caris Avendaño Cruz's Blog

Three years ago, my debut middle-grade book made its drop and I have always been thankful ever since.

And so, to celebrate everything that this book stands for, here’s an illustration I always wished I had for Marikit: our little heroine standing a la Alice in Wonderland, facing the legendary bamboo grove where from there peeked some of the gods, monsters, and friends featured in the book.

Please forgive me, for I made this illustration myself, and did my best to portray our beloved Bathala and Aman Sinaya, along with some shadows lurking behind the gaps.

Marikit and the Ocean of Stars is available in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and audiobook versions. Buy it on your favorite bookstores, or borrow it from your library. Looking for reviews? Head to Goodreads to find out what readers think of Marikit!

Home is where we areHarsh sunlight, rough seas. Soft, humid wind—feels like a warm hug. Inang Tasyang’s crisp laughs. The Makinang de Padyak Mama kept in her memory. Plants thriving in the summer. Holidays with my favorite people. This is the story of Marikit and the Ocean of Stars.

Back when I had a proper camera to take photos with. My holidate with my friends at Zambales produced what could be my favorite photosets to date: the vision of the glistening sea, the gurgling waves, children playing by the sand with their longboard. The sun was fiercer here, by the beach.

Inang Tasyang and yours truly, with that suspicious derpy grin as if I was thinking of the next mischief to make. The gray waters Sand landing. There were many boats on the shore, as fishing was also one of the main livelihoods of the people in Zambales. Our home was wonderfully surrounded by the greenest greens. Beyond our house, an actual kawayanan. Mama and I and a birthday and a hat. Marikit could never. Inang’s sewing machine is still here with us. A lovely reminder of the wonderful things created through its rusty body.

I always love talking about how Marikit and the Ocean of Stars was written with thoughts of my Inang Tasyang and my mother. They had the same birthday, and I think that brought a magical connection between them. Living close to Inang, my mother was the one Inang would often call when something was needed: someone to accompany her to the market, a certain forgotten recipe, errands that needed to be run, and invitations for a nice chat during merienda. It would take us a quick three minutes to get to Inang’s house by tricycle; seven on foot, faster if we sprinted.

When Inang called, we’d often come. I spent a good deal of my childhood with her, having been left there with my brother when our parents were at work. Sometimes, I’d sleep beside Inang and watch the starry night in her large open windows. That’s when I’d wonder if a monster hiding from the tall trees would come and snatch me away.

Beside Inang’s bed was her Makinang de Padyak, a curious contraption that I had always loved playing with. Inang would sit behind it, wound the wheel, and create something fantastic with her busy, wrinkly hands. Sometimes, she’d let me play with the drawers and pair buttons for her. I loved looking at those buttons! They looked like tiny beads and jewelry!

When Inang passed away, my mother took the Makinang de Padyak home. Sometimes, she would sit behind the wheel and sew, letting me hear the wounding sound again. My mother would recycle our clothes and remake shirts into shorts, or skirts, or rags. Things shouldn’t be just thrown away, she’d say.

That’s how I got the idea for Marikit’s dress.

These are my two favorite women in the world. Having a book dedicated to them brings me so much pride and joy. Inang may not be here to read it—I believe she read it first, looking over my shoulder while I typed each word—but I’m glad to have a tiny little proof of their love for me. And I hope, that with this story, their love echoes across the world, through a little young Diwata named Marikit.

Caris Avendaño Cruz

middle grade debut

Marikit and the Ocean of Stars

A magical middle grade debut, inspired by Filipino folklore, about a ten-year-old girl who embarks on a quest in the world of gods and spirits to save her and her family from a sinister shadow god. Perfect for fans of The Girl Who Drank the Moon and When You Trap a Tiger.

Learn More →

Hooray! Marikit and the Ocean of Stars is a 2026 Nēnē Award Nominee!

Marikit had been a part of the 2025 list, and just making it to the shortlist is already an honor. A big thank you to our young readers in Hawai’i!

What gives me great joy is the diverse selection of books, including Filipino-American authors Erin Entrada Kelly’s highly awarded The First State of Being, and Joanna Cacao’s The Secret of Ravens. Ellen Oh’s anthology You Are Here includes Filipino authors such as the spectacular Randy Ribay. We also have another Filipino-American in the Graphic Novels shortlist, Zachary Sterling’s Mabuhay!

See, here. The Filipinos are seen. And are winning (with or without the award). And there will be more of our stories to come.

Celebrating everyone on the list!

I first encountered Akdang Pinoy back in 2024 when they asked me to take part in their first batch of Filipino authors to be featured on their socials. This newly sprung project centers Filipino authors in a prominently-white industry, offering our homegrown creatives visibility and a much-needed pat on the back. A brainchild of Kat (@katonthejellicoe) and Sai (@theengineerisreading), this a labor of love moved to power a community that was just launched this year: The Filipino Shelf (TFS), a book tour starring a constellation of Filipino book readers. With so much work to be done, Kat and Sai are joined with avid book-reader, amazing mom, and all rounder creative, Diane (@booksandthensome).

I nervously asked Akdang Pinoy earlier this year to join me in welcoming the arrival of my second book, The Boy, the Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon, and to my joy, they said yes! The team behind TFS was wonderfully responsive and meticulous; our email exchanges were nothing but joyful. The moment they agreed to take on the project, the first thing they did was to send me a proposal. Everything was clear from the get-go: the rules, the dates, the things expected of me as tour host, and the things TFS is so excited to do for its authors. We decided on the number of reviewers for the tour, the list of names and emails, and the ways we could connect so they’d have an advanced copy of my book. TFS made sure everyone would be accommodated. Since I only had e-ARCs available, our methods included email, Netgalley, and Kindle.

We had a date set. With my team ready for anything we were asked of, we geared up, sending the emails to our brilliant crowd of reviewers. I was strapped in, ready for the good and the bad (I remembered telling TFS, “Ilabas ang gulok” —in a way telling them they could have my head. Held my breath, and by the fourth full week of June (June 23-28), our scheduled book tour stop, my Instagram was a grand fiesta of boundless energy and limitless talent.

Reader, I was blown away. You need to visit my Instagram to see what I’m talking about. But you know what’s better? Let me introduce you to our amazing ARC readers, and follow their timeline, because their book tastes are impeccable. *chef’s kiss*

This is what our Filipino ARC readers has to say about The Boy, the Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon:

@readloveirie

@laurenz.lib

@thepaperreels

@leigh.heart.books

@kwentokultura

@one.more.chap.ter

@nathan_escudero

@markalphaeus_

@filaurelio

@banaazbooks

@bibliophilicrichard

@emmzxiee_07

@booked.iris

@kawaiimemos

@isabellekristinaauthor

@miraclereadss

@poaticlibrary

@obi.reads

@kath_reads

@storieswithannej

The Filipino Shelf‘s book tour was nothing less than spectacular, with our very own Filipino creatives vouching for our work (and also, as their right, being critical about it). I have seen book stops, but your awful little noob was given the best gift ever: this grand spectacle of a colorful, vibrant Pistang Bayan, just like the one in The Boy, The Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon. They do not owe me anything; I could never, ever afford their talent fee, but I feel so lucky being at the receiving end of their light.

Writing has always been a solitary journey. Getting published, much more so. There’s the nerves (“Will people like it?”), then the fear (“What if it doesn’t sell?” “What if the publisher never trusts me again?” “WITH SO MANY BOOKS, WHO WILL NOTICE MY BOOK?”), then author awkwardness. We have a team to back us up, but that team had many other authors to support, too. Thank you, TFS and our constellation of readers, for making this journey immeasurably brighter than I had ever hoped for.

Images by Sai of Akdang Pinoy

It’s only two weeks before The Boy, the Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon hits the shelves! If you have this title on your TBB (To-Be-Bought) list—thank you very much—you still have time to preorder! Here are some of the online stores you can purchase it from:

Macmillan: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374389178/theboythemountainandtheserpentwhoatethemoon/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Boy-Mountain-Serpent-Who-Moon/dp/0374389179

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-boy-the-mountain-and-the-serpent-who-ate-the-moon-caris-avenda-o-cruz/1145880837

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-boy-the-mountain-and-the-serpent-who-ate-the-moon-caris-avendano-cruz/21603155

Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-boy-the-mountain-and-the-serpent-who-ate-the-moon/caris-avendano-cruz//9780374389178

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/mx/book/the-boy-the-mountain-and-the-serpent-who-ate-the-moon/id6504767109

Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Boy-the-Mountain-and-the-Serpent-Who-Ate-the-Moon-Hardcover-9780374389178/6919855234

Google Play Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Caris_Avenda%C3%B1o_Cruz_The_Boy_the_Mountain_and_the_S?id=LXUREQAAQBAJ

Fully Booked (for Philippine-based readers): https://fullybookedonline.com/book-juvenile-fiction-the-boy-the-mountain-and-the-serpent-who-ate-the-moon-hardcover-by-caris-avenda-o-cruz.html

Loyalty Bookstores: https://loyaltybookstores.com/book/9780374389178

More links will be added to this list, so please stay tuned!

A mysterious box landed on our doorstep sometime this early May, and look what it is: my Marikit and the Ocean of Stars paperback copy! It’s now out in (some parts of) the world, and if you’re looking for reasons why you should buy one, I give you A LIST!

☆ It’s a great way to learn Tagalog! The chapters start off with Tagalog word, complete with my spin on its meaning, and there’s a glossary at the end, too! If you’re looking for pronunciations, my blog has some recorded Tagalog words!

☆ Discover the beauty of Filipino folklore! Meet some of the gods and goddesses in the Tagalog pantheon, as well as some of our famous monsters, as Marikit journeys on!

☆ It’s a hero’s journey with a lot of twists, many friends to meet, and many obstacles to overcome. But just like what a wise Diwata in the book said, “You’ll learn along the way.”

☆ Alexis Young’s amazing art, including spot illustrations—my fave is on page 100-101!

☆ You get a SNEAK PEEK of my upcoming book, The Boy, the Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon, with a few chapters included in the last pages!

So please, mamser, ladies, lorefolk, and gentlefiends, head to your favorite bookstore and get a copy of Marikit and the Ocean of Stars today! (And yes, please, I’d love to be tagged on your Marikit photos!)

Cruz (Marikit and the Ocean of Stars) draws upon Filipino mythology to deliver a fantastical tale about overcoming fear and cultivating a love for the earth and its inhabitants.

— Publishers Weekly

Read the full Review

Marikit and the Ocean of Stars is a story about getting lost and finding your way, about constantly looking at the world with wonder, knowing that there’s magic even in the most mundane things– spoons, rocks, and even strands of hair. It is a story about friendship and the openness of heart to learn new things; to understand the extent of sacrifices made for us so that we can have what we have.

The paperback is out now, which means readers now have a lighter, more accessible version, in case you are not a fan of hardcovers. This book comes with a shiny little secret: a sneak peek of a new Laho-inspired story coming out this July.

It is my wish that these magical jaunts will help you get through tough days.

Once, I told myself, “Just one book. Just one book to my name.” This was that one book. The first, but not the *only.* And even now, I still have dreams for it: a Tagalog version, one more fitting to be read in local schools. Or a graphic novel version–so we could see the Engkantos in their full glory! Or maybe, just putting it out there, and forgive me for being greedy: many more books under Marikit’s name. There have been drafts, I tell you. There have been dreams (and, pun intended, NIGHTMARES).

For now, I celebrate this one book. My first book. The book that made it out into the world and gave me a seat at the table. This book is yours to read and keep. And I hope you’d like it as much as I keep returning to it.

To Marikit, and Ali, and Juan, and Nina. And to all the kids looking for their places in this great, enchanted map of the world.

Barnes & NobleAmazonTargetBookshop

Cruz seamlessly weaves Filipino folklore into this atmospheric and charming adventure, balancing the story’s darker elements with moments of humor and themes of hope and friendship…An enchanting and whimsical story about finding light within darkness.

— Kirkus Reviews

Read the full Review

Alright, kids. Take a seat. Let’s have this very important conversation—one that is long overdue. I thought things would turn out differently. I had hoped it would. It didn’t. Not today.

When I saw fellow author Julia Abe’s Instagram post about learning all of her books were in a popular digital pirated book library, I had to take that jump and look for mine. To preface, I’m not a popular author, nor did I give birth to a bestseller. If anyone wanted to read a book, surely, it must be something so groundbreaking and popular, or at least from a really famous writer.

But my book was there. Marikit and the Ocean of Stars was there.

One thing: I love you. I write books for you. I want my books to be accessible to you, and if you want to read them for free, there are libraries. Actual, real-life libraries. Libraries are cool! Librarians, more so! There are digital libraries that require minimal subscription. But, my dear, feeding our work to a digital monster aggregator feels like a betrayal.

No, I don’t want a mindless algorithm to steal my words and the *very* annoying way I write. I don’t think AI is a global necessity. We could live without it. We should live without it. Because otherwise, it will thrive without us. It will occupy the seats meant for you and me.

And that’s what we creators fear. That someday, our words, our stories, our art, all these things that take years to make, our very own blood and sweat and tears, would be stolen from us.

I know that if someone truly wants to pirate books, they will do it, no matter what. But here’s how you, our readers, could help us.

One. If you have an e-ARC of any of our books, a file shared with you in full trust, please secure them. If you bought the e-book, thank you. I’m glad you read our work. Maybe you liked it. Maybe to the point that you’d want to share it with your friends. I’m so grateful for your recommendation, but please be responsible in handling these files. These were paid for with your own money! There are better ways to lead others to our books: word of mouth, purchase links, and if buying it isn’t an option, libraries.

I tell you, libraries are cool. I had always hoped we had more of them here.

Two. Help us report pirated links. If you see Marikit and the Ocean of Stars or The Boy, the Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon uploaded in similar aggregators, please reach out and let me know. This, I beg you to do with other authors, too. Don’t let AI profit from the hard work of human creators. These mindless, heartless pre-dystopian digital creatures don’t have cats to tend to and bellies to feed. We do. Kalawang won’t be happy.

Three. Did I ever mention libraries? Libraries are cool. Yep, I said that, alright. But they are. Really. Full of free books (limited, and to be returned at a certain time) and brilliant, awkward humans eager to start book-related conversations with you. They know their stuff. They make puns, and they’d giggle, unlike ChatGPT, who’d only respond monotonously to you. Make use of them. Go to them. They need you, too.

Once again, with all my heart, please help save us. Save the industry of real, human writers with many stories to share. We have souls and tears. We listen to bird-songs and tap our feet when our favorite tune is on. I, for one, may not be as good when it comes to math and science and perfect grammar. But it’s our imperfections that make us us: soft, raw, hurting, hoping, afraid, bold, and so, so real. No machine could ever replicate that.

At least not for now.

Don’t let them.