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La Llorona de Mazatlan
Laney Morales' dream of playing soccer in Mazatlan, Mexico soon turns into a nightmare, as she discovers that the spine-chilling legends of old may actually be modern mysteries.
92 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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231 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
January 20, 2021
Laney's an idiot for basically the entire book.
July 31, 2016
This book is great for beginner/intermediate Spanish learners. This is the first book I've read entirely in Spanish without needing a dictionary beside me. It really gave me a confidence boost being able to read straight through the story & completely understand. It does have a glossary in the back if you need any help. It's written almost entirely in the preterite & imperfect tenses, so really good practice for learning when to use each tense. The story is simple but cute.
March 7, 2019
Era un libro muy sorprendente. Muchos evento muy interesantes. Pero si pudieron haberlo echo mejor. Me gusto que si incluyeron la origen de la llorona. Me gustaría otro libro continuando después de el fin de este libro
February 3, 2020
Este libro es muy Fuerte. Me gusta mucho. Yo quiero jugar al pin pon con Jake y la Llorona por que Luis era muy guapo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2024
The girl was extremely stupid, and this book just had no enjoyable plot.
February 8, 2025
Just because the book’s main goal is to help you learn Spanish doesn’t mean the story has to suck. There’s a creepy dude who gets what he had coming at the end, which was nice to see; however, during the rest of the book, the author kept mentioning that Laney—the main character—was uncomfortable, yet they started dating. I’m sorry, what? Why set that sort of prescient. It’s just weird that the protagonist that we are supposed to relate to and respect starts dating a dude she finds creepy.
February 26, 2019
La cuenta de La Llorona de Mazatlan es muy interesante. Una chica va a Mexico para jugar al fútbol y hace amigos nuevos. Las problemas que pasa con algunas de las chicas hace la cuenta más mejor. Les recomiendo este libro a otros estudiantes.
February 27, 2019
Prefiero la leyenda original de La Llorona. El libro no estuvo tan mal pero si hubiera estado mejor si el autor hubiera involucrado la leyenda original. Pienso que usa vocabulario más avanzado para los que no son hispanohablantes pero no es un libro tan malo.
May 7, 2019
Este libro era muy misterioso e interesante. El vocabulario era bueno para estudiantes intermedios. El autor usó el tiempo pretérito mucho. Me encantaron los personajes en el libro. Pero no me gustó el final del libro. Era tan abrupto.
August 15, 2019
La Llorona fue un buen libro. A mí me gusta mucho. Pero, no me gusta como Laney deja de estar amigas con Desi porque ella se enamorada con Luis. Fue obvio que él iba a ser un bruto y un jugador, pero Laney no lo vío. Yo tenía miedo leyendo cuando La Llorona la tocó. Al fín, estaba feliz cuando Desi y Laney estaban amigas otra vez.
May 31, 2020
This book is easy to read for Spanish learners at level B1.1 (advanced). It is written uncomplicated, easy to flowow and it was engaging through the entire story, although not very interesting. I didn't expect that either. it is just a nice book to work with the Spanish language
February 26, 2019
Este libro era un libro muy bueno. Me gustaba como el libro empezó y como terminó. Me alegré de que las muchachas arreglaran sus problemas.
February 25, 2019
A mi me gusto mucho el libro. Yo siempre escuchaba las estorias de la llorona. Es muy interesante.
May 14, 2019
A mí me gusta mucho este libro. Este libro es muy miedo y interesante. Yo quiero ver la pelicula sober este libro. Yo voy a tener muchos pedillas sobre este libro.
September 30, 2019
Este libro fue muy interesante. Al comienzo de el libro nos enseña la responsabilidad de Lenay, y su entusiasmo de ir a México a audicionar para un equipo de fútbol. Me gustó aprender más sobre la leyenda de la llorona. Este libro nos enseña la importancia de los amigos.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 17, 2023
why was it kinda good
December 7, 2022
Spanish reader that had some nice intermediate grammar without being too difficult. I was hoping to use this reader with students after discussing different legends in the world. There is not much that happens with La Llorona, and I was disappointed that it would not provide much new information/culture for my students. However the good news is that this can be used for any class, even if they have no knowledge of La Llorona.
There were some mild issues I had about things like how did Laney exactly get from the airport to the bus station? The fact that they were able to walk from the bus station to the camp was a little surprising… the camp has no electricity??? The window has no glass? (Yes windows are different, let’s explore those cultural differences). Both things a little weird 😂
the no-cell phone rule is great but also a little unreal for kids traveling internationally (I think cell phones only between 6-8 would be feasible), and the fact that they had cena at a very weird time for Mexicans left some things off the mark that could have all been some good cultural points to include. However, I understand some of the above items might bog down the story and we want to keep it simple.
This book is light in culture but I would say the plot is absolutely compelling and relevant for older high school students. You have a diverse little cast of characters - you have the three amigos and then you have some great drama. I was pleased to read Luis was a rich snob (but once again we could have learned that he is a fresa). The drama is definitely the perfect teenage book.
Easy to read!
There were some mild issues I had about things like how did Laney exactly get from the airport to the bus station? The fact that they were able to walk from the bus station to the camp was a little surprising… the camp has no electricity??? The window has no glass? (Yes windows are different, let’s explore those cultural differences). Both things a little weird 😂
the no-cell phone rule is great but also a little unreal for kids traveling internationally (I think cell phones only between 6-8 would be feasible), and the fact that they had cena at a very weird time for Mexicans left some things off the mark that could have all been some good cultural points to include. However, I understand some of the above items might bog down the story and we want to keep it simple.
This book is light in culture but I would say the plot is absolutely compelling and relevant for older high school students. You have a diverse little cast of characters - you have the three amigos and then you have some great drama. I was pleased to read Luis was a rich snob (but once again we could have learned that he is a fresa). The drama is definitely the perfect teenage book.
Easy to read!
December 13, 2018
Este libro trata de una niña llamada Laney y de cómo va a un campo de fútbol. El campamento es importante para Laney porque es una forma de ingresar a la universidad. Ella tiene algunos amigos llamados Desi y Luis. Desi y Luis solían salir, pero ahora están separados. Luis y ella coquetean entre sí y terminan saliendo. Sus causas son la amistad de Desi y Laney para acabar. Laney ve a La Llorona y termina hablando con su tía. Su tía le contó la historia de La Llorona y cómo ella viene para asegurarse de que no tome las decisiones equivocadas con los niños. Laney termina rompiendo con Luis porque él está coqueteando y mostrando afecto a otras chicas.
July 27, 2018
This retelling of the tale La Llorona expanded my Spanish vocabulary, yet was very cliché. It is understandable that a book that focuses on building vocabulary would be written this way, yet is something that definitely stuck out for me. I appreciated the very “gossipy” tone the book had; it made me want to keep reading. Anyone, who is looking for a quick read should take a look. It refreshes a Spanish-learner’s memory of verb tenses. It is easy to understand what has occurred, is occurring, and what’s being hinted at to happen in the future.
August 18, 2021
Since this book is in Spanish, I didn't understand all of it. However, this has a great plot! I learned a different story about La Llorona and in a way that makes her somewhat helpful as she is warning others about their bad choices. Overall, a great book! I would love to read it again when I master Spanish.
December 2, 2021
This was the second book in Spanish I've read, and I didn't really enjoy it. The plot didn't really make any sense, and the characters were full of drama. One of the friends Laney makes at camp pretty much disappears 3/4 of the way through the book, and he was my favorite character because he was nice and had no drama.
May 9, 2019
I read this book for my Spanish class in school. It’s a good read for someone in Spanish 2 or someone with limited Spanish knowledge. Reminds me of Junie B. Jones books in a certain way, but with a much darker twist.
December 12, 2019
Este libro fue muy interesante, pero el fin del libro no fue bueno. Yo estaba muy confundido. Todo el libro era bien, a mí me gusta. Laney era muy interesante, y tenía una “rollercoaster” de emociones en cada capítulo.
March 26, 2021
This book was surprisingly easy and fun to read. The story engaged me all the way through. There were parts that were hard to understand, but I know enough Spanish to have been able to read most of it and understand it. 4 stars
January 25, 2023
A cute little story en español about Laney at soccer camp near Mazatlan. She learns about the leyenda de La Llorona, the weeping spirit who selfishly kills her own children, and then herself in grief.
May 17, 2023
This was a little ridiculous but a good edition to the Spanish curriculum. I’m glad i had class this semester and got the chance to read it because this is like, iconic. I think Eric Kripke read this i think this is how we got the supernatural pilot. Laney is sooooo Sam-coded
March 18, 2025
if you’re going to write a beginners spanish book, please make it interesting. also make it have an ending. this was like the bare bones of a story, if i can even call it that. go girl, give us nothing!
January 13, 2026
This was my first book in Spanish!! It was a fun read and it challenged my vocabulary. Although the ending was extremely fast paced and I wish we had more about Jake and the other characters, it was a really fun book
October 27, 2017
Favourite Spanish novel yet!! Really enjoyable and I didn't need to translate anything :)
May 2, 2019
It was good, pretty easy to read, simple Spanish words.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews