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Martika Galvez Mysteries #1
Chasing the Jaguar
Think you have issues? Try these on for size:
Your parents are separated, and Dad's already taking vacations with his new girlfriend. You and Mom share a small apartment in a gang-ridden neighborhood. You go to school with a bunch of spoiled rich kids. >You have recurring nightmares about a creepy jaguar. You're hearing strange voices and worry you may be going crazy. Your big quinceañera "surprise" is finding out you're a curandera, or witch.... and as if that's not bad enough, your psychic powers land you smack in the middle of a kidnapping case involving an ancient Mayan statue . . . and it's up to you to solve the mystery.Meet Martika Gálvez, the Latina Nancy Drew of the new millennium.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published May 30, 2006
About the author
Michele Domínguez Greene
11 books59 followersMichele Dominguez Greene (born February 3, 1962) is an American actress, singer, and author. She is known for her role as attorney Abby Perkins on the TV series L.A. Law from 1986 to 1991, for which she was nominated for a 1989 Primetime Emmy Award. She reprised the role in the 2002 TV reunion film L.A. Law: The Movie.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 7, 2024
It was okay….like not mind blowing but an ok and easy read
January 4, 2017
This book was fine - I was interested - but it wasn't the best YA I've ever read. I loved the idea of it -I read about it on a list of good YA featuring Latinx immigrants, and the back cover definitely pulled me in. Empowered young girl goes on a spiritual journey meets magical realism. And the story was good, but the writing was just a bit too cheesy and over-the-top. The rich girl who gets kidnapped is named Jennifer. Really. Ugh. There are even some cheesy gangsters? Art thieves? Unnamed criminal elements? in the novel, which I found utterly unrealistic (the relevant characters were sort of bumbling like Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern in Home Alone, but not funny) and not even desirable in the sense of comic relief since, as I mentioned, they weren't funny. The story was well-conceived, though, and I would have loved to see it just focus more on Martika's journey through her spiritual inheritance. I think it would have been enough for a book without the kidnapping of someone she sort of knows and the saccharine colorblind ending and the weird love story between the kidnapped and kidnapper minion guy. There's only so much disbelief I'm willing to suspend in one magical realism book, and it's the magical kind of disbelief, not the realism kind of disbelief. Oh, and also: what.is.up. with that cover? It has very little to do with the story, and is about the most un-feminist thing I've seen in a long while.
January 13, 2009
Really close to 4 stars, but it wasn't as exciting as I's hoped. The cover made me wary because it makes it seem like the main character may be some diva-esque type brat, but thankfully that wasn't the case. Much better than the cover implies. It was entertaining and potrayed hispanic culture pretty well. The thing that bothered me was the sometimes unnecessary references to clothes and style and it felt a bit fast. Everything got solved a little too neat and easily. Still good and it sounds like a series, but doesn't end in a cliff hanger.
June 16, 2015
The beggining was soo boring and dry for me that I almost stopped reading. Anyway, after I read the whole book I can conclude that this was an okay book.
February 28, 2018
Why does the front cover of this book say, "Meet the hip, urban Nancy Drew"? The difference between Nancy and Martika isn't that Nancy is uncool, it's that Martika has magical powers. Nancy Drew is smart girl who solves mysteries; Martika is some kind of mash-up Mayan-ish sorceress who uses her supernatural abilities to help a rich guy get back a statue he unwisely sold from the other rich guy he sold it to so he can give it to another rich guy who'd kidnapped the first rich guy's daughter.
Whatever, it's mass-market paperback YA fiction, so you can't expect too much. It's also set up for a sequel! Which apparently never materialized. But she did write a book about a polygamist family? I'm not going to go looking for that one.
Pros: The Spanish words and phrases are defined in an index in the back, and there's a fair bit of repetition, so if you'd like to, you can work to learn the limited Spanish vocabulary Greene presents. The only objectionable content is a few Spanish swear words, which the index only loosely defines (i.e. "a derogatory slang word"). A quick read! That's about it.
Whatever, it's mass-market paperback YA fiction, so you can't expect too much. It's also set up for a sequel! Which apparently never materialized. But she did write a book about a polygamist family? I'm not going to go looking for that one.
Pros: The Spanish words and phrases are defined in an index in the back, and there's a fair bit of repetition, so if you'd like to, you can work to learn the limited Spanish vocabulary Greene presents. The only objectionable content is a few Spanish swear words, which the index only loosely defines (i.e. "a derogatory slang word"). A quick read! That's about it.
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August 20, 2019This is a fun, fast-paced story. Teens interested in the occult and Mayan history will especially enjoy the book. The contrasts of the Colton, Galves, and Lopez families are especially well done, as they are less about differences and more about similarities. Because of Mojito (character), this skews to an older audience than the reading level suggests. Read more in the full review.
December 16, 2023
Good book! Love how Martika has psychic powers 🔮. Good quick read. Entertaining.
January 11, 2024
Chasing the Jaguar: Martika has always dealt with weird dreams, but as her 15th birthday approaches, she feels like they are trying to tell her something. She dreams of a jaguar. After Jennifer, a rich teenager, is kidnapped, Martika realizes she has a psychic link to Jennifer. Turns out, Martika comes from a long line of curanderas. She begins training with her great aunt, hoping she will be able to save Jennifer before it is too late.
This was fine! I think there is a lot to enjoy in CTJ. The relationship between Martika and her mother was highlight, as was Martika’s friendship with Lola. There is a real specificity to the settings as well. I can’t speak to the accuracy of the magic, the mythologies and traditions, but I can see CTJ being a book that could lead young readers to deeper research, which is always a good thing. The plot itself was a little all over the place. There were just a lot of things going on that maybe didn’t fully hang together.
This was fine! I think there is a lot to enjoy in CTJ. The relationship between Martika and her mother was highlight, as was Martika’s friendship with Lola. There is a real specificity to the settings as well. I can’t speak to the accuracy of the magic, the mythologies and traditions, but I can see CTJ being a book that could lead young readers to deeper research, which is always a good thing. The plot itself was a little all over the place. There were just a lot of things going on that maybe didn’t fully hang together.
January 30, 2016
The story is about an average girl named Martika. She begins having nightmares every night, and they always end up with someone being kidnapped, or a forest with a jaguar. She thinks she’s going crazy. On her quinceañera, she sees a woman that she remembers as a fortune teller she saw awhile back, but everyone tells her that she’s just seeing things. One day, Martika’s mom took her to work for housemaid assistance. Ted Colten (her best client) asked Martika to go clean his daughter Jennifer’s room. She finds a bracelet that she steals with a jaguar on it in her room. The next morning, Ted reported that his daughter had been kidnapped. There were no fingerprints though, so it would be really hard to find the suspect. Martika continues to have dreams of getting kidnapped and being trapped in a white room. Her mom finally breaks out a secret to her that she has special Mayan powers; she can read certain people’s minds. The forensic specialists find out that Eddie Blasi kidnapped her, someone who Ted owed a lot of money to. They still couldn’t find where he was hiding though. As a result, they use Martika’s nightmares to figure out the location of where she is until they find her.
Anyone who has a taste for drama or mystery would like this book. It will keep you wanting to flip page after page because each chapter gives more and more clues to where Jennifer is located from being kidnapped by Eddie Blasi. Also, Martika tries to figure out what her bad dreams are from, so it’s exciting to find out what really goes down. Also, anyone who likes history would enjoy this book because it explains a lot about the Mayan culture and the details with witch craft that they used to believe was real, and it also included the history behind the reason of a quinceanera.
This book was alright to me. It wasn’t the best for a couple reasons. Firstly, the author wrote too many words that were in Spanish, which made the text confusing at times. Secondly, the hint about who did the kidnapping was told towards the middle of the story. It really blew the surprise for me because that was what the whole mystery was about, besides where Jennifer was staying. Other than those two reasons, it was a pretty good book. I chose it to read about a mystery, but in return I got a history lesson about the Hispanic culture. For example, I never knew that in the Mayan culture, they believed that anyone with yellow eyes like a cat was a witch with super powers.
Anyone who has a taste for drama or mystery would like this book. It will keep you wanting to flip page after page because each chapter gives more and more clues to where Jennifer is located from being kidnapped by Eddie Blasi. Also, Martika tries to figure out what her bad dreams are from, so it’s exciting to find out what really goes down. Also, anyone who likes history would enjoy this book because it explains a lot about the Mayan culture and the details with witch craft that they used to believe was real, and it also included the history behind the reason of a quinceanera.
This book was alright to me. It wasn’t the best for a couple reasons. Firstly, the author wrote too many words that were in Spanish, which made the text confusing at times. Secondly, the hint about who did the kidnapping was told towards the middle of the story. It really blew the surprise for me because that was what the whole mystery was about, besides where Jennifer was staying. Other than those two reasons, it was a pretty good book. I chose it to read about a mystery, but in return I got a history lesson about the Hispanic culture. For example, I never knew that in the Mayan culture, they believed that anyone with yellow eyes like a cat was a witch with super powers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2010
Vanessa Harris
10/19/10
Book Review: Chasing the Jaguar
Do you think you have issues? Try finding out you’re a witch on your 15th birthday, and thanks to your psychic powers, you’re in the middle of a big kidnapping case and it is up to you to solve it. Try being Martika Galvez, some might say, “the Latina “Nancy Drew” of our time.”
Martika is a regular teenage girl living in Los Angeles. That is however, until she turns fifteen and learns that she is a witch and that her ancestors were Mayan curanderas and she's following in their footsteps! Her strange dreams apparently mean that she has psychic powers, passed down from her father's side of the family,that her parents have tried to ignore for fifteen years. Now, though, Martika has to deal with learning about her powers from another curandera, Tia Tellin. She's learning about her ancestors, her powers, and how to use them. Martika is also dealing with the typical problems that come with being fifteen: friends, guys, and schoolwork! If that wouldn't be difficult enough, Martika is also involved in a mystery! Her mother has been working for a man whose teenage daughter is kidnapped--and Martika's powers could be the key to finding her before anything bad happens to Jennifer.
I think the theme of this story would be to never lose track of where you come from, the people you come from, and your family history. I say this because Martika never knew about her ancestors on her father’s side and that they had those types of powers. I don’t agree with her parents not telling her for so long. I would recommend this book for girl’s ages 13 to 15 because of the dialogue. Some of the things that are talked about in the book are not appropriate for young readers. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Nevertheless, Chasing the Jaguar was a very entertaining and action filled book that kept you wanting more each chapter. I would love for there to be a sequel to the mystery.
10/19/10
Book Review: Chasing the Jaguar
Do you think you have issues? Try finding out you’re a witch on your 15th birthday, and thanks to your psychic powers, you’re in the middle of a big kidnapping case and it is up to you to solve it. Try being Martika Galvez, some might say, “the Latina “Nancy Drew” of our time.”
Martika is a regular teenage girl living in Los Angeles. That is however, until she turns fifteen and learns that she is a witch and that her ancestors were Mayan curanderas and she's following in their footsteps! Her strange dreams apparently mean that she has psychic powers, passed down from her father's side of the family,that her parents have tried to ignore for fifteen years. Now, though, Martika has to deal with learning about her powers from another curandera, Tia Tellin. She's learning about her ancestors, her powers, and how to use them. Martika is also dealing with the typical problems that come with being fifteen: friends, guys, and schoolwork! If that wouldn't be difficult enough, Martika is also involved in a mystery! Her mother has been working for a man whose teenage daughter is kidnapped--and Martika's powers could be the key to finding her before anything bad happens to Jennifer.
I think the theme of this story would be to never lose track of where you come from, the people you come from, and your family history. I say this because Martika never knew about her ancestors on her father’s side and that they had those types of powers. I don’t agree with her parents not telling her for so long. I would recommend this book for girl’s ages 13 to 15 because of the dialogue. Some of the things that are talked about in the book are not appropriate for young readers. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Nevertheless, Chasing the Jaguar was a very entertaining and action filled book that kept you wanting more each chapter. I would love for there to be a sequel to the mystery.
May 4, 2008
Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce for TeensReadToo.com
Martika Galvez is just a normal teenage girl. That is, until she turns fifteen and learns that her ancestors were Mayan curanderas and she's following in their footsteps! Her strange dreams apparently mean that she has psychic powers, passed down from her father's side of the family, that her parents have tried to ignore for fifteen years.
Now, though, Martika has to deal with learning about her powers from another curandera, Tia Tellin. She's learning about her ancestors, her powers, and how to use them. Martika is also dealing with the typical problems that come with being fifteen: friends, guys, and schoolwork! If that wouldn't be difficult enough, Martika is also involved in a mystery! Her mother has been working for a man whose teenage daughter is kidnapped--and Martika's powers could be the key to finding her before anything bad happens to Jennifer.
CHASING THE JAGUAR is a fast-paced, enjoyable book full of interesting bits of Spanish and stories about Martika's Mayan ancestors. Martika is just one of a cast of believable, likable characters in the story. This is a quick and entertaining read, written by an excellent new author. Michele Dominguez Greene's writing is great, and I certainly hope she's planning more books about Martika!
Martika Galvez is just a normal teenage girl. That is, until she turns fifteen and learns that her ancestors were Mayan curanderas and she's following in their footsteps! Her strange dreams apparently mean that she has psychic powers, passed down from her father's side of the family, that her parents have tried to ignore for fifteen years.
Now, though, Martika has to deal with learning about her powers from another curandera, Tia Tellin. She's learning about her ancestors, her powers, and how to use them. Martika is also dealing with the typical problems that come with being fifteen: friends, guys, and schoolwork! If that wouldn't be difficult enough, Martika is also involved in a mystery! Her mother has been working for a man whose teenage daughter is kidnapped--and Martika's powers could be the key to finding her before anything bad happens to Jennifer.
CHASING THE JAGUAR is a fast-paced, enjoyable book full of interesting bits of Spanish and stories about Martika's Mayan ancestors. Martika is just one of a cast of believable, likable characters in the story. This is a quick and entertaining read, written by an excellent new author. Michele Dominguez Greene's writing is great, and I certainly hope she's planning more books about Martika!
November 11, 2008
This book is amazing. However, it was realistic-fiction, it was about a girl, who found out that she was a witch. she doesnt believe in the witch thingin. but when she found out what power she had, which was really powerful in their generation, she believed her great-aunt(which was a witch,too). Then she used her power and solved a mystery, which helped a girl.
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May 8, 2009Martika learns she has psychic powers like her curandera ancestors. Living in Los Angeles instead of Mayan Mexico makes her life as a high school medicine woman complicated - especially with her quinceanera coming up.
May 5, 2010
This was a fun book with Latin curandera magic, kidnapping, black market merchandise, cinceaneras, and the occasional school work. Very fun and a little bit of everything for everyone. Page-turning, but not fully stay up late, gripping.
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January 10, 2013This book was weird and good. It was about a girl who had these weird dreams. Then this girl named Jennifer was kidnapped and the girl who had the dreams had them about her. She could tell the future. Like i said good and weird!!
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March 7, 2014It was about a young girl who found out her family was of Mayan descent and she started to get magical powers. But on the other side of town (the richer one) A young girl is kidnapped and Maya and Jennifer have a special connection and Maya helps find Jenny and save the day.
March 25, 2007
This is like a modern day Latina Nancy Drew novel. The magicial-realism bits were well written.
September 25, 2007
I loved this book.. I think I'll reread it soon.
April 6, 2009
A great mystery for middleschoolers that will appeal to Angelenos as well--it's set in Echo Park and features a latina heroine.
January 25, 2012
this book wasn't bad...But it wasn't good either. I just just kind of bleh, nothing spectacular about it.
November 8, 2016
Nice story, and I liked that it had a tiny bit of Spanish sprinkled throughout.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews