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Loteria: A Novel
Loteria: A Novel
Loteria: A Novel
Audiobook3 hours

Loteria: A Novel

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this audiobook

Prepare to be enthralled by this lyrical, achingly human debut novel about a young girl's remarkable resilience in the face of loss. Struggling to cope as her family falls apart, eleven-year-old Luz María Castillo retreats into her beloved set of Lotería cards—a Mexican game featuring riddles and vibrant images. Each card represents a different memory, and as Luz shuffles through the deck, she weaves her recollections into a compelling story of love, loyalty, tragedy, and hope.

By turns affecting and inspiring, Lotería is a powerful novel that heralds the arrival of an outstanding new writer, one who reminds us of the importance of remembering, even when we are trying to forget.

Editor's Note

Quietly poignant...

Beautiful and quietly devastating, this novel structures the story of 11-year-old Luz around Lotería cards, revealing her world—and the tragedy that tears it apart—in poignant vignettes.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperAudio
Release dateJul 2, 2013
ISBN9780062293152

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Reviews for Loteria

Rating: 3.6309523571428572 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

84 ratings18 reviews

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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I picked up this book because of the cover, heavily illustrated pages and short chapters. The story seemed easy enough, find out what happend one night to an 11 year old girl that put her father in jail and her sister in the hospital. The book is mixed with english and Spanish. I had trouble with the Spanish terms and the author did not offer a translation anywhere in the book. It was a quick read and I liked the main character but the ending was awful. I did not feel like the reader was given closure as to what happened to the mother. The father's future was not explained either. The book kept my attention all the way until the end. But it stopped abruptly leaving me feeling very disappointed.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    awsmm
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Just not a Great book. Ending seemed unfinished
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a powerful little book. I must admit that I think it was a bit over my head - it involves the slowly revealed tale of young Luz Castillo, currently in the custody of child protective services. Why? The reader doesn't know yet - Luz refuses to talk. The bits and pieces of her life with her father, mother, sister and aunt are slowly told through her journal entries with the use of Loteria cards - a Mexican bingo type game.Each chapter (and I use that term very loosely as some are mere paragraphs long) is introduced with one of the cards and Luz writes a bit about her life. The story is told through the eyes and thoughts of this 11 year old girl and the reader soon learns the horror of her life in a very abusive household. Her parents came to the US from Mexico to find a better life but they did not find it. The story Luz writes is rife with alcohol, tradition and her Catholic upbringing.There is a fair bit of Spanish used within the story - some can be gleaned from context but without a knowledge of the language (mine is minimal - I took it in college) there is some googling to do to try and maintain the storyline.The reader does feel a touch lost at first - at least I did as you just don't know what is going on. You are given bits of information that you need remember as each card is revealed. It all comes together in a very troubling story with an ending that I didn't see coming. Despite my feeling that a lot of things were over my head it was a book that caused me much thought and one I'll keep to perhaps read again. I suspect that I might sort more out upon a second reading when I'm knowledgeable of the outcome and I can then better understand the beginnings.It's not a long read by any stretch of the imagination but it is most assuredly a thought provoking one.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    You may have read dozens of books about a tragic family, but how many of those books were written through a card game? Loteria is a Mexican game much like Bingo, played with 54 pictures (instead of numbers). 11-year-old Luz uses the cards to tell the story of her family. Each chapter is a Loteria card, each chapter slowly reveals the tragic story of her family. ?The drum? tells the story of her abusive, alcoholic father who broke her arm. The following chapters reveal other tragedies such as the arrest of her father, an accidental shooting, the death of her sister, and disappearance of her mother. As each event is revealed, the reader begins to wonder how this story can have a happy ending? How will an 11-year-old find peace after so much tragedy? This is Mario Alberto Zambrano?s first novel.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was surprised by Loter?a, it was a very short read and very good. The story is told from a girl's diary and each entry is determined by what card from the loteria game is pulled. It goes back and forth from present time to the past showing what is happening in the center and why she ended up there. The characters were well defined and I feel like the author did a good job at telling a story of domestic abuse from a young girl's point of view.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was surprised by Lotería, it was a very short read and very good. The story is told from a girl's diary and each entry is determined by what card from the loteria game is pulled. It goes back and forth from present time to the past showing what is happening in the center and why she ended up there. The characters were well defined and I feel like the author did a good job at telling a story of domestic abuse from a young girl's point of view.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    With her older sister Estrella in the ICU and her father in jail, eleven-year-old Luz Castillo has been taken into the custody of the state. Alone in her room, she retreats behind a wall of silence, writing in her journal and shuffling through a deck of lotería cards. Each of the cards’ colorful images—mermaids, bottles, spiders, death, and stars—sparks a random memory.Pieced together, these snapshots bring into focus the joy and pain of the young girl’s life, and the events that led to her present situation. But just as the story becomes clear, a breathtaking twist changes everything.This book was stippled with Spanish aphorisms and phrases, and included an impressive amount of vocabulary in-context, to help teach Spanish to non-speakers. A full deck of Lotería cards is presented back-to-front, to mark the chapters, as if the reader is flipping a card when turning the page, reminiscent of Isabelle Allende and Salvador Plascencia’s magical realism. Image result for loteria el nopal“I didn’t feel like remembering today so I laid out the cards close to each other so that they were touching like tiles, like El Nopal.” (175).Luz associates her memories with the Lotería cards, using them to prompt her, to spark her memories. Than she writes about it in her journal. As we read her diary — addressed to “You”, always capitalized, in reference to the reader, or in reference to a higher power — we understand the trauma she is trying to run from.The Arañas, the spiders, represent the memories that haunt Luz. Ghosts. They “creep around in the dark when you’re not looking” (2). And she wants to “smash this spider” (6), she wants to forget. “But when I raise my hand and close my eyes I hear her scream.” (6). Image result for loteria cards la aranaImage result for loteria cards chalupaIn La Chalupa, Luz recalls the riddle to La Rosa (“Ven que te quiero ahora.”) and philosophically reasons with her journal and the reader. She emphasizes the dual meaning in the use of the word quiero, which can mean either want or love, and how neither could truly be love:And because quiero can mean either want or love, I asked if it meant “I want you” or “I love you.” Come here, because I love you, or, come here, because I want you? If you were saying to someone, come to me, then the person you love’d wasn’t there, and if you had to tell someone to come to you then maybe he didn’t love you. And to want someone to come to you is like an order. If you have to order someone to come to you, how much love is that anyway? (13).The entire novel raises questions on important issues, like gender, sexuality, and the complications that arise for Mexican Americans who grow up caught between two cultures.Image result for loteria cards la manoThey’d pinch me if I called something a boy instead of a girl, or the other way around. Why is it La mano instead of El mano? I can think of Papi’s hands and think they’re masculine, then think of Mom’s and think they’re feminine. If we were talking about the hands of a clock it could go either way. The hands of a clock could be bi. (85-86).Rather than integrating the traditional riddles into her memories, Luz writes her own riddles, and begins to associate her life to the 54 Lotería cards. By writing in her journal and using the cards to prompt her memories, the reader relives the ‘accident’ with Luz; as the deck of cards is flipped, the story unfolds, piece-by-piece. In this way, she allows herself to remember, allows herself to feel the pain she is blocking out. Image result for loteria cards barril“No te olvides de dónde vienes.”Like if I would forget.” (62).Memory is a large theme in the novel: remembering, forgetting, knowing and not knowing. There is a difference between not knowing and forgetting, and forgetting something on purpose. Luz is not too proud to admit when she did not know something. In fact, the novel is littered with her asserting what she did not know, at the time. (“I didn’t know,” (11)) She often writes her regrets: “Because if I didn’t have fingers or hands maybe none of this would’ve ever happened.” (51). It is obvious that she is remorseful, sorry for whatever it is that happened, but it remains unclear until the end of the novel what she has to be sorry for. Zambrano’s writing remains mysterious and full of twists, until the very last chapter.“She used to say , forgive and forget, but I don’t think she believed it, because how can you forget about the things you feel?” (157).By the end of the novel, the reader can work out themes of domestic violence and sexuality, but more than anything this novel is about working through pain, memory, and forgiveness. Not only must the characters forgive each other – they must forgive themselves.I could not put it down, and finished it in less than 24 hours.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It is slowly revealed what has happened to eleven-year-old Luz María Castillo and her family through diary entries she makes based on Loteria cards she draws from a deck in Mario Alberto Zambrano's debut novel Loteria. This is a tragic story told through the memories and in the voice of a young girl. The 53 chapters all open with the picture of a different Lotaria card. Luz is talking to God in her diary entries, as she contemplates her memories of her family. She is in state custody and not talking to anyone about her family. Very slowly the dynamics of her violent, dysfunctional family are reveal and we learn what was happening.

    The chapters are short and the memories Luz shares are not all synchronous, but instead are recollected fragments of various family events and occasions from her lifetme. We learn about her father's drinking, the violence in her family, but the full extent of these occurrences isn’t revealed all at once. At the beginning we know something bad has happened, after all Luz is in state custody and not talking to anyone, but the total picture isn't revealed until much later.
    Luz says of a counselor "Then she looks at me like I'm one of those stories you hear about on the ten o’çlock news."(pg. 3)
    Later, when Luz writes, "She wouldn't know what it was like. We all fought. We all hit each other."(pg. 16) we begin to understand that this isn't going to be an easy story.

    At the beginning of the novel you may feel a bit of disconnect with the story simply because you don't have even a partial picture of what is going on, but stay with it. Luz lets us know that she's cautious and not speaking to anyone when she says,"I keep my mouth shut because I don't know the rules of the game."(pg. 17) As she deals out the Lotaria cards for her own private game and writes about her life in her diary/journal, we understand the environment of violence and alcoholism that gave birth to her cautious nature.

    The narrative, in English, also contains many Spanish phrases and sentences that are smoothly incorporated into the text. Since the Loteria cards are pictured in the book, it really is a much shorter novel than the page numbers would indicate. Zambrano has done an excellent job capturing the voice of this eleven year old girl in epistolary form while exploring the dark side of a very dysfunctional family.

    Highly recommended

    Disclosure: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher and TLC for review purposes.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    2.5**

    Eleven-year-old Luz Castillo sits and deals the cards of her Lotería deck. She is in the custody of the state, and cannot (or will not) speak about what she has seen and done in her short childhood. But each card in the deck leads to a memory, and she writes her thoughts in the notebook her Aunt Tencha gave her.

    This is a tragic story born of crushed hopes and poverty, and resulting in alcohol abuse, and violence. That there are children living in these circumstances is disturbing, and all too real. That they find any happiness and joy is a testament to the resilient human spirit. But most of Luz’s memories are far from happy. She has seen far too much for her young age, and hasn’t the maturity to understand or cope with the aftermath.

    I really wanted to love this book. There is great promise in this idea for a novel, and there were some scenes where I saw the writer Zambrano may become. But Zambrano doesn’t give me a believable 11-year-old Luz. I know that children brought up in these circumstances gain vocabulary and behaviors that are not those of a white, suburban child. But somehow her voice just didn’t ring true to me. I kept hearing the male author telling the story, rather than the girl.

    Still, it’s a powerful story and I’m glad I read it.

    The book itself is a work of art, with beautiful full-color recreations of the Lotería cards at the beginning of each chapter. They brought back many fond memories of numerous games played with my grandmother and cousins.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This novel is told as a series of diary entries written by eleven-year-old Luz Castillo. She is in state care. As the book unfolds it explains how Luz came to be in care, how her father came to be in jail, and why Luz refuses to speak. She tells her story with a deck of Loteria cards, making the not-so-subtle point that Luz's life bears a striking resemblance to a game of chance. The story itself is fairly predictable. It's easy to see where the narrative is going. Most readers are not likely to be surprised. The group home environment in which Luz finds herself was surprisingly benign, compared to pretty much everything I've read about the American foster care system. Luz's current residence is hardly the focus of the book, but it seemed unusually non-violent and understanding. The book is replete with beautiful illustrations. Each chapter is illustrated with its corresponding Loteria card. Ultimately I found that this book was not anything particularly special. The story was reasonably predictable. Luz is a sympathetic character, and it's not a bad read, but it's not earth-shattering either.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The book is narrated by a young girl and the style of writing seems appropriate to that point of view. It is told in a short story format, looking back on past events and slowly unfolding the story of the narrators situation in the present. The book follows themes of family and Mexican-American culture, while delving into some heavy topics. It is a very fast read with some Spanglish sprinkled throughout. I enjoyed it and would recommend it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very sad tale, well told. I just wish there had been english translations for all the spanish phrases. The story was so fast moving for me, I didn't want to stop and look up translations constantly.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Lotería are picture cards that are laid out and often played as a sort of Bingo. In this book though the lotería cards are used by an eleven year old girl who's been sent to some sort of institution and who refuses to speak. She has managed to sneak in a deck of lotería cards and writes surreptitiously in her journal about random memories of her sister Estrella, her parents and some of her relatives that live in Reynosa, just across the Mexican border. Her memories are triggered with each picture card. These memories don't follow any sort sequence, some memories are short or have no seeming relevance to her current state, but her journal entries share her experiences with us and how she felt about her parents' violent relationship, their challenge assimilating in the US, her sister's injury, her sexual abuse and her relationship with her aunt. This YA book ended with an interesting and unexpected twist.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    First let me tell you what this wonderful little book looks like. It is about 9 x 6 in. and it is hardbound, no book jacket and on the front surrounded by a background of blue, there is a lovely red rose. The pages are thicker, so they do not tear easily. Loteria itself, is a Mexican game that is played somewhat like Bingo but using colorful cards and riddles and different patterns. Each chapter had a page with the picture of the card in beautiful colors. The presentation of this book is fantastic.Luz is eleven yrs. old when we meet her, she is being held in a type of juvenile home, where they have given her a journal and told her to write her story, since she will not speak about what has happened. She uses the cards to tell things good and bad, that have happened to and in her family. This story is not linear, she goes back and forth depending on what card she pulls. Eventually we learn what happened in her family. This is a frank and honest telling, from a young girls viewpoint about the things that needed to stay in her family. Family does not ever tell on family. The one card representing the bottle is especially poignant. As she says, "We tell our own stories. At the end she is offered a choice and although we now know what happened, there is still one big mystery in which the reader needs to furnish his own answer. Very realistic, will appeal to readers of Jessamyn Ward and Bonnie Jo Campbell and other cultural writers.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a powerful little book. I must admit that I think it was a bit over my head - it involves the slowly revealed tale of young Luz Castillo, currently in the custody of child protective services. Why? The reader doesn't know yet - Luz refuses to talk. The bits and pieces of her life with her father, mother, sister and aunt are slowly told through her journal entries with the use of Loteria cards - a Mexican bingo type game.Each chapter (and I use that term very loosely as some are mere paragraphs long) is introduced with one of the cards and Luz writes a bit about her life. The story is told through the eyes and thoughts of this 11 year old girl and the reader soon learns the horror of her life in a very abusive household. Her parents came to the US from Mexico to find a better life but they did not find it. The story Luz writes is rife with alcohol, tradition and her Catholic upbringing.There is a fair bit of Spanish used within the story - some can be gleaned from context but without a knowledge of the language (mine is minimal - I took it in college) there is some googling to do to try and maintain the storyline.The reader does feel a touch lost at first - at least I did as you just don't know what is going on. You are given bits of information that you need remember as each card is revealed. It all comes together in a very troubling story with an ending that I didn't see coming. Despite my feeling that a lot of things were over my head it was a book that caused me much thought and one I'll keep to perhaps read again. I suspect that I might sort more out upon a second reading when I'm knowledgeable of the outcome and I can then better understand the beginnings.It's not a long read by any stretch of the imagination but it is most assuredly a thought provoking one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The backstory: Loteria is the first novel by Mario Alberto Zambrano.The basics: 11-year-old Luz slowly fill the reader in on her life and family by journaling based on Loteria cards, a Mexican version of bingo that uses images rather than numbers.My thoughts: Loteria is a complicated little novel. I say little because although it has 288 pages, I read it in about two hours, and I am not that fast of a reader. There are many short chapters and each one begins with a full-page image of a mostly relevant Loteria card. For much of the first half of this novel, I was confused. Zambrano doesn't introduce the reader to the story; he throws you right in. You have no context. Several times I found myself flipping to the publisher's description and wondering "did I miss that?" The more I read, however, the more details fall into place and Luz's writing makes more sense. I was glad I saved this novel for the airplane, as it was perfect to read in a couple of sittings over the course of an afternoon. There is a rich detail to this novel. As I was reading, I didn't know which details to savor or which were important. Consequently, I tried to hold as many in my brain as I could to try to make sense of the story.Because I had no context to Luz's life and little idea who she was, where she was, or what was happening, I had a hard time getting invested. I continued to read with a sense of urgency, and Zambrano manages to build to a somewhat satisfying conclusion. After I turned the last page, however, I couldn't shake the feeling this novel would be better as a short story. There's a fascinating climax, but because I never felt I knew enough about Luz to really be invested in her story, the ending, as good as it was, left me feeling much of the novel was unnecessary. It didn't enrich the heart of the story. It's worth noting that Zambrano also infuses a fair amount of conversational Spanish. I know enough to figure out those parts, but it might add to the confusion for some readers.The verdict: Loteria is a literary mystery of sorts. The reader must use the scattered clues left in Luz's journal to decipher who and what she is. While the climax is well done, this novel ultimately left me wanting either more--the perspectives of other characters too--or less of it
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    With her older sister Estrella in the ICU and her father in jail, eleven-year-old Luz Castillo has been taken into the custody of the state. Alone in her room, the young girl retreats behind a wall of silence, writing in her journal and shuffling through a deck of Lotería cards—a Mexican version of bingo featuring bright, colorful images.What follows are 53 chapters, each corresponding to a pictograph—beginning with “La Araña” (the spider) and ending with “La Rana” (the frog). The accompanying sketches assemble Luz’s fractious family life in equally jagged fragments, some tender as “La Dama” (the lady), others deadly as “El Alacán” (the scorpion). The two central figures in Luz’s recollections are her Papí, a tortured alcoholic who terrorizes his family, and her older sister Estrella, who pays a steep price for defying her father.Beautiful, haunting, titillating, tantalizing - all perfect descriptors for 'Loteria.' I honestly do not have one complaint about this book. It is well thought out and very interesting. A very well written novel with suspenseful dark and twisty turns. Brings a whole new light to an old favorite childhood game.Overall, Loteria is creative and provides a glimpse into a world not often explored. It's a good read, a rather quick read, and that cover is just gorgeous.I would highly recommend this book to anyone.