Tala and the Ring of Fire
Cecilia Aragon is an award-winning author, airshow pilot, and the first Latina full professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Her first nonfiction book, WRITERS IN THE SECRET GARDEN: Fanfiction, Youth, and New Forms of Mentoring, co-authored with Katie Davis, explores the surprising ways young people learn from each other in online fanfiction communities (MIT Press, 2019).
Her memoir, FLYING FREE: How I Used Math to Overcome Fear and Achieve My Wildest Dreams (Blackstone Publishing, 2020) has been described as "exhilarating, adventurous, and thoughtful." FLYING FREE lifts readers into the skies on a woman's epic journey from fearful, bullied child to champion pilot.
Find more at CeciliaAragonAuthor.com.
Abstract
Tala Perez has to move halfway across the country for her mother’s job. She thinks it’s the worst thing that can happen to a 12-year-old, but then her father gets sick, her brother is kidnapped, and she’s thrust into a hidden, dangerous world powered by twelve mysterious Sources of energy—power that exists in the earth beneath her feet. Faced with conflicting desires to rescue her brother or save the world, Tala will need to learn whom to trust, confront the nature of good and evil, and discover the shocking reality of the world around—and within—her.
Written by an award-winning scientist, this middle grade contemporary fantasy combines the latest discoveries in complexity theory with the myths and culture of the author’s Filipina and South American background to create an enthralling world that readers will not soon forget.