Maya Zapata

Raffi, nearly forty and defiant of the system, has cycled through rehab countless times. After being kicked out of the clinic in his fifth attempt to get clean, he is forced to return to the person he despises most: his mother. Two days later, she kicks him out, and Raffi turns to Trino, his last remaining friend, for refuge. When he learns that his high school crush, Inés, is newly divorced, Raffi vows to win her over, even if it means getting a regular job, growing up, and finally taking his recovery seriously.

In the time of the Aztec empire, tragedy strikes Yohualli Coatl when his father is murdered by Spanish conquistadors. To warn King Moctezuma and his high priest, Yoka, of imminent danger, Yohualli escapes to Tenochtitlán. There, he trains in the temple of the bat god Tzinacan with his mentor, developing equipment and weaponry to confront the Spanish invasion and avenge his father’s death. Along the way, he encounters key figures like the fierce Jaguar Woman and the conquistador Hernán Cortés.

Tells the parallel stories of nine-year-old Carlitos and his mother, Rosario. In the hopes of providing a better life for her son, Rosario works illegally in the U.S. while her mother cares for Carlitos back in Mexico.