Little Mona is the big, big star of this instantly immersive tale of family pain, love, terror, and power. You are immediately dropped into the tone and rhythm of a household and its lives that many know too well, love too much to leave, and know too much to stay in, but do, sometimes in ways they wish they hadn’t. This book is gonna get you. You’ll see.
-Theodore C. Van Alst, Pour One for the Devil: A Gothic Novella

Five-year-old Mona knows something is very wrong, when her older brother Pancho doesn’t come home one night. Her evil sister, Christi, is to blame because Pancho is always defending her. Mona only knows he is in trouble with the police. Now that Pancho is gone, Christi is brutal, constantly terrorizing Mona.

One afternoon, her parents go on an overnight trip and leave her older sister in charge. Things take a turn for the worse as her sister’s carelessness makes Mona sick to her stomach. La Bruja who lives in the orchard and has been haunting Mona for some time takes advantage of her weakness. With Pancho and her parents gone, the witch is at the window trying to convince Mona to go with her and away from her sister’s cruelty.

Will Mona be able to overcome her sister’s abuse and the relentless Bruja, before her parents come home, or will the temptations of La Bruja make her leave her home forever?

Follow María J. Estrada @drmariajestrada and http://www.barrioblues.com/

Praise for La Bruja in the Orchard

La Bruja in the Orchard is a fast but highly entertaining read. Señora Estrada drew me into the world of 5-year-old Mona, the little girl who sees what goes on around her without understanding some of it. Where did her brother Pancho go and why is her sister Christi so mean to her? She longs to escape her hurtful home, and in the end she finds escape in a way that I wasn’t expecting.

Estrada writes like I do, using our Spanish words for effect, reminding us of our own pasts because of what her characters go through, making us see the cruelty in some people and the justice they get at the hands of those who fight back. I highly recommend this book to those of you who like my own books.
-Carmen Baca, Bella, Collector of Cuentos

Equal parts The House on Mango Street and Mexican folklore, this story is a chilling modern-day fable told through the eyes of Chicano children trying to navigate the terrors that haunt them.
-Pedro Iniguez, Synthetic Dawns and Crimson Dusks

When it comes to Latin American Literature, you cannot go wrong with La Bruja in the Orchard. The story lays true to Mexican-American mythology, while keeping the reader mystified throughout by allowing them to relate to lead character.
-P.A. O'Neil, Two Sides of the Same Coin

La Bruja in the Orchard is a captivating story that does what many of my favorite stories do, which is to take folklore and imbue it with fresh perspective and emotional depth. It’s a haunting tale saturated with a mythical, dreamlike quality. Dr. Estrada takes the reader into a child’s world, a scary environment where reality and imagination intersect, and where the complexities of family relationships build toward a climax both painful and cathartic.
-Aleco Julius, Endless Depths