Summer of the Mariposas

Odilia and her sisters are left to run wild after their father abandons them.  Their Mama is stuck in a fog of depression and constant working to pay the bills, and the cinco hermanitas spend the summer days swimming in the river.

Everything changes the day they find the dead man floating in the river.  They are afraid to call the authorities because they know if he is an illegal his family may never find out what happened to him.  So they decide to steal the junky car their father left behind and take the man home to his family in Mexico.

Odilia is opposed to the plan at first, but when La Llorona appears to her to tell this is a quest she and her sisters must complete together, she reluctantly decides to go.  After all, their abuelita doesn't live far from the man's home, and it's been years since they've seen her.

On the way the sisters will have to face dangers both normal and paranormal.  They will have to evade border guards, a witch, the lechuzas (owl creatures with human heads), and even the chupacabras!  Will the cinco hermanitas be able to complete their quest?

Guadalupe Garcia McCall wrote this book because of a conversation she had with her students one day while teaching The Odyssey.  One of the girls in her class asked why all the stories where about old white guys, so she decided to write her own version of the story using sisters and Mexican folklore.