This was a mesmerizing book that incorporated magical realism, a weather phenomenon and grief. Grief is not one size fits all and we see that through this story with the different family members. Throughout this story, we really focus on Kai and how he navigates losing his sister while also following in her swim team shadow. At times throughout the story, I wanted to offer support to Kai but luckily he had some friends who were there for him. I loved the story within the story also! Thank you to Scholastic Press for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

El Nino is visually beautiful, and a graceful depiction of a family dealing with grief and loss. The mythology of the missing island is both interesting and moving, particularly in the description of the library of sorrow. I find it difficult to criticize this quiet story about a healing family. There are a few moments of peril, but it isn't particularly exciting or gripping, but I don't think that was the point.

El Nino by Pam Munoz Ryan Illustrated by Joe Cepeda
Scholastic Press, released May 6, 2025
By Robin Munson

El Nino is a Junior Fiction Fantasy book for ages 8-13. Reality and myth collide where one minute an elite swim team is training in the Ocean off California and the next, they stumble upon an underwater world with queens, mermalians, and cities of gold.

Kai Sosa is grieving the disappearance of his sister, Cali. Although an elite swimmer, Cali is presumed dead after disappearing in the dense fog while swimming in the ocean. Kai’s excitement of making the elite swim team is overshadowed by his sadness and loss. He struggles with his swim times as he tries to navigate through his grief. Kai discovers Cali’s overdue library book, The Elusive Island of California, a book about the myth of a sunken and mysterious underwater island. He decides to read the book in hopes to get closer to Cali and maybe figure out what happened to her.

Throughout the book were the beautiful illustrations of Joe Cepeda. I appreciate the monochromatic blues of the art - it is soothing even though the story of Kai’s grief is a heavy topic.

This story was a fast read (only around 250 pages) and I found myself needing more. Kai sort of enters the world within the myth although I found this part of the book rushed. The entry into the underwater world was abrupt and brief and it would have been nice for Kai to linger and show us more. That being said, I do understand that this was Kai’s grieving process and he seemed to need that last nudge to leave his sadness behind. The book is well written and worth the read.

I recommend this book to any child interested in swimming, the ocean, or who have experienced a loss in their life.

Thank you Scholastic Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I'm a little torn on this book. I think I definitely preferred the contemporary realistic storyline to the fantastical one, which I felt was a little underdeveloped in terms of its true connection to Kai's "real" life. And on that subject, I wasn't really sure if the reader was supposed to believe the mythological story as true and actually happening - or something Kai's hurting heart created to ease his grief. I guess it could be a bit of both, or something the author wants readers to decide for themselves. That sometimes works for me as a reader, but here it didn't quite.

I did really enjoy the setting, characters and ocean facts. The swim team gelling as they did was also heartwarming.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Pam Muñoz Ryan, and the publisher of the book for the eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Kai Sosa comes from a family of competitive swimmers. This summer, he is going to prove his own on an elite invitational team, even if he is the weakest kid. He hopes to carry the Sosa name in a intense upcoming meet.

But recently, he's been haunted by a dream, where he sees his dead sister, Cali, swimming in the Pacific Ocean, surrounded by dolphins. When he wakes up, it's hard to hold back the feeling he's been working hard to contain since his sister past two years ago.

One day, while surfing with a friend, Kai encounters a mysterious sea creature as big as he, with long black hair and a fluked tail, that insistently pokes his board. Kai is positive his mind are playing tricks, until the sea creature finds Kai twice more. What are the sea creature and a book for a school project trying to tell him? In a head-to-head faceoff in the swim meet, everything becomes clear as Kai tests his strength, and discovers that sometimes the only way to hold onto what we love is to let it go.

A moving and heartwarming tale of loss and what we do to hold on to those we've lost.

This was such a heartwarming book. Its main topics were family, grief and how that grief can long term affect someone. Kai lost his sister from the ocean and not only is he still coming to terms with that, he’s still struggling with getting back into swimming, something that’s already very familiar to him. There’s also some mythology included, which was what I enjoyed the most. This is as close as a middle grade book can get to literary fiction. Thank you NetGalley!

Another amazing story from Pam Munoz Ryan!! She has an amazing gift of mixing real life and mythology to tell the story of Kai and how he deals with the loss of his sister. Two years ago Kai's sister disappeared in the ocean. Dealing with her loss, Kai struggles to follow his dream of competative swimming.

As with her other stories, Pam Munoz Ryan has a delicate yet honest way of dealing with heavy topics. My heart was broken and healed with Kai's story. I am in aw of how she writes with brutal honesty and a super gentle touch.

This is a great fit starting with upper 4th graders. I have added to my library for 6th and 7th graders, and there is a line to borrow it!!! I feel that 8th graders would relate since Kai is going into the 8th grade.

I loved the way grief over the loss of a loved one was mixed with magical realism in this story. The author allowed the reader freedom to decide which parts of the myths to accept while wondering if Kai is experiencing everything he thinks he is. At the same time as he grieves, Kai is also trying to get back to his swimming prowess before he gets cut from his elite team. The difficulty of grieving as a middle grade boy and the way his dad has pulled away from him combined in his athletics in an interesting way. I think this book could be a great one to give to a middle grade reader.

This story captivated me and kept me reading all Sunday afternoon without pause. While the story itself was heartbreaking and difficult to read, there was closure and a sense of being able to move beyond the grief. Beautiful and hopeful.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Scholastic. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy, Magical Realism, Latine History, Mythology

EL NIÑO is what I call a "sad book"—because it's helping kids process emotions about big events. In this case, Kai has lost his sister and is figuring out his life after this tragedy.

I like how the magical realism is added into this book. It makes it more approachable and hopeful. I also like how Ryan gives us more insight into Latina culture. There are also some light-hearted moments to give the book balance.

Kids who want a lot of realism in their books will like this, and the kids who like fantasy will also be satisfied.

I hope you enjoy it too.

Beautiful book that is almost like two stories in one; the current story and the story of an Amazonian type Queen. Would be a great book to read with a higher elementary class to compare it to previous stories about a queen ruler. The action and pace of the story is great and the illustrations are wonderful. Would even be beneficial for some athletes to read as a team building exercise as some parts really hit home for team building.

El Niño is written by NYT best-selling author Pam Muñoz Ryan, author of Echo and Esperanza Rising. It’s a cleverly written story that weaves reality, fantasy, and myth throughout. I think the Library of Despair and Sorrow is a beautiful idea. For me, books offer an escape, and I would imagine there are kids and adults out there who will read this and escape into the story. Once read, it’s the type of book that could create wonderful discussions. This is a story about love and loss, and the reader can decide for him/herself what is real and what is not.
A special thanks to NetGalley and Scholastic for my ARC (advance reader copy).

With a creative twist to mythology and meteorology, El Nino is a gentle tale of processing grief and not losing hope when all feels lost. A story of friendship and competition with some mythos thrown in, El Nino was a really fast, enjoyable read.

I received an ARC; this is my honest review.

Kai is still grieving over the loss of his sister, Cali, two years after she disappears while surfing. Although he makes it onto the town’s prestigious swim team, his times suffer and as hard as he tries he can’t get into the groove. Then one day while swimming in the ocean he enters a magical underwater kingdom ruled by a queen who looks exactly like his sister and he is told it is up to him to protect the kingdom from Los Lobos, the evil underwater villains determined to defeat the kingdom. Ryan has done a fantastic job of melding realistic fiction with a bit of magic realism and mythology, resulting in a middle grade read that should be on everyone’s list. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of El Nino by Pam Munoz Ryan.
El Nino is a book about grief, a book about hope, and a book about finding yourself after a loss. In El Nino, Ryan mixes fantasy with realism creating two worlds that entangle the character. She does a great job melding the two that it leaves the reader wondering what is real. This is a good book to recommend to kids that need to read fantasy, but love realistic fiction.

Kai misses his sister, Cali who disappeared while surfing. Kia must navigate his grief while also working on becoming better on his competitive swimming team. There are dolphins and legends and adventure.

This is a cute story and I think kids will enjoy it. I expected there to be more of the adventure part and was left wanting but I can see how kids will enjoy this.

I will add it to my library as I can see several of my students getting really into this story.

Thanks to Net Galley and Scholastic for the DRC. All opinions are my own.

This was a beautiful story about grief and perseverance: I love the way Pam Munoz Ryan blends myths and legends into this narrative about Kai who is grieving his sister after her disappearance two years ago. This book was filled with beautiful illustrations and I think would be a good companion to Esperanza Rising as reading in elementary schools since it talks about marine animals.