Announcing my second book, “The Boy, The Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon”
I joyfully announce my second book, The Boy, The Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate The Moon. This middle-grade spirited-away fantasy celebrates the unwavering Filipino faith, our humorous superstitions, terrifying lore, and a look into our natural calamities. Set in the fictional town of Santo Cristo, meet a community whose hearts are forged by hope and fear—haunted by a nightmarish mountain that loom above them—and a boy about to brave the cursed night.
If you have found Marikit and the Ocean of Stars imaginatively vibrant and sparkling, this time, you must cover your eyes. There is no color here, only dread. And I must tell you, I do not relish telling stories that harrow up the heart—it pains me to do so—but there’s a shining blessing to it. Here in the dark, we pick up the things that truly shine. Those tiny glimmers that illuminate our spirits and whispers to our ears, “Go on. Hope is not lost.” The night is when we realize we carry a sun in our hearts. Ferocious and unstoppable. Our souls become radiant where there is courage and hope, and I hope the young readers glean those lessons.
I wrote this story in 2021, in the middle of the pandemic. Please do not worry, this is not a COVID-19 story. The inspiration for this was mostly from the monsters my editor, Trisha de Guzman, and I talked about when we had that first phone call. A sequel for Marikit was uncertain, but I wanted to write more of our myths, more of our Engkantos. And so, I pulled some of our favorite lore and jammed them into a large mason jar of joy and defeat, of spine-tingling silence, of more uncertainties.
Grief was a prominent emotion here, because in 2021, many of us were mourning. Many of us lost someone. Many of us cried in sorrow yet unable to change our circumstances. We couldn’t even get out of our house to comfort our loved ones suffering. All we could do was move forward, in that long, seemingly hopeless tunnel.
All of us endured a lot.
The characters in The Boy, The Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate The Moon also endured a lot. Here, we meet Bayani, our headstrong boy standing tall for his age, yet carried the responsibility of looking after his younger sister Isay—a similarly strong-willed, selfish girl—and Aaron, who was the least courageous of them all. Together, they wander into a place past familiar, left with nothing but the candles in their hands, and the choice to break the curse without falling into the Night.
This is the book of my sorrow, and the book of my hope. I pray that when you read it, you not only acknowledge the many layers of darkness that surround us, but also the little shining light you bear in your heart. And that light can make a difference. Please hold it out, bravely, boldly, for the world to see, and may it remind others to keep shining, too.
The Boy, the Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon will be out on July 1, 2025.
Magliwanag ka.
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