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Bone Street Rumba
Ginga
From the world of Daniel José Older's immensely popular Bone Street Rumba series comes a Tor.com Original short story, "Ginga."
Between her obscenely muscular new capoeira teacher, her crush going off with a new girl in their favorite park, and trigonometry homework, Kia figures she has enough going on without some creepy ghost causing car crashes and hit-and-runs in her neighborhood. Carlos Delacruz, the half-dead half-resurrected soulcatcher for the New York Council of the Dead, would love to keep her out of it, but things don't usually go the way he intends.
Between her obscenely muscular new capoeira teacher, her crush going off with a new girl in their favorite park, and trigonometry homework, Kia figures she has enough going on without some creepy ghost causing car crashes and hit-and-runs in her neighborhood. Carlos Delacruz, the half-dead half-resurrected soulcatcher for the New York Council of the Dead, would love to keep her out of it, but things don't usually go the way he intends.
28 pages, ebook
First published May 20, 2015
4 people are currently reading
238 people want to read
About the author
Daniel José Older
179 books1,967 followersDaniel José Older is the New York Times bestselling author of the Young Adult series the Shadowshaper Cypher (Scholastic), the Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series (Penguin), and the upcoming Middle Grade sci-fi adventure Flood City (Scholastic). He won the International Latino Book Award and has been nominated for the Kirkus Prize, the Mythopoeic Award, the Locus Award, the Andre Norton Award, and yes, the World Fantasy Award. Shadowshaper was named one of Esquire’s 80 Books Every Person Should Read. You can find his thoughts on writing, read dispatches from his decade-long career as an NYC paramedic and hear his music at http://danieljoseolder.net/, on youtube and @djolder on twitter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
December 14, 2015
Nice urban fantasy short story! It starts pretty normal and unfolds (with success) the paranormal background one step at a time.
There are two points of view, one male, the other female, facing some paranormal events. As they are surrounded by some colorful minor protagonists, from both genders too, the character part seemed well balanced. Because the story is interesting and well paced, with humor and suspense, it was an easy and pleasant reading. My only complaint here is the bad language, I don't use it by choice, so I'm not really happy when I've to read it so much.
There are two points of view, one male, the other female, facing some paranormal events. As they are surrounded by some colorful minor protagonists, from both genders too, the character part seemed well balanced. Because the story is interesting and well paced, with humor and suspense, it was an easy and pleasant reading. My only complaint here is the bad language, I don't use it by choice, so I'm not really happy when I've to read it so much.
June 10, 2021
This novelette reads very much like it's the origin story for a longer work. It's pacy and zips along, and the use of language is great. I find myself less interested in the supernatural stuff than the everyday characters, though - Kia is certainly more interesting to me than Carlos, and I much prefer the parts of the story where the focus is on her. Although, given the ending, it appears that Kia is going to be confronted with the supernatural a lot more often in the future...
March 16, 2021
Best Part :
Kia:“What about the kids?”
“You wanna ask ’em?” Karina stands and makes a pretend megaphone with her hands. “WHAT WE GON’ DO WHEN THE REVOLUTION COME?”
An eerie choir of high-pitched voices rises in the night around me.
“Burn them houses and kill them sons!”
I boggle at Karina. “What the hell is that?”
Kia:“What about the kids?”
“You wanna ask ’em?” Karina stands and makes a pretend megaphone with her hands. “WHAT WE GON’ DO WHEN THE REVOLUTION COME?”
An eerie choir of high-pitched voices rises in the night around me.
“Burn them houses and kill them sons!”
I boggle at Karina. “What the hell is that?”
August 1, 2021
if for nothing else read this book to understand the context of this passage:
“What about the kids?”
“You wanna ask ’em?” Karina stands and makes a pretend megaphone with
her hands. “WHAT WE GON’ DO WHEN THE REVOLUTION COME?”
An eerie choir of high-pitched voices rises in the night around me. “Burn
them houses and kill them sons!”
“What about the kids?”
“You wanna ask ’em?” Karina stands and makes a pretend megaphone with
her hands. “WHAT WE GON’ DO WHEN THE REVOLUTION COME?”
An eerie choir of high-pitched voices rises in the night around me. “Burn
them houses and kill them sons!”
July 5, 2017
Um conto curtinho e uma escrita cheia de personalidade. A trama é muito, muito simples — parece inclusive um excerto de algo maior. Faz parte de um universo já experimentado do Daniel José Older, então acho que faz bastante sentido a impressão que boa parte do conto é apresentação de universo e de personagens. Mas o conto é SUPER competente nessas duas coisas — os personagens são ótimos, a mitologia é interessante e as descrições de ambientação são muito vívidas. Os diálogos são geniais e as falas são bem marcadas com regionalismo, maneirismos, gírias. Geralmente isso me incomoda, mas você vê desde o começo que a identidade dos personagens tem uma importância muito grande pro autor e pra própria história, então tudo soa muito adequado e até necessário. Bônus maravilhoso: os personagens são todos bem diversos e o final traz uma (inesperada, mas MUITO coerente) mensagem social. Fiquei com vontade de ler todas as outras publicações do autor agora mesmo (especialmente depois de ler as sinopses).
March 16, 2017
But what about the little kid with ghost handprints on him? What happened with that plot line?
June 10, 2015
I don't read much urban fantasy - and when I do, I've preferred those set in London to those in the US - but reading "Ginga" reminded me of why I probably ought to read more. Certainly, I'm interested in checking out Older's Bone Street Rumba series (although I'd be more interested if the books were about Kia, rather than Carlos). It appears that Older deals with the realities of living in an urban environment through the supernatural - and, indeed, the difficulty of defending oneself against the supernatural as a black teenager - in a deeply engaging way. "Ginga" reads more like an introduction or pilot than a short story, so I hope that Older plans on incorporating Kia (and her friends) into future books in that series. Also, like Carlos I'd never heard of Capoeira before reading this story; it's great to learn something when reading.
May 20, 2015
This features the same character as Kia and Gio, also on Tor.com. I think this one is more of an origin story for something larger, which I will now be searching out.
May 22, 2015
Kia is not to be trifled with! This has me anxious to get my hands on Midnight Taxi Tango.
November 27, 2019
A short story that manages to showcase friendships, with satirical and realistic social commentary.
Half-dead ghost hunter Carlos Delacruz has been sent by the New York Council of the Dead to investigate and capture the entity that is behind a string of 'accidents' in and around Von King Park.
Kia, an intelligent teenager finds her ginga when she needs it most and explains to her friend Carlos why she is and will be profiled differently if caught with a weapon, even if it is for protection.
Older does a great job in highlighting in so short a story the racial construct in society, all while weaving an interesting ghost story.
Half-dead ghost hunter Carlos Delacruz has been sent by the New York Council of the Dead to investigate and capture the entity that is behind a string of 'accidents' in and around Von King Park.
Kia, an intelligent teenager finds her ginga when she needs it most and explains to her friend Carlos why she is and will be profiled differently if caught with a weapon, even if it is for protection.
Older does a great job in highlighting in so short a story the racial construct in society, all while weaving an interesting ghost story.
April 5, 2021
Ginga is a spirit Brazilians are born with; it's a walk, a talk, a way of life, and a vital ingredient to being Brazilian
"Ginga" is a short story, freely available on Tor.com, set in the diverse NYC urban fantasy world of Bone Street Rumba. This one is my favorite so far. Going to find the full-length novels now.....
"Ginga" is a short story, freely available on Tor.com, set in the diverse NYC urban fantasy world of Bone Street Rumba. This one is my favorite so far. Going to find the full-length novels now.....
May 24, 2017
Wow. This story made me smile so many times. As a brooklynite I loved recognizing the places mentioned in the short story. As the niece of a once botanica store owner, I was ecstatic. This could totally be made into a short film. This is the first book I have read by Older and now am ready to read everything else by him.
November 24, 2020
🌟⭐ 9 out of 10 ⭐🌟
Real fun and hold lots of potential! Will gladly read if there's full length novel of this. Highly recommended.
Keywords: novelette, urban fantasy, paranormal, ghost, capoeira
LRTC
Real fun and hold lots of potential! Will gladly read if there's full length novel of this. Highly recommended.
Keywords: novelette, urban fantasy, paranormal, ghost, capoeira
LRTC
November 24, 2017
This was a cool, fun little novella. I would definitely like to read more in this world.
January 3, 2020
That was a great little novella in an urban fantasy setting that I was already a fan of, but I think it would be a fun ride for anyone.
December 15, 2016
Older does a great job building a diverse and compelling world and characters in such a short story. The way Older describes the city is beautiful, even with the roughness that comes with living in a city. The way Older ties in descriptive imagery with a character's point of view does a great job of setting the mood throughout the plot.
I find new life in each moment like this: the midnight brownstones breezing past me, the siren song of something foul dragging me forward.
This work not only has an exciting, fantastical story, but it also brings up socially relevant issues such as Black Rights. Sometimes these little opinions could come off as irrelevant and can seem like the author just slapped it on for kicks. However, Older does a great job of making it part of a normal conversation and it didn't seem out of place. It was a great way of raising the issue, and giving Black characters their own point of view was a definite plus.
“Y’all brown folks don’t get got like us, C. You might get ya ass beat for being brown, especially gray-ass brown like you. But I’m black. Ain’t no kinda ambiguous either. Unambigously black. They shoot us for having a wallet or a sandwich or just walking down the street, how Imma roll with a medieval-ass ghost killing-ass dagger?”
This short story is a great way to see Older's prowess over urban fantasy stories, and I'll definitely look up more from him.
I find new life in each moment like this: the midnight brownstones breezing past me, the siren song of something foul dragging me forward.
This work not only has an exciting, fantastical story, but it also brings up socially relevant issues such as Black Rights. Sometimes these little opinions could come off as irrelevant and can seem like the author just slapped it on for kicks. However, Older does a great job of making it part of a normal conversation and it didn't seem out of place. It was a great way of raising the issue, and giving Black characters their own point of view was a definite plus.
“Y’all brown folks don’t get got like us, C. You might get ya ass beat for being brown, especially gray-ass brown like you. But I’m black. Ain’t no kinda ambiguous either. Unambigously black. They shoot us for having a wallet or a sandwich or just walking down the street, how Imma roll with a medieval-ass ghost killing-ass dagger?”
This short story is a great way to see Older's prowess over urban fantasy stories, and I'll definitely look up more from him.
July 23, 2015
Ginga
One of the latest releases from Daniel José Older's Rumba Street Series's universe - Ginga delivers Older's usual savory poetics and rhythmic writing, and like some of the other shorts has a slightly experimental feel to it - that is if you've read Half-Dead Resurrection, Anyway: Angie, and Kia and Gio already.
Having read everything else from Older I could get my hands on, I was a little disappointed with this title's ending. After Kia and Gio, you would think Kia would be more understanding and prepared for what happens in Ginga - but perhaps I read them out of order? And for those who read Salsa Nocturna before this title will also wonder what happened to the characters we met there, where are they and what are they doing during the events of Ginga? I'm sure everything will tie in soon, and I'm just being impatient, but I couldn't help waiting for some kind of explanation with every page flip. But maybe that was the plan.
While I've made my complaints, this is another good read for anyone who's read any of Older's other Rumba Street titles and loves their world.
One of the latest releases from Daniel José Older's Rumba Street Series's universe - Ginga delivers Older's usual savory poetics and rhythmic writing, and like some of the other shorts has a slightly experimental feel to it - that is if you've read Half-Dead Resurrection, Anyway: Angie, and Kia and Gio already.
Having read everything else from Older I could get my hands on, I was a little disappointed with this title's ending. After Kia and Gio, you would think Kia would be more understanding and prepared for what happens in Ginga - but perhaps I read them out of order? And for those who read Salsa Nocturna before this title will also wonder what happened to the characters we met there, where are they and what are they doing during the events of Ginga? I'm sure everything will tie in soon, and I'm just being impatient, but I couldn't help waiting for some kind of explanation with every page flip. But maybe that was the plan.
While I've made my complaints, this is another good read for anyone who's read any of Older's other Rumba Street titles and loves their world.
May 31, 2015
This is a short story set in the world of Daniel Jose' Older's immensely popular Bone Street Rumba series. This is the second story set in this world I read, and while the first was just OK, this is quite good. It is entertaining and it touches interesting themes like xenophobia.
This is the story of Kia, developing a crush for obscenely muscular new capoeira teacher, while her previous crush starts going off with a new girl in their favorite park. Kia figures she has enough going on without some creepy ghost causing car crashes and hit-and-runs in her neighborhood. Carlos Delacruz, the half-dead half-resurrected soulcatcher for the New York Council of the Dead, would love to keep her out of it, but things don't usually go the way he intends.
This is the story of Kia, developing a crush for obscenely muscular new capoeira teacher, while her previous crush starts going off with a new girl in their favorite park. Kia figures she has enough going on without some creepy ghost causing car crashes and hit-and-runs in her neighborhood. Carlos Delacruz, the half-dead half-resurrected soulcatcher for the New York Council of the Dead, would love to keep her out of it, but things don't usually go the way he intends.
coletâneas-coletados
January 10, 2025Li aqui, marquei lido aqui: Some of the Best from Tor.com, 2015 edition.
Gostei muito da ideia de pessoas meio mortas trabalhando pra esse Conselho de Mortos. Gosto muito da escrita do Daniel José Older, é muito imersiva e as descrições fazem imagens muito boas na minha cabeça.
Gostei muito da ideia de pessoas meio mortas trabalhando pra esse Conselho de Mortos. Gosto muito da escrita do Daniel José Older, é muito imersiva e as descrições fazem imagens muito boas na minha cabeça.
July 7, 2015
This was a great introduction to the world of the Bone Street Rumba series, and gave me a taste of this author’s style. When the feisty Kia encounters a nasty ghost, she’ll need the help of Carlos Delacruz, the half-dead half-resurrected soulcatcher to take it down. I liked Kia’s attitude and her teenaged concerns, such as homework and boys, and how well she accepts what needs to be done when it comes to the creepy ghost.
February 21, 2016
I love this re-introduction to Kia.
In "Half-Resurrection Blues", where we are first introduced to Kia, it left me wanting for it's handling of the women characters. In short story "Ginga", we see Kia open up as a strong, fully realized character, in her hopes and failures, pride and shame, taking a step up to the next level. You think to yourself: 'So this is how it begins...'
Daniel Jose Older is a treat to read, whatever my criticisms are. He has the beloved NYC heart rhythm down.
In "Half-Resurrection Blues", where we are first introduced to Kia, it left me wanting for it's handling of the women characters. In short story "Ginga", we see Kia open up as a strong, fully realized character, in her hopes and failures, pride and shame, taking a step up to the next level. You think to yourself: 'So this is how it begins...'
Daniel Jose Older is a treat to read, whatever my criticisms are. He has the beloved NYC heart rhythm down.
June 22, 2016
Meh...
This was an ok read for me. For some reason I couldn't connect with any of the characters and I couldn't form a mental image of how they would look. Things could have used a little more in depth description, but that's the challenge of short stories. Trying to described things in great detail without making things too lengthy. I like the fantasy aspect of the story though.
This was an ok read for me. For some reason I couldn't connect with any of the characters and I couldn't form a mental image of how they would look. Things could have used a little more in depth description, but that's the challenge of short stories. Trying to described things in great detail without making things too lengthy. I like the fantasy aspect of the story though.
September 11, 2015
One of 2 short stories available (for free! go read it!) on Tor.com from the perspective of Kia, who'll be one of the narrators in Older's Midnight Taxi Tango. I can't wait.
May 24, 2015
I really enjoyed an urban fantasy set in an actual urban environment as it exists in our world. I'm intrigued by the world hinted at here and I totally fell hard for Kia. She's such an interesting character, I want to know more!
April 26, 2016
A very nice novella set in the world of Midnight Taxi Tango and Half Resurrection Blues. It alternates POV between Kia and Carlos from HRB and may be the opening of MTT (at least the first paragraphs seem to be the same). I'll find out when I get (and get to) MTT.
May 6, 2016
I like the story but this can't be the same Kia from "Kia and Gio". This Kia doesn't talk the same nor does she seem to have the same history as the Kia from the short story. The change left me a little confused not that there's anything wrong with this Kia, she's interesting and has spunk.
August 14, 2016
Perfect little novella for those of us who can't get enough of Carlos and Kia. Smart, sassy street lingo and a series of bizarre deaths combine to make this a sweet read. Truthfully, I love Carlos' half-dead ass. If you haven't read Half-Resurrection Blues yet, shame on you!
May 31, 2015
Kia is my favorite.
August 8, 2015
Kia is, hands-down, one of my favorite characters in this universe.
January 15, 2016
This is not a standalone short story, but rather an excerpt from the starting pages of Midnight Taxi Tango. Very disappointed.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews