The following text is adapted from Pam Muñoz Ryan’s 2020 novel Mañanaland. In the village where Max lives, there is an old fortress called La Reina. Children in the village say that the fortress is haunted.

For as long as he could remember, Max had begged Papá [his father] to take him to see La Reina and the ruins up close. He’d be a hero among his friends if he was the first boy to cross the haunted gates! Just because Papá didn’t believe in ghosts didn’t mean they weren’t there. Maybe this summer Papá would finally take him. He was almost twelve.

©2020 by Pam Muñoz Ryan