Sia Martinez is an unexpected journey into the mysteries of the universe

Sia Martinez follows a young girl unraveling a complex mystery as she grieves for her mother, falls in love, and thrives in a small Bordertown.

Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland follows a young girl unraveling a complex mystery as she grieves for her mother, falls in love, and survives and thrives as a Mexican American teenager in a small Arizona Bordertown in Trump’s America.

At the beginning of the book, Sia is full of anger but trying to move on with the defining incident of her life: her mother’s deportation. It’s hard to move on, though, when she’s confronted with that loss every day, going to school with the son of the sheriff who called ICE on her mom.

Right when Sia seems to be getting her feet back under her, a new boy shows up at her sacred, hidden place in the desert. When they’re paired together for a science project, the secrets and desire between them threaten to blow Sia’s life apart, including her relationship with her best friend.

And then there are the blue lights. Sia keeps seeing mysterious blue lights in the sky at night, which get closer and closer, until they finally crash down right next to her in the form of a spaceship with a shocking visitor inside.

From there, the novel makes a surprising left turn from a quiet, coming-of-age story about grief, romance, and friendship into a fast-paced thriller. It’s a delightful trick that works only by weaving together both parts of Sia’s discovery of the hidden worlds of the universe.

It’s an impressive novel, the author’s first breakout from poetry into fiction. Vasquez Gilliland weaves a complex plot with impressive dexterity, flexing her skills as a poet with phrases that illustrate dancing cacti in the desert that “spin and turn and dip like they were in love” and whispered blessings from deceased abuelas.

At its heart, Sia Martinez is about the lived experience of a Mexican American in a rural American town. In the midst of government conspiracies, romance, heartbreak, and high school, the book never forgets who Sia is or what she faces in the world at large.

In the book’s most thrilling and heartbreaking moments, it keeps Sia grounded with passages like:

"“When rumors came out that migrant children were being taken from their mamis, their papis, put in cages like zoo animals, with no windows, and for days at a time, no food, the white people couldn’t believe it. I guess when your skin is light enough, you get to cast the benefit of the doubt like a spell or something. I bet it helps them sleep easy at night, that white witchcraft.”"

These moments never overwhelm the reader, but they remind us of what is at stake for Sia beyond the immediate otherworldly threats — and for all of the very real people she represents beyond the page.

This is what makes Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything work so well. In the midst of all the beautiful magical realism, it always feels true.

Magic dances on each page of Sia Martinez, along with love, heartbreak, and so much more. It’s a book unlike any other, one that even if you know how it ends, you’ll still be surprised.

Will you be adding Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything to your reading list? Tell us in the comments below!