Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa

Everything in twelve-year-old Pilar Violeta “Purp” Ramirez’s world is changing, and Pilar doesn’t care for it, not one bit. Her Logan Square neighborhood is gentrifying, her responsibilities at home seem to have doubled since her sister Lorena moved down to the University of Chicago, and to top it all off? Her best friend Celeste just moved to Milwaukee, right before they were going to make “Purp” catch on as a nickname at school. In fact, it seems like the only thing that isn’t changing is Abuela and Mami’s code of silence around her cousin Natasha—who disappeared in the Dominican Republic fifty years before Pilar was born—and their lives under the Trujillo regime.

So, when Pilar, a budding filmmaker, gets word that there’s a new professor at the University of Chicago who studies disappearances under the Trujillato, she’s off on the train immediately. Only when she arrives, the professor is nowhere to be found. While looking around the papers stacked in his office, Pilar finds a folder with her cousin’s name on it. When she opens it, all that’s inside is a single blank sheet of paper. Then, she literally falls into it.

Pilar finds herself on Zafa—an island of Dominican myths and magic; where a girl matching Natasha’s description is imprisoned, alongside many others. Aided by Carmen—a mysterious girl—and four magical sisters, Pilar will have to face the Dominican boogeyman and his many minions if she has any hope of freeing Natasha and getting back home.

In March 2022, PILAR was featured in Buzzfeed Books, “Here Are All The Books We Read And Loved That Come Out This Month.”

“Nonstop action and plenty of heart create a story worth escaping into.”

– Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

“Fusing a vibrant, self-assured narrative voice; subtly wrought intergenerational concerns; and rich, Dominican-inspired worldbuilding, Randall creates an undeniable page-turner.”

– Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“…Seamlessly intertwines the magic of Spirited Away and the danger of Jumanji with Dominican history and myth. PILAR is fierce, honest, and funny, a heroine readers are sure to love.”

– School Library Journal (Starred Review)