A boy faces a ghost dog, armed only with his father’s memory. A mother must find the strength to free her mermaid daughter. A teenager stands up to her manipulative uncle, despite the consequences. A woman drowns her children and pays the ultimate price. A man must help a town learn to stave off dark forces that would steal all their children. A girl must accept her role as the protector of her people. By turns humorous, dark, exciting and thoughtful, these sixteen tales—ranging from retellings of urban legends to original explorations of the culture and mythos of northern Mexico and the US Southwest—take readers to the heart of a culture for which struggle against all odds is a way of life. The extraordinary circumstances in which the characters of these stories find themselves, the way in which each person seeks to face the mysteries of life, illuminates the weakness and strengths of all human beings.