Xolo: How One Good Dog/God Saved Humankind
by Donna Barba Higuera; illus. by Mariana Ruiz Johnson
Intermediate    Levine/Levine Querido    224 pp.
11/25    9781646147021    $19.99

Newbery Medalist (for The Last Cuentista, rev. 9/21) Higuera upends the traditional narrative of Quetzalcoatl as hero to tell the story of Xolo, the dog-headed Aztec god of “lightning, death, and misfortune” and Quetzalcoatl’s twin. Long ago, when the Earth stopped spinning and humanity was destroyed, the gods swooped down to choose different elements, such as the oceans and the sky. Xolo chooses lightning, hoping to get his brother’s attention, but Quetzalcoatl ignores him. Eventually, the outcast Xolo is banished to the Underworld, where he summons the courage to steal the bones of humanity from the self-anointed god of the Underworld, Mictlantecuhtli. Although Xolo saves humanity—and, because he sacrifices one of his claws in the attempt, is also responsible for creating “man’s best friend”—he receives no credit. Xolo grapples with a poignant question from his mother, Chimalma: “Is it more important that others witness something grandiose?…Or, to do something quietly magnificent, that none will ever know?” Johnson’s colorful illustrations draw inspiration from the Codex Borgia, with sharp lines and deeply saturated colors. Xolo’s engaging first-person narrative explores themes of sibling rivalry, courage, and self-acceptance. Appended with author and illustrator notes.

From the January/February 2026 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.