@gabyavelasquez: 'Sundust' brings desert magic and imagination to life in Zeke Peña’s debut book As the sun sets at Three Hills Loop Trail in West El Paso, the Chihuahuan Desert sky changes colors, the same desert that inspired Zeke Peña’s first book. The work of Peña, a Chicano author and illustrator, has always been about storytelling, whether through speech bubbles in comics or scenes filled with symbolism. "I think that story is just really important to us as people," Peña said. "Because it's so important to our culture. And for generations, the way that we pass things down, whether it's a recipe on how to cook something or it's stories about your antepasados, your grandparents or your great grandparents." Until "Sundust," Peña had primarily illustrated other authors’ words, bringing their stories to life visually with vibrant colors. His work includes the New York Times bestselling book "Miles Morales: Spider-Man" by Jason Reynolds, and he received awards for his illustrations in "My Papi Has a Motorcycle" (2019) and "Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide" (2017). Peña's debut book, "Sundust," was released on Aug. 5. The story follows a brother and sister as they play on the trail, the same desert where Peña grew up exploring with his sister. "Every day we would come out and play in the desert," Peña said. "And I think it's always just given me this really strong sense of place and this strong sense of home. I kind of just wanted to share that with young people. And so the book kind of centers a lot around belonging and where we come from." The children encounter desert plants and wildlife as they follow a trail of sundust, letting their imaginations run wild with only one thing able to call them home: their mom’s "chifle." "When I was younger, when we were playing around here, we'd be pretty far from our house," Peña said. "Our house was kind of a ways from here. And so after, when the sun was setting, the sky was all beautiful or whatever, and my mom would whistle really loud, a really loud chifle, to call us home." #ElPaso #ElPasoTimes #BookTok #books #desert

Gaby A. Velasquez

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Sunday 17 August 2025 14:14:22 GMT