ICCAL » Guatemala

The Secret Legacy

Book Importer — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:01:03 +0000

Rigoberta Menchu returns to the world of childhood in this, her third book. The novel’s seven-year-old heroine, Ixkem, is chosen to tend to the prized cornfields once her grandfather has passed away. But Ixkem isn’t sure she can accept this great responsibility. Out in the fields, she discovers a legion of tiny people, no bigger than bananas. They are b’e’n, nahuales — secret animal spirits — and when they take Ixkem into the underworld where they live, she regales them with tales of the surface. What they offer in return helps Ixkem to accept both her grandfather’s wishes for her and the fact that she must soon wish him goodbye. This moving story is rich with emotion and Mayan folklore, perfect to captivate any young reader.

Red Midnight

Book Importer — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:01:02 +0000

When guerrilla soldiers strike Santiago’s village, they shoot at everyone in their path. Dos Vías is on fire, and the night glows red. “Take the cayuco and sail to the United States of America. Now go!” Santiago’s uncle Ramos tells him, and Santiago, twelve, and his four-year-old sister, Angelina, flee.

With a map, a machete, and very little food, Santiago and Angelina set sail in their uncle Ramos’s sea kayak, built for just such an escape, but not for a sailor who is only a boy. Santiago heads for the United States on a voyage that will take them through narrow channels guarded by soldiers, shark, infested waters, and days of painful heat and raging storms. Santiago knows that he and Angelina probably will die trying to make the voyage, but they certainly will die at the hands of rebels or government soldiers if they do not try.

Imagining Isabel: 9

Book Importer — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:01:02 +0000

The sequel to Among the Volcanoes portrays the intellectual and political transformation of a young Mayan woman who leaves her Guatemalan village to attend a special program for teachers.

Abuela’s Weave

Yoo Kyung Sung — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:17:33 +0000

A Guatemalan story about intergenerational trust, love, and independence, this book introduces children to the culture of Guatemala through the story of a little girl selling her grandmother’s beautiful weaving at the public market. Illustrated throughout with paintings of authentic Guatemalan scenery, giving life to the country’s radiant landscape and bustling city streets.

Mama & Papa Have a Store

Yoo Kyung Sung — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:17:33 +0000

A young girl tells about a day in her family’s store and home in Guatemala City. Every day customers of many heritages—speaking Spanish, Chinese, and Mayan—come to buy cloth, buttons, and thread in colors like parrot green and mango yellow, and dozens of other items. While the girl’s parents and their friends talk about their hometown in China from where they emigrated many years ago, she and her siblings play games on the rooftop terrace, float paper boats, and make shadow puppets under the glow of flashlights. When the store closes, the girl dances to celebrate her day. Amelia Lau Carling’s thoroughly American children loved her childhood stories about Guatemala so much that she wrote them down for others.

The Well of Sacrifice