Mexico

Materials from Mexico

Mystery of the Ancient Maya

Explores the advanced civilization and unsolved mysteries of the Maya who reigned for over 2000 years and then disappeared.

Isabel’s House of Butterflies

Outside her home in Michoacan, Mexico, grows eight-year-old Isabel’s greatest treasure: an oyamel tree. Every autumn, a miracle happens because Isabel’s tree is the wintering place for thousands upon thousands of monarch butterflies that migrate from the north. When they flutter down to roost, they transform Isabel’s tree into La casa de las mariposas–The House of Butterflies. But this wonder is in danger of disappearing forever. Isabel’s family is poor, and it has been a cruel, dry year for Papa’s meager crop of corn and beans. Soon, chopping down the tree to sell its wood may be the family’s only hope for survival. What will happen to the butterflies then?

Elena’s Serenade

Who ever heard of a girl glassblower? In Mexico, where the sun is called el sol and the moon is called la luna, a little girl called Elena wants to blow into a long pipe… and make bottles appear, like magic. But girls can’t be glassblowers. Or can they? Join Elena on her fantastic journey to Monterrey — home of the great glassblowers! — in an enchanting story filled with magic realism.

Americas Award For Children’s And Young Adult Literature. Commended.

The House of the Scorpion

The House of the Scorpion By Nancy Farmer is about Matthew who is a clone of El Patrón, a powerful drug lord of the land of Opium, which is located between the United States and Mexico. For six years, he has lived in a tiny cottage in the poppy fields with Celia, a kind and deeply religious servant woman who is charged with his care and safety. He knows little about his existence until he is discovered by a group of children playing in the fields and wonders why he isn’t like them. Though Matt has been spared the fate of most clones, who have their intelligence destroyed at birth, the evil inhabitants of El Patrón’s empire consider him a “beast” and an “eejit.” When El Patrón dies at the age of 146, fourteen-year-old Matt escapes Opium with the help of Celia and Tam Lin, his devoted bodyguard who wants to right his own wrongs. After a near misadventure in his escape, Matt makes his way back home and begins to rid the country of its evils.

Changes in Latitudes

Sixteen-year-old Travis is looking for a good time. A vacation in Mexico with his mother, sister, and little brother might cramp his style, but he’s willing to take that risk for a chance to cruise the beaches.Travis soon discovers that even with his headphones and shades, he can’t completely cut himself off from his family’s problems. He begins to understand why his father didn’t come with them: His mother is contemplating a divorce. Meanwhile his younger brother, Teddy, becomes increasingly obsessed with protecting some endangered sea turtles near the resort. In spite of himself, Travis is drawn into Teddy’s efforts to save the turtles. But it takes a devastating tragedy beyond his imagining to shake Travis out of his cynicism — a tragedy that will change his family forever.

On Ramon’s Farm: Five Tales of Mexico

All of Ramon’s farm animals make a unique sound as he tends to them. Every animal has its own silly story, but Ramon has the last word At the end of each one, he makes up a verse that sums up each lovable animal’s personality. Full color.

The Diving Bell

Culca longs to dive, but girls on her native island take care of the men. The divers are essential to the survival of the village as the pearls and shells they gather are used for trading. All is not well, however. When Spanish ships full of gold sink in a storm, the village divers are taken to recover the treasure, and Culca must use her nimble wits and unflagging bravery to save her brother’s life. Culca comes through as a strong female voice.

Tales of the Monkey King

The first night I went to work at the shelter, the attendant said, “You know they will not rest.” I stood in the doorway of the dormitory crowded with children. In the dark, the nightmares would come, but rest would not. Empowering Mexico’s vulnerable street children is no easy task when the dangers they face are real and many. But there is incredible strength in an unfinished story, especially if that story has a small hero who can overcome great odds. Night after night, Tales of the Monkey King, begun at dark and never finished until the next day, were precisely what the children needed. The brave little monkey, who fought against unspeakable odds but was never conquered, had come from far away to become their hero. Through him, many found the strength and courage they needed to face their living nightmares and cheat the King of Death. Stunning paintings by Brian Deines underscore the message and speak to the hero in everyone.

The Ancestors Are Singing

A collection of poems reflecting the culture, customs, daily life, and history of Mexico. Tony Johnston takes us from Mexico City to Oaxaca to Chiapas, from the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl to a shoeless boy selling newspapers, in this moving collection exuberantly illustrated by Karen Barbour.