Americas

Materials from the Americas

Journey for Peace: The Story of Rigoberta Menchu

The winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize, Rigoberta Menchu is a poor, uneducated Mayan woman who has helped her native people fight oppression in Guatemala and who has told the world about their suffering. Part of the Rainbow Biography series, the account is quiet, but it tells of violence and poverty and amazing courage. Beginning with Menchu’s childhood as a field laborer, her personal story is woven together with that of her Indian people and their harsh dislocation at the hands of the landowners and the brutal army. Her father was imprisoned, tortured, and finally murdered for his leadership role in the resistance; so were her mother and her brothers and sisters. Yet, like her father, she has led her people in nonviolent resistance and has given them a voice.

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.

Amazon Basin: Vanishing Cultures

This photo-essay by Jan Reynolds offers a rare glimpse into the life of the Yanomama of the Amazon Basin.The award-winning Vanishing Cultures seven-book series, now available again in beautiful, updated editions. Features photographic accounts of children from indigenous cultures around the world to explore their daily lives, relationships with their environments, and challenges in a changing world.

Spirit of the Maya: A Boy Explores His People’s Mysterious Past

Kin, a 12-year-old Lacando boy living in a Mexican town, is descended from the ancient Maya. Wearing contemporary clothing yet sporting the style of long hair traditional to his people, he is clearly rooted in both the past and the present. After his grandfather shows him a book about Pacal, a Maya who became king in 615 A.D. when he was 12, Kin eagerly accompanies his father to the site of Pacal’s tomb. The boy “feels a twinge of sadness” watching his father sell his handmade replicas of Maya hunting arrows to tourists “at the gates of the great city that his ancestors once ruled.” Kin explores the Maya ruins and locates Pacal’s tomb, but afterwards he feels lonely and distant from his ancestors. Then, on the ride home, he has an improbably sudden change of attitude when he spies a statue of the king. All at once Kin realizes that he and Pacal are “brothers” and, for the first time in his life, Kin “knows how it feels to be a king.”

Rex Zero, King of Nothing

In 1962 Ottawa, 11-year-old Rex Norton-Norton faces several confusing mysteries, including his father’s troubling secrets from World War II, the problems of a beautiful but unhappy woman named Natasha, what to do about his mean and vindictive teacher, and whether or not he should even be concerned about these things.

I Love Saturdays y Domingos

Saturdays and Sundays are very special days for the child in this story. On Saturdays, she visits Grandma and Grandpa, who come from a European-American background, and on Sundays — los domingos — she visits Abuelito y Abuelita, who are Mexican-American. While the two sets of grandparents are different in many ways, they also have a great deal in common — in particular, their love for their granddaughter. While we follow our narrator to the circus and the pier, share stories from her grandparents’ pasts, and celebrate her birthday, the depth and joy of both cultures are conveyed in Spanish and English. This affirmation of both heritages will speak to all children who want to know more about their own families and ethnic backgrounds.

Awards
Americas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, Commended

Light Foot/Pies Ligeros

Once upon a time no creatures on Earth died. But they had baby after baby, and before long the world grew crowded. Death decided to solve the problem by challenging everyone to a skip-rope contest — as an immortal, Death won every time, and one by one everyone succumbed to her dare. Soon, every living being knew Death. This intriguing fable is based on Francisco Toledo’s series of engravings of Death, a dominant figure in Mexican culture. Toledo, the heir to the great generation of Mexican artists that included Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, has imaginatively explored this integral part of life, and his entrancing images are matched by poetic text from his wife Natalia.

Bravo, Tavo!

Tavo, named for his father Gustavo, plays basketball so much that his sneakers are worn out. His father is too worried about the drought afflicting their small village to focus on replacing them. Gustavo thinks he can solve the water shortage, but the other villagers say he’s crazy. Tavo puts aside basketball to help prove his father right. In return, something miraculous happens to his sneakers, and he’s the hero of the next game. Did the magic come from his shoes, or was it in his heart all along? Brian Meunier’s outstanding storytelling makes this a captivating read-aloud, while Perky Edgerton’s extraordinary paintings make it a visual treat.

Ten Old Men and a Mouse

The synagogue was once a busy, bustling place, but now only ten old men come to tend it and pray each day. Then one day, a little scritch-scratch betrays the first new member in years: a tiny mouse who has taken up residence among the holy books. Of course, a trap must be set, but who will do it? Al volunteers, but in the morning the mouse is still there, and is just a little more appealing than he was before. Day after day, the men become more engaged, until the mouse has a bed, pictures on the wall, and a little carpet, not to mention all the treats the men bring. Then comes the biggest surprise of all. He is a she, giving the ten old men reason to celebrate with peach schnapps — and to plan a trip to the country where they find the perfect place to release their numerous charges. Back at the synagogue, fall turns to winter. The ten old men miss their mice until a little scritch-scratch returns.