This is the story of Junjun, a little boy who wants to help his mother, but who doesn’t really want to exert any effort in the process. Instead, he invokes the nonsense phrase, “rata-pata-scata-fata” to accomplish several tasks she sets before him: getting a fish for dinner, finding a lost goat, and collecting a bucket of tamarinds. Lastly, she asks him to fill the rain barrel. Junjun lies on the ground, repeats the words several times, and the chores are completed. Of course, no magic is really involved, only coincidence-or is it?
Caribbean
A Gift of Gracias: The Legend of Altagracia
After their olive crop fails, Maria fears that her family will have to abandon their farm on the new island colony. Then, one night she dreams of a mysterious beautiful lady shrouded by trees with branches hung with hundreds of little suns. They are oranges like the ones Maria’s parents once ate in their homeland, Valencia, Spain. That very day Maria and her family plant the seeds that soon yield a magnificent orange grove and save the farm. But who was the mysterious lady who appeared in her dream and will Maria ever find her again?
The Mermaid’s Twin Sister: More Stories from Trinidad
This sequel to “A Wave in Her Pocket” offers six stories based on Trinidad’s folklore, in a framework of contemporary island life.
Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates
On an island called Puerto Rico a boy named Roberto Clemente dreamed of nothing but winning at baseball. With no money–but plenty of determination–Clemente practiced on muddy fields with a glove made from a coffee sack. Little League became minor league, which turned into winter league and, finally, he made it to the major leagues! With lightning speed, towering home runs, and grand slams, Clemente introduced himself to America.
A Doll for Navidades
Las Navidades are coming. The house smells of cinnamon and coconut, crepe paper festoons the yard, and best of all, the Three Magi will soon bring presents to all the children. Esmeralda hopes they will bring her a baby doll. But instead, she receives something far more precious: she experiences firsthand the magic of giving and the power of her family’s love for her.
Dominican Republic (Cultures of the World)
“Explores the geography, history, government, economy, people, and culture of the Dominican Republic”–Provided by publisher.
Angel’s Grace
Grace has always had wild red hair like no one else in her family and a birthmark on her shoulder that her mother told her was the mark of an angel. When Grace is sent from New York to spend the summer with her grandmother in Trinidad, she looks through the family album and discovers a blurred photograph of a stranger with a birthmark — her birthmark — and Grace is full of questions. No one is able to identify the man in the photo, and Grace is left with no choice but to find out who he is and what he might mean to her. What Grace does not know is that her search will lead to a discovery about herself and her family that she never could have imagined. Tracey Baptiste’s first novel is a tender coming-of-age story set on the island of Trinidad. Angel’s Grace explores the meaning of identity and truth, and the unbreakable ties of a family bound by love.
(Paula Wiseman Books)
The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano
A lyrical biography of a Cuban slave who escaped to become a celebrated poet. Born into the household of a wealthy slave owner in Cuba in 1797, Juan Francisco Manzano spent his early years by the side of a woman who made him call her Mama, even though he had a mama of his own. Denied an education, young Juan still showed an exceptional talent for poetry. His verses reflect the beauty of his world, but they also expose its hideous cruelty. Powerful, haunting poems and breathtaking illustrations create a portrait of a life in which even the pain of slavery could not extinguish the capacity for hope.
Featured in Volume I, Issue 1 of WOW Review.
Captives
Martin and his family are enjoying a sun-filled vacation on a beautiful Caribbean island–until they are stopped at gunpoint, blindfolded, and bundled into a truck that heads for the dense forest of the island’s interior. Pushed to their physical and emotional limits as they are forced deeper into the wild terrain, the hostages come to understand something of the harsh political backdrop of life on sunny Santa Clara, and the events that have shaped the lives of their captors and fueled their actions.
Flamboyan
One sunny afternoon while everyone is resting, Flamboyan, a young girl named after the tree whose red blossoms are the same color as her hair, dreamily flies over her Caribbean island home.