My Land Sings: Stories from the Rio Grande - Hardcover

Anaya, Rudolfo A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688150780 ISBN 13: 9780688150785

Publisher: Morrow Junior, 1999

Synopsis

Offers middle readers a collection of ten tales of legend, myth, and adventure set in the Southwestern region of the United States.

About this title

About the Author:

Rudolfo Anaya was born in the village of Pastura, New Mexico, and was raised in Santa Rosa and Albuquerque. Formerly a professor at the University of New Mexico, Mr. Anaya is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, the Premio Quinto Sol national Chicano literary award for his novel Bless Me, Ultima, and the PEN Center West fiction award for his novel Alburquerque. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Amy Cordova is a self-taught artist who lives in the mountains of northern New Mexico. About her work, she says: "My art and writing comes from a place inside me; I want to see what feelings look like, not just images. When I draw, my pictures tell stories. Through my writing, I make pictures." Ms. Crdova has written and illustrated Abuelita's Heart and My Night Forest by Roy Owen.

From Publishers Weekly:

Haunting characters people Anaya's (The Farolitos of Christmas) collection of 10 tales in the R!o Grande valley of New Mexico. He combines five cuentos from Spanish and Native American folklore (previously published in a bilingual volume for adults) with original stories that incorporate inherited themes such as a respect for elders, the dangers of going against traditional mores and traces from an old world Roman Catholicism. In "Dulcinea," for instance, a beautiful, isolated 15-year-old from Llano Estacado sees a handsome stranger on a visit to the village and determines to meet him at a dance. Her father forbids it, saying, "Dark wind follows the stranger who has come to our village.... The devil rides the whirlwind," but she attends anyway, with life-altering results. And in "The Three Brothers," a youngest son is rewarded for his faith, while his two older brothers' selfishness is punished with eternal damnation. Anaya's preface describes sources and variations on his material, as well as the process in which he has used cuentos in his novels. While readers may be familiar with the outlines of "Lupe and la Llorona" (the crying woman), "The Shepherd Who Knew the Language of Animals" and "Coyote and Raven," a creation tale, these reworkings contain compelling twists that will keep the pages turning. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Morrow Junior
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0688150780
• ISBN 13: 9780688150785
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176
• Illustrator: Cordova Amy