This is a cuento, a story about magic, love, hope, and treasure. If you read this under the glow of the moo or by the light of the summer sun, listen for whispers in any breeze that passes by. Then close your eyes and let the cuento take you to where magic still exists and spells of fear and hope are told through the heart of the storyteller.
Jennifer Cervantes’ Tortilla Sun certainly captures the atmosphere of a small village in New Mexico. The plot didn’t really grab me, but I did like the setting and the many, many vivid descriptions of the Southwest.
“I followed her past the long tables and into the sky-blue kitchen. Dried flowers and plants hung in tied bunches from the ceiling, making the kitchen smell like a freshly lit cranberry candle.”
“Two French doors opened to a walled courtyard with a brightly painted yellow and purple fountain.”
“The whole yard smelled of Mexican spices and roses.”
“We made our way through a small courtyard, where pink geraniums hung over the sides of terracotta pots lining the walkway. Above the bright turquoise door was a small painted tile that read Mi casa es su casa.”
“Beyond the village, the Albuquerque lights flickered like a thousand tiny twinkling stars. A distant howl flew on the edge of an approaching wind; withn seconds it had found us on the mesa. It whipped around, loosening Nana’s bun and then descended into the village below, gliding like a ghost.”
Can’t you just imagine yourself in a New Mexico village with the adobe houses and the flowers and the wind whistling through the trees and the smells of chili powder and comino (cumin) and candles burning?
I grew up in West Texas, and I had Hispanic friends who lived in houses like those in this book and whose mothers and grandmothers made tortillas and empanadas and other comidas muy deliciosas. Reading Tortilla Sun took me back. The story of a girl trying to reconnect with her dead father and New Mexico, Hispanic roots was OK, but somewhat predictable; however, if you have ties to New Mexico or to Hispanic culture or just want to read a story evocative of those ties and that cultural experience, Tortilla Sun is worth finding and reading and savoring.
And there’s a recipe in the back of the book for homemade tortillas that I may try. I won’t give you the long version of the story of the last and and only time I tried to make tortillas, twenty-five years ago, but I called the experience The Great Tortilla Battle. Maybe Ms. Cervantes’ recipe would, like her prose, cause something magical to happen and transform my tortillas into something edible.
More good books for children and young adults set in New Mexico:
The King’s Fifth by Scott O’Dell. Esteban is accused of withholding the fifth of the treasure that by law belongs to the King of Spain in this adventure set during the time of of the Spanish conquistadors and the search for gold and for the city of Cibola. YA
Josefina books by Valerie Tripp. Set in 1824, these six books in the American Girl series tell about Josefina, a Hispanic girl growing up on a ranch in New Mexico.
The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, New Mexico, 1864 (Dear America) by Ann Warren Turner
And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold. Miguel is the son of a sheep rancher who longs to join the men as they take the sheep to summer camp in the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Krumgold’s book won a Newbery Medal in 1954, and it is deserving of that recognition. However, you’ll have to slow down and savor the descriptions and the details to enjoy the story.
The Staircase by Ann Rinaldi. 13 year old Methodist Lizzie, left by her father in a convent school in Santa Fe, is confused by the Catholic teachings and the culture of the all-girls school. But she is able to help the nuns and the girls find a carpenter to build a much-needed staircase for the convent’s new chapel. YA
The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork. Semicolon review here. Definitely YA or adult.
Well, I grew up in S. Texas and so I’d probably find one or two reasons to identify with this book.
Homemade tortillas…………YUM! A friend taught me how to make them and so I left Texas with the knowledge. But I’ve since forgotten as it has been a LONG TIME since i’ve made them. NOTHING beats a homemade tortilla. NOTHING!
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