Teresa of the New World
In 1528 Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca is among three hundred Spaniards who undertake a treasure hunt in La Florida. Instead, they find disease, starvation, and hostile Indians, and the decimated crew is cast away near Galveston. Eight years later, four ragged survivors stumble across Spanish slavers near the Gulf of Baja, California.
The shipwrecked De Vaca was rescued by Indian tribes on the Texas coast. In Teresa of the New World, he becomes a father there. Teresa has seen but four winters when de Vaca picks up his little girl and sets off into the desert to rescue a handful of enslaved countrymen. They are called “children of the sun” by Indian tribes—able to heal by touch alone. Alien to all and enemy to none, they trade their way across northern Mexico to the Pacific coast, where at last they meet fellow Spaniards who rule Central America. De Vaca then abandons his daughter, for the mixed-race child has become an encumbrance.
This is where Teresa of the New World becomes truly magical. Teresa can talk to some animals, and when she was a little girl, the earth spoke with her. Years ago, while crossing the arid mountains with her father, a wise old woman promised Teresa that what she had lost will be restored to her. Teresa, who has lost everything, begins retracing her steps with the help of a jaguar-boy and a conquistador’s horse. Steeped in Mesoamerican history and mythos, Ms. Russell’s engaging, mystical story is meant for ages 12+ but is also very enjoyable and highly recommended for adults.
