Jo Harpers exquisite tale of an Aztec youth who crosses the Rio Grande with Salvador, his simple but intuitive cousin, weaves Aztec legend, culture, and tonali (fate) into a poignant tapestry of illegal immigration, indomitability, and the precarious promise of a new life. Besides his native Nahuatl, sixteen-year-old Delfino speaks Spanish, which he learned working in Mexico City. He is driven to help his married sister, who at eighteen seems too small and frail to survive her pregnancy. Teresa has lost one child, and Delfino knows Teresas chance to have her baby in a hospital depends upon his crossing the river from Mexico into Texas, the land of promise. Achingly drawn, Harpers characters fill a harsh world with loving and gentle sensibilities. This is a masterful story of suspense and triumph.
- ISBN10 0896724379
- ISBN13 9780896724372
- Publish Date 15 November 2000
- Publish Status Transferred
- Out of Print 30 June 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Texas Tech Press,U.S.
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 192
- Language English