Teresa's Journey

by Josephine Harper, Jo Harper

Overview

In this, the exciting sequel to Delfino’s Journey, Delfino’s sister Teresa attempts to defy the odds and reunite with her brother and cousin. Already widowed at age nineteen, Teresa knows that the only way she will be able to provide a good life for her infant son Antonio is by making the long trek to Texas from her home in Mexico. The grueling journey is filled with adventure and danger. Forced to flee an erupting volcano, Teresa encounters an old granicera—a prophetess—who warns her of a terrible fate awaiting her in Texas. In spite of her fear, Teresa becomes more determined than ever to reach Texas when she witnesses a murder committed by the Delgado Cruz, a dreaded group of organized criminals. Later, to save her baby, Teresa must call upon her Aztec heritage to unravel the meaning of the granicera’s advice: “Follow the caged quetzal.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780896725911
Publisher:	Texas Tech University Press
Publication date:	11/28/2006
Pages:	162
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

Editorial Reviews

This is the sequel to Delfino's Journey. However, it is not necessary to have read Delfino's story to enjoy this tale about Teresa, a widowed 19-year-old who is taking her infant son from a remote area of Mexico to Texas in search of a better life. While en route to Texas, Teresa confronts the eruption of a volcano, which causes her to flee the home of her sister in the middle of the night. She listens to a granicera's (soothsayer) ominous warning that if she goes to Texas her son Antonio will die, and she witnesses a murder committed by a band of drug traffickers. Although the plot is somewhat predictable, the authors excel at conveying cultural information. They portray a world not known to many outside Mexico; for example, how mountains have souls and can become angered and explode. Teresa, a descendant of the Aztecs, explains it: "It's no use, she thought. It is tonali. The time of the fifth sun is over. Our world is coming to an end like it did on the passing of the Jaguar Sun and the Wind Sun." References to foods, plants, and the Nahuatl language are seamlessly blended into the plot and the reader is transported to another world, even though that world is our next-door neighbor. This is a novel that journeys through time, place, and culture.

KLIATT - Peter Neissa