South America Fiction

A young man wakes up at dawn to drive to the Andes, to climb the Cerro Bonete - a mountain untouched by ice axes and climbers, one of the planet's final mountains to be conquered - as an act of heroic bravado - or foolishness. But instead he finds himself dragged by the undertow of memory to Esplanada, the neighborhood he grew up in, to the brotherhood of his old friends, and to the clearing in the woods where he witnessed an act that has run like a scar through the rest of his life.

Convertido en emperador de Brasil a los veintitrés años, Pedro I marcó con su huella la historia de dos continentes. Desmedido y contradictorio, las mujeres fueron su salvación y su perdición: mientras su esposa, la virtuosa Leopoldina de Austria, lo llevó a la cumbre, su amante, la ardiente Domitila de Castro, lo arrastró a la decadencia. Cuando el inmenso Brasil se le hizo pequeño y el poder dejó de interesarle, puso su vida en juego por aquello que creía justo. Y alcanzó la gloria.

It's tough to be 13, especially when somebody's trying to kill you. Not that Egg's life was ever easy, growing up on sweaty, pirate-infested Deadweather Island with no company except an incompetent tutor and a pair of unusually violent siblings who hate his guts. But when Egg's father hustles their family off on a mysterious errand to fabulously wealthy Sunrise Island, then disappears with the siblings in a freak accident, Egg finds himself a long-term guest at the mansion of the glamorous Pembroke family and their beautiful, sharp-tongued daughter Millicent.

When an out-of-season hurricane sweeps through Corinne's seaside village, Corinne knows it's not a typical storm. At first Corinne believes Mama D'Leau - the powerful and cruel jumbie who rules the ocean - has caused the hurricane. Then a second, even more ferocious storm wrecks the island, sending villagers fleeing their houses for shelter in the mountains, and Corinne discovers the storms weren't caused by a jumbie, but by the angry god Huracan.

Caldera always existed in harmony between the creatures who walk by day and those who walk by night - until an ancient evil awakened. In the year since the shadowwalkers’ narrow escape from the Ant Queen, the ants’ destruction has only spread. Gogi, a shadowwalker monkey still learning to wield his fire powers, embarks on a quest with his friends - including a healing bat, an invisible panther, and a tree frog who controls the winds - for a powerful object that can harness the magic of the eclipse to defeat the Ant Queen.

When the precocious Zeze grows up, he wants to be a poet in a bow tie. But for now he entertains himself playing clever pranks on the residents of his Rio de Janeiro shantytown, stunts for which his parents and siblings punish him soundly. Now that his father is out of work, the beatings have become harsher, and life has gotten bleaker. Zeze’s only solace comes from his time at school, his hours secretly spent singing with a Bahian street musician, or his time of refuge with his magical orange tree, which both listens and offers him sage advice.

Prepare for a journey into a world filled with what so many crave - the sweet savoring of a chocolate drop. A drop that can melt even the most troubled realities. But in this nuanced, heartrending story, before good can emerge, there is destruction, the bombarding of a people, their culture, heritage, sacred beliefs, and the very soul that drives their traditions.

Corinne LaMer defeated the wicked jumbie Severine months ago, but things haven't exactly gone back to normal in her Caribbean island home. Everyone knows Corinne is half-jumbie, and many of her neighbors treat her with mistrust. When local children begin to go missing, snatched from the beach and vanishing into wells, suspicious eyes turn to Corinne. To rescue the missing children and clear her own name, Corinne goes deep into the ocean to find Mama D'Leau, the dangerous jumbie who rules the sea.

They call Gabriela "Tree Girl". Gabi climbs trees to be within reach of the eagles and watch the sun rise into an empty sky. She is at home among the outstretched branches of the Guatemalan forests. Then one day from the safety of a tree, Gabi witnesses the sights and sounds of an unspeakable massacre. She vows to be Tree Girl no more and joins the hordes of refugees struggling to reach the Mexican border. She has lost her whole family; her entire village has been wiped out.

Death on the River of Doubt takes listeners inside the thrilling journey that unfolded as Theodore Roosevelt and his companions navigated the Amazonian River of Doubt through an unforgiving and unpredictable jungle. With new threats at every turn, from bloodthirsty piranhas and raging rapids to starvation, disease, and a traitor in their own ranks, it seemed that not everyone would make it out alive.

When the shadowwalkers were victorious in their battle against the Ant Queen, they hoped their work to save Caldera was done. But the rainforest has begun to rumble. Rumi, a scholarly tree frog who can control the wind, must bring his band of animal friends to face the greatest danger they’ve yet encountered - the giant volcano beneath the jungle itself. While the volcano roars, rumors of a mysterious evil blanket Caldera - the Elemental of Darkness has emerged and is building a legion of followers.

Jorge Luis Borges wrote about Argentina as only someone passionate about his homeland can. On Argentina reveals the many facets of his passion in essays, poems, and stories through which he sought to bring Argentina forward on the world stage, and to do for Buenos Aires what James Joyce did for Dublin.

One of America's most influential Hispanics - Maria on Sesame Street - delivers a beautifully wrought coming-of-age memoir. Set in the 1970s in the Bronx, this is the story of a girl with a dream. When listeners meet young Sonia, she is a child living amid the squalor of a boisterous home that is filled with noisy relatives and nosy neighbors. Each day she is glued to the TV screen that blots out the painful realities of her existence and also illuminates the possibilities that lie ahead.

When the other gods grow tired in their attempt to create humankind, only one does not give up: the Feathered Serpent. He embarks on a dangerous journey full of fearsome foes and harsh elements, facing each trial with wisdom, bravery, and resourcefulness before confronting his final challenge at Mictlan, the underworld. In the spirit of Duncan Tonatiuh’s celebrated book The Princess and the Warrior, this pre-Columbian creation myth tells the story of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, one of the most important deities in ancient Mesoamerica.

If only 9-year-old Bird Jackson could fly away from her life of poverty and abuse, in which violence and despair seem to overwhelm hope and love. Instead young Bird must face her struggles and limitations. How to overcome them becomes clearer when she meets Miss Zora, a mysterious and kindly black healer whose prayers over the bones of winged creatures are meant to guide their souls to heaven. Miss Zora's wisdom sheds light on Bird's world, facilitating her journey of self-discovery and allowing her to meet the challenge of her name.

Black ops specialist Aubrey Sentro may be one concussion away from death. But when pirates seize the cargo ship she’s on, she must decide whether to risk her life to save her fellow passengers. Sentro’s training takes over, and she’s able to elude her captors, leaving bodies in her wake. But her problems are just getting started. Her memory lapses are getting more frequent, symptoms of serial-concussion syndrome. As she plays a deadly game of cat and mouse with the pirates, she pushes herself to survive by focusing on thoughts of her children.

"La idea de salir a recorrer -y a contar- las grandes ciudades sudacas se me ocurrió cuando pensé que quería tratar de entender qué es hoy América Latina. Hace mucho que no lo intentamos y, en general, solemos conservar esa imagen rural, ecololó de una región que es, ahora mismo, la más urbana del mundo. Cuatro de cada cinco latinoamericanos viven en ciudades, pero no son ciudades como las que uno imagina cuando piensa en Barcelona o en París. Para saber cómo son -cómo es Latinoamérica- decidí volver a hacer eso que siempre me ha gustado hacer: ir, mirar, escuchar, pensar, contarlo." - Martín Caparrós

Oriol nació en Cuba, pero vive en Santa Bárbara, California, donde no logra encontrar su sitio. Sin embargo, pasa muchos buenos momentos cuando ayuda a sus padres en la clínica veterinaria de la familia, donde cuidan animales heridos. La primera ganadora latinoamericana de un Premio Nobel de Literatura, la poeta Gabriela Mistral, se muda entonces a Santa Bárbara, y Oriol se dscrube confesándole que aspira a ser escritora. Cuando la jovencita descubra que alguien está amenazando la vida de un pequeño elefante en la clínica de sus padres, decide tomar acción para protegerlo.

Secret agents Jack and Max Stalwart are sent to the Amazon jungle to investigate the disappearance of an important Global Protection Force scientist. Soon, they discover that the scientist's disappearance is no accident. A greedy outlaw is illegally mining for gold and he'll stop and nothing to keep his secret safe. Can Jack and Max save themselves and the scientist from almost certain death?

Rosalba is a nine-year-old Mayan girl living in rural Mexico. Like her mother and grandmother, she weaves stories of her people onto blouses, ensuring that the age-old traditions continue. But new influences are entering her life. A ladina girl from the city, visiting with her scientist father, passes on the astonishing news that the Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world in 2012. Rosalba knows nothing about that, but her village is faced with a bulldozer tearing through the forest, dying wildlife, and cornfields in danger.