Most Popular Books by Rudolfo Anaya

This coming-of-age classic from "one of the nation''s foremost Chicano literary artists" follows a young boy as he questions his faith and beliefs after a curandera woman introduces herbs and magic into his life (Denver Post). Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. She is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic. Under her wise wing, Tony will probe the family ties that bind and rend him, and he will discover himself in the magical secrets of the pagan past--a mythic legacy as palpable as the Catholicism of Latin America. And at each life turn there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world... and will nurture the birth of his soul.

Fifty-two essays exploring identity, literature, immigration, and politics by the American Book Award winner, one of the godfathers of Chicano literature. Best known for his novel Bless Me, Ultima, which established him as one of the founders of Chicano literature, Rudolfo Anaya displays his gift for storytelling and deep connection to the land and its history in The Essays. These intimate and contemplative essays explore censorship, immigration, urban development, the Southwest as a region, and personal identity. In "Aztlan: A Homeland Without Boundaries," he discusses the reimagining of the modern Chicano community through ancient myth and legend; in "The Spirit of Place," he explores the historical connection between literature and the earth. Some essays are autobiographical, some argumentative; all are passionate—and a must-read for Anaya fans and readers who crave a view of contemporary America through fresh eyes.

"Filled with ghosts, devils, and tricksters . . . This appealing volume will add diversity to folklore collections." — Library Journal Rich in the folklore of his ancestors, Rudolfo Anaya''s tales will delight young readers from across the globe. In stories both original and passed down, this bestselling and American Book Award–winning author incorporates powerful themes of family, faith, and choosing the right path in life. In "Lupe and la Llorona," a seventh grader searches for the legendary Llorona; in "The Shepherd Who Knew the Language of Animals," a shepherd named Abel saves a snake and gains the ability to understand the language of animals; In "Dulcinea," a fifteen-year-old dances with the Devil. Other tales feature coyotes, ravens, a woodcutter who tries to cheat death, the Virgin Mary, a golden carp, and a young Latino who seeks immortality. Deeply rooted in ancient mythological beliefs and based on the folklore and traditions of Mexican and Native American cuentistas, these accounts of enchantment are as beautiful and mysterious as the Rio Grande itself—and serve as a testament to the lost art of oral storytelling. This ebook features illustrations by Amy Córdova.

PEN Center West Award Winner: A novel of myth and migration set in a mid-twentieth–century New Mexico barrio, by the author of Bless Me, Ultima. Today is the day Benjie Chávez and his family will leave the town of Guadalupe behind. Far from the land of the eagle and the nopal, they travel west to find a new home of opportunity. But adapting to the big, impersonal city of Albuquerque is no easy task. As both life and death come to the barrio, a blind seer named Crispin arrives in the Chávezes'' world. At first everyone dismisses his stories about an elusive place called Aztlán as the ramblings of an old man. But gradually, they come to realize that he can see what they cannot. In earthy prose, American Book Award–winning author Rudolfo Anaya tells a spellbinding story of myth and migration, love and loss. Heart of Atzlán is a hopeful and heartbreaking novel about people in search of the shimmering mirage of a better life—and the land that keeps calling them back.

American Book Award Winner: A novel of a New Mexico teenager''s journey of physical and spiritual recovery from the author of Bless Me, Ultima. When the story opens, the eponymous hero of Rudolfo Anaya''s novel is in an ambulance en route to a hospital for crippled children in the New Mexican desert. A poor boy from Albuquerque, sixteen-year-old Tortuga takes his name from the odd, turtle-shaped mountain that is rumored to possess miraculous curative powers. Tortuga is paralyzed, and not even his mother''s fervent prayers can heal him. But under the mountain''s watchful gaze, with the support of fellow patients, he begins the Herculean task of breaking out of his shell and becoming whole again. Drawn from personal experience and imbued with the phantasmagorical vision quests that distinguish Anaya''s work, Tortuga is a joyful, life-sustaining book about hope, faith, friendship, and love that celebrates the triumph of the human spirit in the physical world. "An extraordinary storyteller." — Los Angeles Times Book Review

From the author of Bless Me, Ultima, a "wonderfully told and mesmerizing" novel of an adopted Mexican-American boxing champion''s quest for identity ( New York Times). Abrán González always knew he was different. Called a coyote because of his fair skin, the kid from Barelas found escape through boxing and became one of the youngest Golden Gloves champs. But the arrival of a letter from a dying woman turns his entire life into a lie. The revelation that he was adopted makes him feel like an orphan and sends him on a quest to find his birth father. With the help of his girlfriend, Lucinda, and Joe, a Vietnam veteran, Abrán begins a journey that hurls him from the barrio into a world of greed and political corruption spearheaded by Abrán''s manager, Frank Dominic, a con artist running for mayor with visions of building El Dorado on the Rio Grande. Rich in spirituality, and taking its title from the original spelling of the city''s name, Alburquerque casts a light on the importance of ancestry while cutting across class and ethnic lines to tell a story of hope and displacement, love and regret, and the power of identity. "A touching love story woven into a tale of treachery, a microcosm of the social and economic dislocations squeezing the American Southwest." — Publishers Weekly

A New Mexican shaman and PI is up against a shape-shifting adversary who haunts his worst nightmares, in a "fascinating and absolutely eerie" mystery ( Thrilling Detective). After a savage confrontation with his archenemy, Sonny Baca is confined to a wheelchair. The doctors don''t know if he''ll ever walk again—and now the Chicano PI is plagued by disturbing dreams of his female ancestors being abducted. The reality is even more chilling. In present-day Santa Fe, the mayor''s sixteen-year-old daughter has disappeared. The four black feathers found on Consuelo Romero''s bed confirm Sonny''s fears: Three more girls will go missing before Raven''s master plan becomes a terrifying reality. A charismatic, chameleonlike power broker who also possesses a shaman''s gifts, Raven lures radical environmentalists into committing terrorist acts under the guise of antinuclear protests. But his true agenda is to bring down Sonny once and for all. By obliterating Sonny''s dreams—the portal into the spirit world—he will destroy his past and his future. The only way to fight back is for Sonny to enter Raven''s own dream state. But can he rid the world of an evil that refuses to die? Rich in atmosphere and setting, this stellar series offers both edge-of-your-seat mystery and one man''s journey into the complex landscape of the soul.