Novels With A Mexican Flare Part 2

There have been several well-known English language novels that have been set in Mexico

, which have contained characters of Mexican descent. One young adult book, published in 1967, was a Newbery Honor winner: The Black Pearl. Written by Scott O'Dell, it tells the story of a teenager named Ramon, who lives in the northern state of Baja California; his family is in the business of pearl diving in the peninsula.

In the book, an adolescent named Ramon, works to make his father, the most respected diver in the area, proud. He eventually finds the Pearl of Heaven, which he hopes will bring good luck and fortune to both his family and their small town. However, the discovery only results in disaster, and the resurgence of a fabled giant manta ray in the sea. The book was adapted into a 1977 film, directed by Saul Swimmer.

Pearl divers in La Paz, Mexico, were also written about by the American writer John Steinbeck. While he's known better for the novels 'The Grapes of Wrath' and 'Of Mice and Men', in 1947 he published 'The Pearl', which used a similar backdrop to address the nature of good and evil in man. It was based on an old folk story that lectured about the consequences of abusing one's station in life and how greed can destroy an entire community.

The tragic novella follows Kino, a strong pearl diver who is extremely poor. The boy Coyotito is taken ill, (the son of Juana and himself), and his father has difficulty paying for the doctor. Naturally at this moment, he recovers the largest pearl that he's ever laid eyes on. While he has hopes that the gem will bring his family a little bit of stability, it only results in chaos and turmoil. Like a beacon of bad luck, the family experiences many trials as they try to hold onto it, and it becomes the center of evil and greed.

For child and young adult readers, mystery and imagination go hand in hand. Almost all North American adults will remember fondly reading about Nancy Drew, the clever girl detective whose stories have been published since 1930, or The Hardy Boys, her male counterparts. Another book 'The Jungle Pyramid', chronicles a Hardy Boys adventure as they stay in Mexico City to uncover stolen gold; it was published in 1977.

A 1994 team-up of the two investigative teams, occurs in 'The Copper Canyon Conspiracy'. It starts with Nancy Drew meeting Tasio, a Tarahumara native from Mexico, who is in danger. Powerful industry barons dispute with the locals over logging and lumber mills in his native town. Bribery, corruption, and greed in the Sierra Madre are the focus of the Nancy Drew novel, where she teams up with Frank and Joe Hardy, to undercover a huge conspiracy.

by: Robert Nickel

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