South America Books

This enchanting introduction to Caribbean biodiversity invites children to visualize relationships between the islands, animals, plants, sky, and sea. How did animals and plants first get to the islands? How do they live together? For ages 4-8 (summmary by the Association of American Publishers's *Publishing Latino Voices for America Task Force *
Latino Recommended Reading List)
This enchanting introduction to island biodiversity allows children to visualize relationships between Caribbean creatures and with the water and sky--and to see how we, too, are one with each island.
This innovative design shares 36 original watercolors of island nature and accommodates forthcoming island-specific editions, personalized in the many languages of the Caribbean.

Written by Caribbean naturalist Alfonso Silva Lee, My Island And I: The Nature Of The Caribbean is a colorful children's picturebook about the natural ecology of an island - from fallen trees becoming food for fungi and termites to the thoughts of lizards and the interaction of fish. The watercolor-style illustrations by Alexis Lago bring to life the festive, multifaceted wonder of natural life. A highly recommended and educational book for young readers, My Island And I is highly recommended for school and community library picturebook collections. My Island And I is also available in a Spanish/English bilingual edition; a Spanish edition; and a bilingual French/Kreyol editions as well.

I homeschool my 11 year old son. He chose to do a project on the Maya and came across this book at the library. What a great book! The pictures are beautiful and the style of writing is very friendly.

You can tell that Peter loves his job of researching and writing. I highly recommend this book. I know that I am heading out to find more written by Peter!

Blessings,
Debbie

The author came to my school and gave a book talk, and this book looked exciting so I bought it. It was what most books aren't: Educational AND exciting. That's what made it very enjoyable. The Mystery of the Maya: the Lost City of Palenque doesn't just tell you facts, the author is on an adventure and writes it sort of as if he is writing a journal along the way. It makes you feel like you're there. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who's hungry for fun!

This book is one of many that deal with the untold travelers of nations that visited this country. It goes against the grain of the history we are taught. The Rio Grande, Mississippi, Ohio rivers etc, were ancient freeways of the days of old .Archeology has proven this. These ancient travelers came to mine the many resources here. Dr.Barry Fell was a great
teacher and linguist who has written many books of the subject as did Gloria Farley & Raymond Capt.

She found a nitch in this book -it had to be a favorite link in her research.

Every student of Latin American literature should read this book, which is the most compelling critical perspective in the field today.

This is a fascinating reshaping of the academic discussion [or to use the current jargon, "discourse"]on Latin American literature. To read Gonzalez Echevarria is to be dazzled by erudition and his true passion for Latin American letters and culture. Aficionados of Latin American literature who study this work will undoubtedly be humbled by Gonzalez Echevarria's scholarly stamina and provoked by his insights.

The insights themselves are worth careful consideration. Distancing himself from the traditional, chronological approach to Latin American narrative, and expressly by-passing a few "milestone works" that are perhaps less significant to the development of Latin American letters than is traditionally posited (e.g "Amalia", "Maria"), Gonzalez argues that the greatest shapers of Latin American narrative have been a few key works that in form and rhetoric embody the trends of the "hegemonic discourse" that dominated Latin America at different periods in the region's history. During the colonial era, Gonzalez argues, the predominant form of writing in the region was the legal document. Correspondingly, he argues, the salient literary texts of the period took on the forms, rhetoric and tones of legal discourse (e.g Bernal Diaz' "Historia Verdadera de La Conquista de Nueva Espana," El Inca Garcialaso's "Commentarios Reales,"). During the 19th Century--his so-called 2nd Conquest of Latin America--the "hegemonic discourse" was scientific observation; more specifically, the travel writings of Europeans and Americans who viewed Latin American flora, fauna, and customs through a scientific lense. Correspondingly, Gonzalez argues, the salient Latin American works of the period (e.g. Sarmiento's "Facundo," or Euclides da Cunha's "Os sertoes")seek to define phenomena in their respective societies while using the structures, form and rhetoric of the predominant scientific-travel writing. In the 20th Century, he argues, works are shaped by the concerns and observations made by anthropology and ethnography. Here he cites Gallego's "Dona Barbara" and Carpentier's "Los Pasos Perdidos", as well as Miguel Barnet's testimonial novels.

Gonzalez suggests that thematically Latin American narrative has consistantly sought the region's cultural legitimacy and ownership of a mythic origin, a source of Latin America's true identity. This search for a mythic origin has generally been conducted through the hegemonic discourses that he describes. Gonzalez illustrates his point through key modern works by Borges, Carpentier, and Garcia Marquez--works which he shows are entirely conscious of the shifts in hegemonic discourse and the search for origins/identity.

The work is generally a joy to read, and makes the lone, lay reader long for an animated discussion of Gonzalez' ideas around a seminar table. There are times, however, when the author lapses into the worst forms of academic obfuscation and post-modern excess, and when he does so he undermines the goodwill that his work engenders. A case in point-- in a discussion of Facundo, Gonzalez states: "What Sarmiento has found in his voyage of discovery and self-discovery is a present origin, one that speaks through him, hollowing out the voice of his scientific language. His authority will not be attained by it, but by the tragic sacrifice of his protagonist, which he re-enacts in the text. This tragic fusion is a reflection of the linear time introduced by the evolution of nature, which brings everything to an end, inexorably, so that it will be reborn in a different guise." This passage, while not representative of the whole book, is simply preposterous, wound as it is in obscurity and the solipsism of contemporary academic criticism. Passages such as this are particularly frustrating given that, in this instance, Sarmiento's "protagonist" is a historical figure, and the notion that Sarmiento is "reenacting" Facundo's fate is entirely a construction of the critic. Such analysis plays well in academia, but it is entirely removed from probable "authorial intent." [And yes, I acknowledge that the concept of "authorial intent" is now considered antiquated and naive in literary circles. But historians who have studied Facundo would be maddened by this passage.] In other works (i.e. "Celestina's Brood"), Gonzalez has argued that the Baroque is the most suitable mode for Latin American cultural expression. Perhaps in keeping with this conclusion, he himself occasionally engages in "gongorismo" that, while arguably culturally consistant, adds little to a sense of understanding.

Ultimately, however, these lapses are only intermittent, and they do not spoil the insightful treasures and the intellectual thrills that Gonzalez provides. This book is a joy.

When I think of Patagonia, I think of the Natural Wonders of a place that has seen little human intervention. This book has magnificent pictures and in interesting text about the geography and wildlife of Patagonia.

Photos are so, so... after visiting Patagonia live, just awesome, its people and gastronomy superb, definitely recommended, book and visit!!

This is the best book to sit down and read about places to visit and stay in Ecuador. I like the Lonely Planet series and they are updated sources of information but if you have ever found yourself wanting to know more about the places mentioned this is your book. For example in the New Key to Ecuador there are 15 full pages of text on just the region of the lower Napo River.

The New Key also has green ratings for lodging and the reasons for the differences in ratings are explained for each lodge or hotel evaluated.

When I visited Ecuador I found that this book had given an excellent overview of the places I was able to visit and had very accurate information. The only problem now as of this writing is that the book has not been updated. I would still highly recommend this but would use the internet to verify contact numbers of lodges and for any changes from the time of publication.

I'm living in Ecuador for a year and have almost every guidebook (there are many)published. If I could narrow it down to two, it would be this one and the Footprint Guide. If only one, this would be it. What's remarkable about this book is that it cares almost as much about the quality of food and accomodations as it does about wilderness trips. It's descriptions of restaurants are excellent and it's practical information about such things as the location of rental car agencies is as up to date as it can be. It also has a remarkable index which includes places, hotels and restaurants all in separate categories. With the other guide books, it takes much longer to find something for the second time. When you read a description of a place or an old hacienda to stay in, you really trust that the authors have actually been there. The authors know and love Ecuador. Perhaps if you're looking for only student prices, this is not the best book, but for the adventurous over 30, this is it!!

This is an excellent book! It was written more than ten years ago by a Latin who is obviously an Anglophile. He goes to the origins of English and Spanish character traits, the origins of Latin American dislike of things U.S. and makes a very compelling case that those countries of Spanish origins, due to their heritage, have and will have a very hard time developing in our changing world. It is not politically correct but it is real. A must read for those trying to understand why everything south of the Rio Grande is so terrible.

For those interested, read Carlos Alberto Montaner and Octavio Paz, one Cuban the other Mexican (1990 Nobel Prize winner for literature, actually poetry) for similar views from authors who are not enamored of the Anglo-American world.

This novel take on the comparative economic fortunes of the north and south should encourage other scholars to focus on questions of economic culture. Too much work in Latin American studies is carried out from within a structuralist paradigm, yielding the same stale conclusions. Veliz' insistence that we cannot overlook cultural factors is timely and apt.

The book is well written and meticulously documented.

I really liked this book. It's good for sixth graders who have Nicaragua as a project. It was this book that got my grade up. I would give this book ***** and the author ***** stars.

I really liked this book. It's good for sixth graders who have Nicaragua as a project. It was this book that got my grade up. I would give this book ***** and the author ***** stars.

As Governor Jim Hunt says in the forward, "North Carolina is at a crossroads in its history." This "atlas" provides not only a wealth of information, but an intelligent perspective on the future of the state as it enters the 21st century.

Subjects matter includes the natural environment, history, population, urbanization, economy, agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, trade, politics, air quality, water resources, crime, health, education, arts, and recreation. I found these topics to be presented in an effective manner and certainly more enlightening than the statistical record one might imagine.

I also discovered, before I placed my order, that I was able to preview some of the book's illustrations at the UNC Charlotte Cartography Lab web site.

I would recommend this text not only to students, researchers and teachers, but anyone interested in a comprehensive and knowledgeable summary of the diverse state of North Carolina.

This is the most comprehensive and informative state atlas I have ever reviewed. Excellent maps, great charts and clearly written text makes "The North Carolina Atlas" a book that needs to be on the shelf of every public library and in the hands of all North Carolina devotes. Over the last century North Carolina has transformed itself from a struggling southern state to one of the fastest growing economies in the U.S. "The North Carolina Atlas" provides a definitive analysis of the changes that have created this wonderful state.

History, population, urbanization, and economy are transforming forces that molded North Carolina into what it is today. Each of these sections are clearly laid out so that the reader can make a critical analysis of the change and form an assessment of the coming changes that the future may bring.

Especially interesting are the sections that deal with quality of life in North Carolina. Crime, education, health care, water and air quality, cultural arts and outdoor recreation are profiled and supported by scores of maps, charts and diagrams. This is a book I would especially want in my possession if I was considering moving my family and business to this State. Highly Recommended.

North From The Mountains is the latest in "The Melungeons: History Culture, Ethnicity, and Literature" series from Mercer University Press. This groundbreaking series is the first such to extensively study the Carmel Melungeon settlement since 1950. John Kessler and Donald Ball effectively collaborate to trace the history of the Carmel Melungeon settlement from 1700 onward, and provide the reader with exhaustive firsthand information connecting the Carmel population to the Melungeons and other mixed-blood populations in the Mid-Atlantic region. With documentary evidence and facts gathered from visits to and informants of the Carmel area, North From The Mountains is a highly detailed documentary offering fascinating insight into the lifestyle and relationships of the Carmel community and recommended for students of American history and regional development.

"North from the Mountains" is a splendid read on the incresingly popular subject of Melungeon heritage. This is both an excellently written and exhaustively researched book by meticulous authors. It is a great read on Americana on the first person part of the senior author. Both men are experienced authors of scholarly papers, and their work on this book is the result of their exacting and uncomromising dedication to making as certain as possible that every last word in this book is documentable. I consider it the standard against which I will judge all other books on the subject. The Bibilography will set me off on searches for further material. It is a truly worthy book to add to any library, both personal and collegiate.