The Spirit of Cinco de Mayo
“The Spirit of Cinco de Mayo” is an exciting and engaging historical fiction book written for both young adults as an educational text and adults in that the concepts are sophisticated. The story is told in the omniscient style, with the reader “seeing all” through various plot lines and characters in Europe, Mexico and the United States. It is about the French invasion of Mexico in the 1860’s which paralleled the American Civil War. It was both an attempt to colonize Mexico indirectly through a puppet government, and undermine the United States’ position in the world as the new regime in Mexico would be an ally to the Confederate States of America and the United States might have been divided.
Had it worked – it would have affected the course of the American Civil War, and Mexico would have spent an unknown amount of time as a French colony. It is a moment in time when the whole world order was in question – and is a war that has been underexplored by historians both in the United States and Mexico. The Cinco de Mayo holiday is celebrated in honor of the initial Mexican defeat of French forces at Puebla on the 5th of May, 1862.
The book is light and fast paced, with rapid scene changes and brief chapters. The protagonist is a young Mexican boy who comes of age during the conflict, cast to be associable with young adults, and around him swirl the plots of various world powers on an adult level. Very rudimentary foreign language words and place names are used in chapters where the characters speak the corresponding language in order to expose young people to language and educate both youths and adults alike.
The book was painstakingly researched – yet presented as a fiction novel to make learning interesting and engaging. Lastly, the author had been to many of the locations during his work or travel experiences (he worked as an expatriate in both France and Mexico) thus, many of the named locations are described from the “mind’s eye”.
© 2009 "Flag" used with permission from Esparta Palma at http://www.espartha.com and "Book Cover" courtesy of author.
A dnongbri creation
Had it worked – it would have affected the course of the American Civil War, and Mexico would have spent an unknown amount of time as a French colony. It is a moment in time when the whole world order was in question – and is a war that has been underexplored by historians both in the United States and Mexico. The Cinco de Mayo holiday is celebrated in honor of the initial Mexican defeat of French forces at Puebla on the 5th of May, 1862.
The book is light and fast paced, with rapid scene changes and brief chapters. The protagonist is a young Mexican boy who comes of age during the conflict, cast to be associable with young adults, and around him swirl the plots of various world powers on an adult level. Very rudimentary foreign language words and place names are used in chapters where the characters speak the corresponding language in order to expose young people to language and educate both youths and adults alike.
The book was painstakingly researched – yet presented as a fiction novel to make learning interesting and engaging. Lastly, the author had been to many of the locations during his work or travel experiences (he worked as an expatriate in both France and Mexico) thus, many of the named locations are described from the “mind’s eye”.
© 2009 "Flag" used with permission from Esparta Palma at http://www.espartha.com and "Book Cover" courtesy of author.
A dnongbri creation
