In 1930s rural Argentina, a determined fifteen-year-old left an isolated, poverty-stricken life to find her fortune in the "Paris of South America"--Buenos Aires. There, with few connections, little education, but plenty of persistence, Maria Eva Duarte gained a toehold in the city's artistic scene. Eva--Evita--rode the radio revolution to fortune, providing for her mother and siblings. She caught the eye of rising political star Colonel Juan Perón, and with him, she rode the pro-labor wave all the way to the presidential palace. The story of Eva Duarte Perón highlights not just her own extraordinary life but the opportunities seized by women of all classes and background in a post-independence, modernizing Latin America. This work offers an alternate method for understanding post-independence Latin America and its history. The ten figures treated are ethnically mixed, of African, indigenous, European, and mestizo heritage. They include figures from all social classes, geographic settings, occupations seen in colonial Latin America, and they acted over the entirety of the more three centuries of the colonial period. Through their stories, the reader comes away with an enriched understanding of this rich, diverse region.

In 1930s rural Argentina, a determined fifteen-year-old left an isolated, poverty-stricken life to find her fortune in the "Paris of South America"--Buenos Aires. There, with few connections, little education, but plenty of persistence, Maria Eva Duarte gained a toehold in the city's artistic scene. Eva--Evita--rode the radio revolution to fortune, providing for her mother and siblings. She caught the eye of rising political star Colonel Juan Perón, and with him, she rode the pro-labor wave all the way to the presidential palace. The story of Eva Duarte Perón highlights not just her own extraordinary life but the opportunities seized by women of all classes and background in a post-independence, modernizing Latin America. This work offers an alternate method for understanding post-independence Latin America and its history. The ten figures treated are ethnically mixed, of African, indigenous, European, and mestizo heritage. They include figures from all social classes, geographic settings, occupations seen in colonial Latin America, and they acted over the entirety of the more three centuries of the colonial period. Through their stories, the reader comes away with an enriched understanding of this rich, diverse region.

In the seventeenth century, Catalina de Erauso, at age sixteen a renegade Basque nun, escaped from her convent and traveled to the New World, eventually reaching Peru. She became an outlaw and a crossdresser with a price on her head. Yet she ended her days absolved by both the King of Spain and the Pope, the latter of whom granted her permission to dress as a man for the remainder of her life. The Nun Ensign passed her final years guarding silver shipments on the Mexico City-Veracruz highway. The life of the Nun Ensign highlights not just her extraordinary life but also the opportunities seized by women in colonial Latin America. This book profiles the Nun Ensign and nine other women of colonial Latin America, offering an alternate method for understanding the region and its history. The ten figures span different ethnic, geographic, occupational, and class backgrounds. Through their stories, the reader comes away with an enriched understanding of colonial Latin American history.

In the seventeenth century, Catalina de Erauso, at age sixteen a renegade Basque nun, escaped from her convent and traveled to the New World, eventually reaching Peru. She became an outlaw and a crossdresser with a price on her head. Yet she ended her days absolved by both the King of Spain and the Pope, the latter of whom granted her permission to dress as a man for the remainder of her life. The Nun Ensign passed her final years guarding silver shipments on the Mexico City-Veracruz highway. The life of the Nun Ensign highlights not just her extraordinary life but also the opportunities seized by women in colonial Latin America. This book profiles the Nun Ensign and nine other women of colonial Latin America, offering an alternate method for understanding the region and its history. The ten figures span different ethnic, geographic, occupational, and class backgrounds. Through their stories, the reader comes away with an enriched understanding of colonial Latin American history.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." With these words, the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu might as well have been thinking on the adventures Jackie Tempo, who is on an unusual quest to find her parents.

Jackie Tempo is a lonely teen who lives in a remote New England town. She mourns her parents who died in a car crash when she was young. In the mansion she shares with her eccentric Aunt Isobel, Jackie discovers a mysterious text, which transports her back in time to Ming China. Jackie is stunned to find herself on a Portuguese caravel - and the ship's doctor is her father, David The year is 1521. Thus begins Jackie's journey through time and space, at turns an exciting and harrowing adventure.

Along the way, Jackie encounters a Buddhist monk, a strong-willed concubine, and a runaway girl who has been falsely accused of stealing the Emperor's seal. Together, she and Jackie forge a bond in their unusual quest to find their way home. However, they quickly discover that a darker force is at work here. It is up to Jackie and her allies to prevent a serious disruption in the time-space continuum.