MALINCHE

To modern Mexicans, ``Malinchismo'' has come to be synonymous with betrayal. This fictionalized biography of the Indian princess, sold into slavery by her own mother, who became Cortez's interpreter and consultant in his conquest of Mexico and mother of two of his children, successfully reinterprets her misunderstood role. Dur†n's Malinche is an intelligent, passionate young woman who understands her people's oppression at the hands of the Aztec rulers and admires Cortez as a man rather than as Queztalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent God (according to legend, the true heir, due to reclaim the empire). Malinche's connection with La Llorona (a Mexican folk ghost, an old woman crying for her children) is briefly referred to at the end. Rudolfo Anaya's short adult novel, La Llorona (1984), provides a different version of this connection, less grounded in historical fact but more effective in explaining both women as mythological figures. More accessible to YA readers, Dur†n's book is rich in descriptions of customs, spiritual practices, ritual ceremonies, and the vastness and diversity of the Aztec empire at the time of the conquest. A well-researched introduction to a complex chapter in the history of the Americas. Pronouncing dictionary; bibliographical note discussing primary and secondary sources (Fiction. 13+)