THE MALDONADO MIRACLE

by Theodore Taylor ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 6, 1973

The miracle of course has a natural explanation yet its occurrence brings certain blessings. So much is formula, but Jose, a twelve year-old fugitive who unwittingly sets off the commotion in a California mission town, is very much his own likable sell And though the pious self-importance of the old woman who discovers the presumably bleeding statue of Christ, as well as the economically depressed town's reaction to the influx of tourists and TV crews (the Mission Bell Bar advertises a ""Miracle Special Happy Hour"") have their parallels in adult fiction, Taylor still manages to make it happen spontaneously here. Motherless and recently evicted, unsure that he can fulfill his insensitive father's expectations, Jose is smuggled to a migrant workers' camp in California but runs off to save his dog from being shot for defending him from the threats of a sinister (presumably homosexual) coworker. After an accidental injury to his shoulder Jose takes shelter in the mission's choir loft where his blood drips down onto a statue of Christ on the cross. Eventually the mission's intelligent padre, alone in doubting the miracle even after a psychosomatically lame boy is ""cured,"" discovers the truth and helps Jose get in touch with his father and return to Mexico. The Mexican-American teacher doing field research who befriends him at the farm, plus his own artistic talent and dream of becoming another Orozco, make this wetback already luckier than most; still it's easy to see why Father R takes to Jose.

Pub Date: April 6, 1973

ISBN: 0152050361

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1973

Categories: FICTION