From the bestselling author of ‘An Obsession with Butterflies’ comes a magical story of America in the time of the conquistadors. 

In 1528, the real-life conquistador Cabeza
de Vaca shipwrecked in the New World where he lived as a slave, trader, and
shaman.

In this lyrical weaving of history and myth, the
adventurer takes his young daughter Teresa from her home in Texas to travel to
outposts in New Spain. Once there, Teresa is left behind as a servant in a
Spanish household. But when an epidemic of measles devastates the area, the
teenager must set off on a new journey, listening again to the voices of the
desert, befriending a war-horse and were-jaguar, sinking into the earth to swim
through fossil and stone, reclaiming her power to outwit the cunning figure of
Plague.

A story of apocalypse and hope, ‘Teresa of the New World’ takes
you into the dreamscape of the sixteenth-century American Southwest.

For more information about this book please visit Sky Horse Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Goodreads.

It took me twenty years to write Teresa of the New World,
a reflection of my long time obsession with the Spanish conquistador Álvar
NúñezCabeza de Vaca, with the numinous deserts of the American Southwest, with
the dreamscape of the sixteenth century, with the deadly diseases unwittingly
brought by the Europeans at the time of First Contact, with the complexities of
the hero father, with deep earth magic, with were-jaguars, with all that and
more.

Supposedly this is the story of Teresa, daughter of a
Capoque mother and a Spanish adventurer. But really I think it has become my
autobiography.

In 1528, the real-life conquistador Cabeza de Vaca
shipwrecked in the New World where he lived for eight years as a slave, trader,
and shaman. Later, he wrote about those years in a report to the king of Spain,
and that account—rich with details about the tribes of Texas and how they
lived–has always fascinated me. In my retelling, the Spaniard takes his young
daughter Teresa from her home to walk with him toward the setting sun, west to
the outposts of New Spain, their travels accompanied by miracles–visions and
prophecies.

But when Teresa reaches the outposts of New Spain, life
is not what her father had promised. As a kitchen servant in the household of a
Spanish official, she grows up estranged from the magic she knew as a child,
when she could speak to the earth and listen to animals. When a new epidemic of
measles devastates the area, the sixteen-year-old sets off on her own journey,
befriending a Mayan were-jaguar who cannot control his shape-shifting and a warhorse
abandoned by his Spanish owner. Now Teresa moves through a land stalked by
Plague: smallpox as well as measles, typhus, and scarlet fever.

Teresa lived in a time of apocalypse and hope, of magic
and change—and I think we live in a similar time. She had to let go of fear.
She had to let go of anger. Living in her world was a wonderful and profound
experience for me.

I would love to hear your reactions or thoughts to any
aspect of Teresa of the New World. And I would be pleased to post your
comments, stories, and drawings on my website. Just contact me at www.sharmanptrussell.com.

Sharman Apt Russell has lived in the beauty and magic of
Southwestern deserts almost all her life and continues to be amazed by that.
She has published over a dozen books translated into a dozen languages,
including fiction and nonfiction. ‘Teresa of the New World’ is
her third middle-grade and young adult novel.

Sharman teaches graduate writing classes at Western New
Mexico University in Silver City, New Mexico and Antioch University in Los
Angeles, California and has thrice served as the PEN West judge for their
annual children’s literature award. Her awards include a Rockefeller
Fellowship, the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award, a Pushcart Prize, and
the Henry Joseph Jackson Award. Her work has been widely anthologized, with
numerous starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist. The San Francisco Chronicle has
said “Russell’s writing is luminous” and Kirkus Reviews wrote, “A deep reverence for nature shines throughout
Russell’s rich, enjoyable text.” The Seattle Times described
her ‘An Obsession with Butterflies’ as
a “masterpiece of story-telling” and the San Diego Union Tribune called
it “A singular work of art, with its smooth, ethereal prose and series after
cascading series of astonishing lore.” The New York Times and Discover Magazine both described
her book on hunger as “elegant.” Of her ‘Anatomy of a Rose’,
the Sunday Times (London) said,
“Every page holds a revelation.”

For more information about Sharman Apt Russell and her
books please visit her website, Facebook and Goodreads.