La Vampirata by Mira Canion. This is an easy Spanish reader containing just 240 new vocabulary words and many English-Spanish cognates. Deep in the dense Colombian jungle a mysterious emerald has been plundered by an odd band of backstabbing pirates. An unlikely character, Sara Gomez, is thrust into the action. With fang-like teeth and inexplicable nocturnal walks, she is no longer safe in her vampire-frenzied community. But alas, in 1741 the high seas are just as dangerous as lingering with landlubbers.
Paperback, 88 pages. OUT OF PRINT - now called Los bucaneros y el Templo del Jaguar
Notas
Themes and places for you to explore further:
* Vampires in Rhode Island– especially Mercy Brown
of Exeter, RI
* Piracy in the American Colonies– Thomas Tew of
Rhode Island, Sam Bellamy of MA
* Religious tolerance and intolerance
* Colonization– Spanish conquistadors compared to
New England colonists
* Economic role of port cities
* Piracy in the Caribbean
* Female pirates– Anne Bonney, Mary Read
* Amsterdam
* Spanish Inquisition
* Gómez, López– last names of Sephardic Jews in the
American Colonies
* Newport as a safe haven for Jews since 1647, oldest
active synagogue in North America since 1763
* Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson– separation
of church and state, religious tolerance
* Dominican Republic and Colombia
* Emeralds– Colombia produces 60% of the world’s
supply
* Cartagena– port city for Spanish fleet system– Tierra
Firme
* Don Blas de Lezo– one eye, one arm, one-legged
Spaniard who defended Cartagena against the
British and American Colonists in April 1741
* Weather/geography– New England, Dominican
Republic, Cartagena, jungle of Colombia
* Architecture– patios, balconies, influence of
colonizing country
* Jaguars in Native American cultures
* Tayrona Indians
* Lost City– Ciudad Perdida south of Santa Marta,
Colombia– fictional site of novel’s Temple
* Bullying, judging others, self-esteem, self-worth,
risk-taking