Publisher Description
From the best-selling author of The Tiger and The Golden Spruce, this debut novel is a gripping survival story of a young man trapped, perhaps fatally, during a border crossing.
Hector is trapped. The water truck, sealed to hide its human cargo, has broken down. The coyotes have taken all the passengers’ money for a mechanic and have not returned. Those left behind have no choice but to wait.
Hector finds a name in his friend Cesar’s phone. AnniMac. A name with an American number. He must reach her, both for rescue and to pass along the message Cesar has come so far to deliver. But are his messages going through?
Over four days, as water and food run low, Hector tells how he came to this desperate place. His story takes us from Oaxaca — its rich culture, its rapid change — to the dangers of the border. It exposes the tangled ties between Mexico and El Norte — land of promise and opportunity, homewrecker and unreliable friend. And it reminds us of the power of storytelling and the power of hope, as Hector fights to ensure his message makes it out of the truck and into the world.
Both an outstanding suspense novel and an arresting window into the relationship between two great cultures, The Jaguar’s Children shows how deeply interconnected all of us, always, are.
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“Vaillant, whose international best sellers include The Golden Spruce (a Governor General’s Award winner) and The Tiger, a memorably burning-bright book, turns to fiction with results that are ‘riveting’.”
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Library Journal (starred review)
About John Vaillant
John Vaillant is the author of acclaimed, award-winning nonfiction books, including the bestsellers The Golden Spruce and The Tiger. His debut novel, The Jaguar’s Children, was a finalist for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award. His many awards include the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Pearson Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, among others.
About the Narrators
Ozzie Rodriguez is a narrator, voice artist, and actor of film, television, and the stage, performing in many independent features, such as My Life: Untitled, Escape from South LA, and his co-produced, self-written project Elevator.
David Harvard Lawrence XVII is an American television and film actor, voice talent, network radio host, internet entrepreneur, podcaster, demo producer, teacher, and author. He is best known for his role as the Puppetmaster on NBC’s sci-fi series Heroes. He was also the host of the David Lawrence Show and weekend Online Tonight, both nationally syndicated radio talk shows that revolved around pop culture and high-tech lifestyle. The “XVII” in his name was a way for Lawrence to distinguish himself from previous David Lawrences already registered with the Screen Actors Guild. At the time, he was the seventeenth David Lawrence listed on IMDB and appended the number to his name upon his own registry.