by Elizabeth Borton De Trevino
First published 2005
Lalo cannot speak. He lost his voice the same day his mother died. Now he lives in colonial Mexico in 1630, caring for an unusual charge: a white deer from China. The albino animal arrived sick and weak, destined as a royal gift for the King of Spain. Lalo must nurse the deer back to strength before it can make the long ocean voyage to the Spanish court. The boy forms a deep bond with the fragile creature as he tends to its needs. Both are outsiders marked by difference. Lalo's journey takes him to the Mountain of the Sleeping Lady, where he must confront his grief and find his own path to healing. The silent boy and the pale deer discover they can communicate without words, finding solace in each other's company amid a world that sees them as strange.
Genres: animals, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, coming-of-age
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, outsiders
Setting: China, Mexico, Spain
Period: 1630
128 pages · Paperback · Bethlehem Books