THE SECRET FOOTPRINTS

Book ID/图书代码： 12560511B45496

English Summary/英文概要： The Dominican legend of the ciguapas, creatures who lived in underwater caves and whose feet were on backward so that humans couldn’t follow their footprints, is reinvented by renowned author Julia Alvarez. Although the ciguapas fear humans, Guapa, a bold and brave ciguapa, can’t help but be curious--especially about a boy she sees on the nights when she goes on the land to hunt for food. When she gets too close to his family and is discovered, she learns that some humans are kind. Even though she escapes unharmed and promises never to get too close to a human again, Guapa still sneaks over to the boy’s house some evenings, where she finds a warm pastelito in the pocket of his jacket on the clothesline.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 《秘密脚印》是根据多米尼加的一个民间传说创作的儿童文学作品。作为从小便在多米尼加共和国长大的女孩，我记得曾听见过关于一种神奇而又有点凶猛的生物ciguapas的故事。这些生活在部落里的美丽女子都隐秘在水下生活，但一到夜晚便会出来捕食猎物。没有人能找到她们的踪迹，因为他们有着一种特别的隐秘。我曾躺在床上，努力地睁着眼睛，希望能现场看到一个。但我从未实现过这个愿望，直到我撰写了这部关于小女孩ciguapas的故事…… (Sandy)

Awards/获奖情况：Alvarez, known for adult books such as How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1999), uses her native Dominican Republic as background in this reanimation of an ancient Taino Indian folktale about beautiful creatures, the ciguapas, who are afraid of humans. So terrified that humans will capture them and force them into cages, the ciguapas live under the sea during the day, venturing forth only at night to hunt. The creatures look like humans, except for their feet, which are on backward, enabling them to elude human trackers. Their safety is threatened, though, by Guapa, whose increasing fascination with the human world causes her to be careless with her visits. Negrin’s intense pastels capture the lush tropicality of the setting and also, with their suggestion of magical realism, enhance the legend’s delicate mystery. Children will be ensnared by the danger the creatures face and cheered by the story’s resolution. A moving and informative note about the tale is appended.---Connie Fletcher, From Booklist

Grade 1-4-The brilliant blues, greens, and yellows of a tropical island set the mood for this bit of magical realism from the Dominican Republic. It is based on a legend about the ciguapas, a secret tribe of beautiful creatures who appear to be human except for their backward feet. In this tale, Guapa, a fearless young ciguapa, repeatedly risks being discovered by venturing from the undersea caves in which she lives to explore the land. Though she tries to heed her queen’s warnings, Guapa’s curiosity eventually gets the best of her, and in one of her daylight forays, she is found by a family of friendly humans who think she has twisted her ankles badly. When they leave to get a doctor, she remains in the care of their son. Having learned her lesson, she manages to escape, leaving behind a seashell for the boy, who never forgets the mysterious stranger. Alvarez’s language flows as effortlessly as the vivid colors in the pictures, setting a mood of ease and tranquillity echoed in the rounded forms and curving lines of the illustrations. This gentle tale, with its images of glowing color, conjures up a touch of magic.---Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA, From School Library Journal

Making her children’s book debut, Alvarez (How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents) fulfills only some of the potential inherent in her story, which is based on an intriguing legend from the Dominican Republic, where she grew up. The ciguapas are a secret tribe who live underwater "in cool blue caves hung with seashells and seaweed" and venture onto land only at night because they are so afraid of humans. Their unusual anatomy helps preserve their hidden existenceAtheir feet are on backward, so that "when they walked on land, they left footprints going in the opposite directions." But Guapa, an especially beautiful ciguapa, does not fear humans, even after the ciguapa queen warns her that if they capture her, people "will force you to take baths and do laundry and wash your hands before meals." Guapa’s curiosity nonetheless drives her to surface from the sea one bright day, whereupon an encounter with a kind boy and his family threatens to ruin the ciguapas’ secret. Unfortunately, the narrative is not uniformly focused and the climactic episode lacks tension; the payoff seems small. To a large extent Negrin’s (The Selfish Giant) stylized, luminous paintings compensate for the story’s shortcomings. Somehow he renders the ciguapas as both elusive and earthy. Portraying the vegetation of the sunlit tropical setting as well as the ciguapas’ watery, nocturnal frolics, he suggests a world lush with mystery. Ages 4-7. (Sept.) ---From Publishers Weekly

About the Author/作者介绍： Julia Alvarez grew up in the Dominican Republic before emigrating to the United States at the age of 10. She now lives in Vermont, where she is a writer-in-residence at Middlebury College.
Julia Alvarez原籍多明尼加共和國，幼年移居美國。她承襲的西班牙語傳統為她的英語文學創作增添了濃烈的色彩。于1971年獲佛蒙特州米德爾伯裏學院(Middlebury College)學士學位，1975年獲錫拉丘斯大學(Syracus University)寫作專業碩士學位。她擔任佈雷德洛夫作家創作班(Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference)的教師，經常為學生講課。她還在菲利普斯‧安多瓦學院(Phillips Andover Academy)、佛蒙特大學(University of Vermont)、華盛頓哥倫比亞特區喬治華盛頓大學(George Washington University, Washington, D.C.)和伊利諾大學烏爾瓦納分校(University of Illinois at Urbana)任教。她目前在米德爾伯裏學院(Middlebury College)擔任訪問作家。
作品有小説《加西亞家的姑娘不再帶口音》(How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents)]、小説《蝴蝶時代》(In the Time of the Butterflies)、詩集《彼岸》(The Other Side)、《回歸故里：新舊詩集》(Homecoming: New and Collected Poems)、小説《我！》(YO!)、《以莎樂美的名義》(In The Name of Salome)、《守護內心的女人》(The Woman I Kept to Myself)等。
Fabian Negrin has illustrated Dora’s Box and The Selfish Giant for Knopf.

Format:全彩四色

Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE

Sales in other countries/其他国家销售情况：Alfred A. Knopf, English 2000,Spanish U.S. 2004; Japan: Iwanami Shoten, 2011

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