Praying for an Eclipse
A Three Part Series
Mother Moon Father Sun The Eclipse
Book One Book Two Book Three
Photo by Jude Joffe-Block
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My Story
I am the product of a proud Cuban heritage, a mother who loved laughter, a father who exemplified discipline, teachers who fueled the love for reading, and an innate desire to exercise a vivid imagination. As a school teacher, I infected students with the love of reading. Non-fiction has a place in my library, but it is the narratives of creative giants such as Khaled Hosseini, Ken Follett and Barbara Kingsolver that feed my soul. My professional journey has taken me on a progression from teaching to preaching. Both careers require walking with people and appreciating the diversity of life; fertilizer for the creative soil from which stories emerge.
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In 2014 thousands of unaccompanied children were fleeing from Central America with the hope of entering the U.S. Many people opened their homes and lives to these children, while others unleashed a wave of xenophobia. Wanting to make a difference, I led an educational program about this immigration crisis centered on dialogue. Praying for an Eclipse was inspired by the stories surrounding this exodus. I hope you enjoy this novel. More importantly, I hope you are able to better understand the plight of Central American people.
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Praying for an eclipse
Mother Moon
Book One
Praying for an Eclipse is a three-part historical novel, spanning ninety-five years in the life of a Mexican family torn apart by violence. The family matriarch, Suré, is an indigenous woman from a tribe in Northern Mexico, the Tarahumara, also known as the Rarámuri.
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Book One, Mother Moon, begins in 1920 at the end of the Mexican Revolution. In those days, the Catholic Church still sent missionaries to the Sierra Madre Mountains to Christianize the indigenous people. In the opening chapter we meet Leandro, a Jesuit priest, who was sent to a Tarahumara village as a missionary. There he meets Suré, and, after a series of bizarre events, falls in love with her. The romantic couple enter "civilization" only to be victims of drunken violence, forcing Suré into a life of servitude and oppression.
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Praying for an Eclipse: Mother Moon narrates the traumatic journey of Suré through a society structured to keep her oppressed. It is a compelling story of survival and triumph rooted in a dark and violent period of Mexico's history.
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Praying for an Eclipse
Father Sun
Book Two
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In Praying for an Eclipse: Father Sun we meet the descendants of Suré, who in the year 2014 are living in the slums of Guatemala City. Abject poverty push Lucia and Merci, great granddaughters of Suré, into a life of prostitution. Their ties to the MS-13 gang places their family in imminent danger, forcing them to send their boys, Javi and Santi to the United States as refugees. The compelling and gut-wrenching life of this family, portrays the Central American realities and their decision to leave their homes and migrate to the U.S. in search of a better life.
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Praying for an eclipse
The Eclipse
Book three
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The final book in this three-part-series narrates the realities of unaccompanied minors at the U.S. border and how they struggle to find refuge in a new land full of promise and danger. Javi and Santi have made it across Mexico, and are trying to be reunited with a distant uncle. Their destinies are intertwined with Lee, grandson of Suré and Mexican-American activist for immigration reform. Through a series of bizarre events Lee learns that these boys are the key to a mystery that has plagued his family for generations. The healing, prayed for by Suré, is finally within reach if only Lee can get these boys accepted into the U.S.
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Rise of the Spiritual activist
A beginner's guide for integrating
faith and justice
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Rise of the Spiritual Activist connects faith with social justice and seeks to provide for the would-be activist a spiritual model for advocacy. Economic injustice, oppression, sexism, racism, homophobia, pollution of God's creation, and many other societal concerns will need to be addressed in today's arena of advocacy and social protest, making this book relevant for people who want to repair the world.
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The reviews are in
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What an amazing book! Wow, I feel like I almost need to catch my breath! It was just one thing after another right to the end, and I mean that in a good way. I thought that Guillermo Márquez-Sterling’s storytelling was impressive. I was really surprised by not only how strongly written “Praying For An Eclipse” was, but how well-researched and ‘authentic’ it seemed on every level, from dialogue to scene descriptions to events, even characters.
(4-5 stars)
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ANABELLA JOHNSON,
Goodreads; Barnes & Noble; Indie Book Reviews
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