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Ambientado en la majestuosa geografía de los Andes, este libro apasionante cuenta la vida de Manuela Sáenz, quien ganó su lugar en la historia como el gran amor del libertador de Suramérica, Simón Bolívar.

La vida de Manuela Sáenz en sí es fascinante. Abandonando su posición como una de las mujeres más ricas de Lima, Sáenz trabajó clandestinamente con conspiradores para derrocar los representantes corruptos del reino español. Este camino eventualmente la llevó a conocer a Bolívar en 1822, cuando ella tenía veinticinco años. La atracción fue inmediata y por ocho años fueron amantes, hasta la muerte de Bolívar. Durante esta época turbulenta, Manuela luchó en varias batallas, consiguiendo el rango de coronel, y fue eventualmente encarcelada, herida y por último desterrada de por vida de Colombia y Ecuador.

Nuestras Vidas Son los Ríos dramatiza la lucha de Suramérica por su independencia no solo desde el punto de vista de Sáenz, si no también desde la mirada de otras dos mujeres excepcionales: Natán y Jonotás, las esclavas de Sáenz. Con este paso audaz, Manrique muestra diferentes (y a veces encontradas) versiones de Bolívar, de Manuela y de las consecuencias importantes del movimiento de independencia—no solo para los descendientes españoles, si no también para los esclavos y para la enorme población indígena de los Andes.

Esta novela ejemplar de Manrique revela a Manuela Sáenz como una mujer única y brillante a quien lectores modernos encontrarán imposible de olvidar.

Carlitos’ mother is a janitor. Every night, he sleeps while his mother cleans in one of the skyscrapers in downtown L.A. When she comes home, she waves Carlitos off to school before she goes to sleep. One night, his mama explains that she can’t make enough money to support him and his abuelita the way they need unless she makes more money as a janitor. She and the other janitors have decided to go on strike. Will he support her and help her all he can? Of course, Carlitos wants to help but he cannot think of a way until his teacher, Miss Lopez, explains in class how her own grandfather had fought for better wages for farmworkers when he first came to the United States. Finally, Carlitos knows how he can show his mama how proud he is of her. He and the other children in his class make posters and Carlitos joins the marchers with a very special sign for his mom!

Diana Cohn, the author, is a social activist. As an elementary teacher, she discovered there were few books for children that discussed social issues, so she began to write as an avocation. She now works as Program Director for the Solidago Foundation, a foundation that supports communities working for economic and environmental justice. She lives on a houseboat in Sausalito, California. Francisco Delgado, the illustrator, grew up in Juarez, Chihuahua, but completed high school in El Paso, Texas. He will -receive his MFA at Yale in Painting, Drawing, and Printmaking in May 2002. Francisco is becoming known nationally for his political paintings that satirize U.S. icons blind to the mestizo and immigrant communities of Mexico. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut. Luis J. Rodriguez (Always Running) adds the afterword and a poem.