PRIETITA AND THE GHOST WOMAN
Prietita Y La Llorona
About
Anzaldúa believed that children’s literature could play an important role in shaping our understanding of the world, building self-confidence in young children, and challenging stereotypes. She wanted to write the children’s books that she, as a young Spanish-speaking child, would have loved to read. And so, she created Prietita, a confident young chicanx and curandera-in-the-making, and the protagonist of her two bilingual children’s books.
In Prietita and the Ghost Woman, Prieta undergoes a harrowing quest to find a specific herb for her ailing mother; in her journey, Prietita encounters la Llorona and learns that this figure–so often presented in frightening terms–is a compassionate helper and guide. As in much of her other writing, here we see Anzaldúa offering empowering cultural gender images, challenging consensual reality, and weaving magic into her words.