In 1983, I naively traveled to Guatemala, wishing to serve those in need by working with an evangelical ministry there. Nothing that I planned for happened, and the unexpected very much did, leading me into mountain villages where children had never seen someone like me, becoming slowly aware of the political turmoil that would lead to a military coup, ousting the president, and creating an environment that was threatening to those of my faith at the time. Through it all, I experienced great hospitality from the very poor, was encouraged by their New Testmant faith, and will cherish always singing, in the mountain villages, with the children.

Guatemala draws some half million tourists each year, whose brief visits to the ruins of ancient Maya cities and contemporary highland Maya villages may give them only a partial and folkloric understanding of Guatemalan society. In this vividly written travel narrative, Stephen Connely Benz explores the Guatemala that casual travelers miss, using his encounters with ordinary Guatemalans at the mall, on the streets, at soccer games, and even at the funeral of massacre victims to illuminate the social reality of Guatemala today. The book opens with an extended section on the capital, Guatemala City, and then moves out to the more remote parts of the country where the Guatemalan Indians predominate. Benz offers us a series of intelligent and sometimes humorous perspectives on Guatemala's political history and the role of the military, the country's environmental degradation, the influence of foreign missionaries, and especially the impact of the United States on Guatemala, from governmental programs to fast food franchises.

Cuban Studies 39 includes essays on: the recent transformation of the Cuban film animation industry; the influence of the liberal agenda of Justo Rufino Barrios on Jose Mart; a profile of the music of the Special Period and its social commentary; an in-depth examination of the contents, important themes, and enormous research potential of the Miscelnea de Expedientes collection at the Cuban National Archive; and a realistic assessment on the political future of Cuba.

A Broken Flute: The Native Experience in Books for Children is a companion to its predecessor published by Oyate, Through Indian Eyes: The Native Experience in Books for Children. A compilation of work by Native parents, children, educators, poets and writers, A Broken Flute contains, from a Native perspective, 'living stories,' essays, poetry, and hundreds of reviews of 'children's books about Indians.' It's an indispensable volume for anyone interested in presenting honest materials by and about indigenous peoples to children.

Sheriff Robert Gallegos, tall, handsome, quiet, friendly, Native American/Hispanic, an ex-WWII Marine is determined that the encroaching Juarez, Mexico drug cartel that will stop at nothing to take over his south eastern New Mexico, Aragon Valley - will not, on his watch, succeed. But as intimidation, rape and murder stalk the rural community, the reality of the threat, this summer of 1965, grows ominously closer. A man's man, with friends dating back to childhood and enemies current, romantic when the time is right, the Sheriff's real companion is Old Lady Sara Tree-Root Tampoya, the part-Hopi Medicine Woman who communicates with Grey Lady Between the Mountains, bringer of passages of life and of death, as he struggles to stay centered in the present and decipher the past, to understand who he really is. The wild red-dust wind gallops day and night through the streets of this fictional Aragon Valley county and town, situated near the Rio Grande, somewhere between Las Cruces and the borders of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad de Juarez, Mexico. Santa Feans, Easterners, Denver and West Coast hippies, foreigners and lovers are welcomed, Juarez drug cartel goons are not, and all soon learn to ask no personal questions.

Examines the plight of Mayans who have fled the violent political situation in Guatemala and settled in a community in southern Florida.