B. Palma www.paloalto-bilingual-adventures.com

Four new books in the Palo Alto Adventure Books series

Posted: 11/09/2009

It's strange to work on four books at the same time but when I finished "And Then", I realized that there was too big a gap between "10 Horses and a Pony" and the young people ten years later.  As Leora and Juanita were between 11 and 12 in the first book and Pedro and Rafael were between 14 and 15, I realized that I needed to write at least two books that would take place during those ten years. In the next book, "El Dorado" (I know that my readers wondered what was going to happen to that beautiful foal), Leora and Juanita are now 15 and Pedro and Rafael are graduating from High School. Ramon, Juanita's mean cousin is now a member of a malevolent gang of thieves. In the next book, "Love's End", the girls have finished High School and the boys are finishing college.  The friendship they had in their early teens blossoms and the beginning love is interrupted by tragedy and separation. In ready-to-be-published "And Then," years of separation have passed and both Pedro and Rafael are becoming famous in very different occupations. Leora returns to Mexico and is attacked by a mountain lion. Dr. Juanita takes care of her but Ramon, now head of a drug cartel, stalks them with his army of crooks and kidnappers. Their adventerous life when young now becomes a real fight for their lives. As these books took shape, suddenly another book started writing itself in my mind; the story of Rafael's and Elena's grandmother's tragic life amidst the German Nazi colony in Mexico City. Although almost finished, it will have to wait until the three sequel books are published. It is the only book of the seven where horses do not play a major part. I hope the saga of the Palo Alto friends and their horses have kept my readers interested and curious about what happened to them as they grew up.  These books will help solve their curiosity. Thank you, B. Palma