Sister Juana In©s de la Cruz - A library for Juana: the world of Sor Juana In©s

THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF

Text copyright 2002 by Pat Mora
Illustrations copyright 2002 by Beatriz Vidal

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States of America by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Distributed by Random House, Inc., New York.
KNOPF, BORZOI BOOKS, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Permission to reprint the English translation appearing on is as follows: Reprinted by permission of the publisher from A Sor Juana Anthology, translated by Alan S. Trueblood, p. 71, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, Copyright 1988 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mora, Pat.
A library for Juana : the world of Sor Juana Ins / by Pat Mora ; illustrated by Beatriz Vidal.
p. cm.
Summary: A biography of the seventeenth-century Mexican poet, learned in many subjects, who became a nun later in life.
ISBN 0-375-80643-1 (trade)
ISBN 0-375-90643-6 (lib. bdg.)
ISBN 0-385-90863-6 (Span. lib. bdg.)
ISBN 0-440-41765-1 (Span. pbk.)
eISBN: 978-0-375-98371-9

1. Juana Ins de la Cruz, Sister, 16511695Childhood and youthJuvenile literature. 2. Women authors, Mexican17th centuryBiographyJuvenile literature. 3. Authors, Mexican17th centuryBiographyJuvenile literature. 4. NunsMexicoBiographyJuvenile literature. [1. Juana Ins de la Cruz, Sister, 16511695Childhood and youth. 2. Authors, Mexican. 3. Nuns. 4. WomenBiography.]

I. Vidal, Beatriz, ill. II. Title.
PQ7296.J6 Z6993 2002
861.3dc21 [B]
2001050851

v3.1

I wish to express my gratitude to the Sor Juanistas, scholars of Sor Juana, particularly Margaret Sayers Peden.

F or my book-loving children, Bill, Libby, and Cissy.
P.M.

A mis padres, que me dieron alas y rosas y miel.
B.V.

J uana Ins! called her mother. What are you doing? Juana closed the big book. Her grandfather, Abuelo Pedro, was always reading. Here in his house near Mexico City in Nueva Espaa, he had stacks of books everywhere. Juana liked to make a nest with his books all around her. She opened them, turning the pages and looking for pictures. She was too little to read, but she wondered what all the words said.

J uana was born many years ago, in 1648. Why? was three-year-old Juanas favorite question.

Why do volcanoes smoke? Juana asked when she played outside and looked at two mountains puffing white smoke.

Mam, why are leaves green? she asked when she collected wildflowers by the river. Juana liked the soft and thorny roses by her house best. With her fingertip, she stroked their furled petals and touched their prickly thorns. She smelled their sweet redness. Juana even sang rhymes to the roses, Rosa hermosa, rosa hermosa.

She played with sounds when she skipped down the dirt road, saying, Luna, cuna. Bella, estrella.

O ne morning Juanas big sister said, Juana Ins, I cant play with you today.

Why? asked Juana.

Im going to learn to read at our neighbors house, said her sister. Im going to read books like Abuelo.

Me too! I want to go with you! said Juana Ins. Mam, I want to learn to read!

But youre too little, Juana Ins, her mother said.

Every day Juana and her mother watched her sister leave for school. One morning when her mother was busy, Juana followed her sister, hiding carefully behind trees and bushes. When the big girls went inside, Juana stood on her tiptoes and peeked in the window. She saw the girls reading and writing.

T he next day, Juana again followed her sister to school, but she didnt hide. She walked up to the teacher and said, Seora, I want to read. Por favor, will you teach me?

The big girls all giggled at such a little student, but the teacher looked carefully at Juana. Finally, she said, Yes, you may come to school, Juana Ins, but you must study and behave.

I am quiet like a turtle, said Juana.

First you must learn your lettersA, B, C, D , said the teacher.

Why? asked Juana.

We make words with letters. Look, r-o-s-a. Juana Ins looked at the letters for rose and saw soft red petals.