• Age: 0 to 18
• Grade: p to 12
• Reading age: 0

Winner of the Casa de las Americas Award, one of the most important prizes given in the Spanish-speaking world

Perro Viejo (Old Dog) is an old, worn-out black Cuban slave who just wants to die. Taken away from his mother at birth, he has known no other life than that of servitude. The only thing that keeps Perro Viejo alive is the memory of Asuncion, a beautiful black girl he once met while washing his master's horses. Never to see her again, he shuts his heart to all forms of love.

In his later years he meets Beira, an old slave who is avoided by the other slaves because they think she is a witch. Together they decide to help Aisa, a ten-year-old runaway slave, escape. They might not reach El Colibri and get their freedom, but for the first time in his life Perro Viejo knows what it is to love -- and to feel free.

Teresa Cardenas is Cuba's best-known author for young people and is a world-famous storyteller and dancer. She has won the Casa de las Americas prize for her novel Perro Viejo / Old Dog and Cuba's National Prize in Literary Criticism for Cartas al cielo (published as Letters to My Mother / Cartas a mi mama in North America). She lives in Havana with her two children.

Teresa Cardenas' profile page

• Commended, Americas Award Commended List
• Winner, Casa de las Americas Prize

Strong characters power Cardenas' colorful, uncompromising story.

Sacramento Bee

...a welcome addition to a reading list on black history or slavery. Its brevity and perspective lends itself to being a springboard for discussion.

CM Magazine

...[a] powerful story that will invite classroom discussion among older readers.

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