Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya 🔖🔖🔖🔖🔖

This book has a resume! 

First published January 1, 1972 

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Literary awards: Premio Quinto Sol, NMBA Richard Harris Award (2016)

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Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima enters his life. She is a curandera, one who heals with herbs and magic. 'We cannot let her live her last days in loneliness,' says Antonio's mother. 'It is not the way of our people,' agrees his father. And so Ultima comes to live with Antonio's family in New Mexico. Soon Tony will journey to the threshold of manhood. Always, Ultima watches over him. She graces him with the courage to face childhood bigotry, diabolical possession, the moral collapse of his brother, and too many violent deaths. Under her wise guidance, Tony will probe the family ties that bind him, and he will find in himself the magical secrets of the pagan past—a mythic legacy equally as palpable as the Catholicism of Latin America in which he has been schooled. At each turn in his life there is Ultima who will nurture the birth of his soul. (Source: goodreads.com)

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This is another 5 star book for me, which was unexpected. I love the symbolism, the culture, the thought-provoking questions about life, religion, healing. The characters are memorable and believable. I was entirely drawn in, making the ending deeply impactful. I highly recommend.

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Why was this banned? 

Those advocating for restricting the book charge that it demeans organized religion, advocates occult beliefs, contains offensive language, depicts violence and is sexually explicit.

In 2010, the state of Arizona sought to restrict the book from public school curricula for other reasons. To the horror of many, including the author, conservative lawmakers drafted legislation that deemed the work as having the potential to teach students to “resent or hate other races or classes of people.”

My take: 

This book does not demean religion, though it does challenge it. 

It does not advocate occult beliefs, though it does explore them.

The offensive language is mostly in Spanish and did not seem gratuitous, but rather fitting to the characters and situations.

Depicts violence in that some men are shot and another loses an eye to a bird. There are a few physical fights as well. There are also many threats of violence.   

I really don't recall anything sexually explicit. There is talk of a house nearby where "women of sin" live and men visit frequently, yet there is nothing explicit. 

The potential to resent or hate other races or classes of people feels fairly ridiculous. I actually felt a love for the Hispanic culture depicted. If they are afraid that we may learn to hate or resent white people, it would not be unwarranted (speaking as a white person), though it really isn't in the book that I recall. 

Common Sense Media says it well:  Parents need to know that Bless Me, Ultima makes it quite explicit that morals are subjective and not absolute. Catholicism is treated reverently, but its long-held and sometimes contradictory beliefs are constantly questioned. At the same time, pagan magic is depicted more as a Native American passion for and connection to the earth and its elements than as witchcraft.

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Journal Prompts from Summit Learning

Reader's Guide from National Endowment of the Arts

Lesson Plans from National Endowment of the Arts