Set in 1960's Brazil, Shantytown is a YA novel that shows how a sixteen year-old boy, Mario, successfully engages with the challenges and temptations of Papa's world of poverty, injustice, prostitution, violence and crime, which he is determined to leave behind in pursuit of a decent way of life. A complete break with the past means discovering a new identity. He ought to commit to a vision for his future life beyond their squatter's gully. Mario has to overcome the shadowy religious traditions of a Papa immersed in the spirit world of macumba that help him in his life of crime, imprisonment and torture, and convince his mother that joining Papa's criminal gang is not what is best for him. He needs to reject his school chums that would have him manage a stable of prostitutes. Taking a bus out of shantytown is not easy, and Mario is constantly brought down by circumstances of his world. Yet he finds a way to break out. He was not born a hero, but discovers and grows an inner courage with the help of friends that sustain him throughout the struggle. Mario learns to be master of his own life, to look out for his family, to love his girlfriend, and stand by his community.
About the Author: I grew up in the ancient city of Kilkenny, Ireland, and like the Kilkenny cats as we are called, I have had many lives. I became a Catholic priest, worked for ten years in Brazilian shantytowns during the period of military dictatorship, and discovered the importance of human rights. See myYA novel, "Shantytown". I moved to New York, and taught sociological theory and the sociology of religion in the City University of New York. I edited and introduced a book of theoretical essays by my deceased friend, Emil Oestereicher, "Thinking, Feeling and Doing", wrote articles on religious developments in South America's Catholic Church, and on the resurgence of evangelical religion in the US. I also promoted human rights with a member of Jimmy Carter's State Department, and organized the New York Forum on Brazil 1978/79. I translated Leonardo Boff's "Jesus Christ Liberator" from Portuguese into English. In January 1992, I went on a UN Peacekeeping Mission to promote human rights in Cambodia, then South Africa, and on to Angola where I retired in 2003 as Deputy Director of the Human Rights Division after the civil war ended. See my fictional human rights thriller, "Three Stars Above Luanda". In this period I also published humorous short stories for children and wrote human rights plays for TV, radio, which were staged in the National Theater. In Florida I have written and directed two plays, so the cat has had yet another life in retirement. While I always had the ability to see the funny and ironic side of things, I dedicated my life to rather serious stuff, successful or not, I have to agree with the aphorism: hard work never killed anyone, even if it did not make much money for me. I hope readers enjoy my work even if it has a serious side to it. I am happily married, and have two wonderful children. Yet another life!