In 1824 New Mexico, nine-year-old Josefina is happy when her grandparents and aunt come to visit, but she thinks she must choose between meeting her grandmother's expectations and being true to herself. Includes historical notes on women's rights in New Mexico in 1824 as well as a recipe for apple empanaditas.

"New Mexico's master storyteller creates a southwestern version of the Arabian Nights in this fable set in seventeenth-century Santa Fe. In January 1680 a dozen Pueblo Indians are charged with conspiring to incite a revolution against the colonial government. When the prisoners are brought before the Governor, one of them is revealed as a young woman. Educated by the friars in her pueblo's mission church, Serafina speaks beautiful Spanish and surprises...