"The Cantora" Outstanding YA & Adult Novel - "Likely the Best Young Adult Novel Published This Year"

SPOKANE, Wash. - Aug. 28, 2017 - PRLog -- The Cantora (The Native Singer of Colonial Brazil) is both a Young Adult and Adult novel with some parallels to The Book Thief. The novel provides compelling and historical perspectives of Brazil, North Africa and Europe in the early 1500s. The narrative portrays life with the native tribes of Brazil and on sugar plantations, then voyages to the Caribbean, and later across the Atlantic to Africa and Europe. Every setting is different— Food, dress, social conduct, religion, culture, and of course the people. All this is intermingled with the unique and little-known history of the time, and reviewers have dubbed this novel an outstanding read.
***
. . . It all began with a rumor: an Indian girl who sang with the voice of an angel. A tiny girl, perhaps only nine years old. No one believed it at first, but the rumor persisted. Finally one day a runner arrived bringing news... And so the journey of the woman and the girl--Sister Mãe da Doçura and Yema, the Caeté Indian child acclaimed as The Cantora--begins to unfold as perilous circumstance compels them to become agents of fate, changing the destinies of all who cross their path . . .

The setting for The Cantora is coastal Brazil during the early 1500s, in the colonial town of Luís, a shipping port for the brutal and lucrative dyewood trade. Many Indians and Africans are enslaved at the port, and the Indians, afflicted with European diseases, are perishing by the hundreds.

A village priest discovers an Indian child with a magical voice, and he allows her to sing the Latin Mass. The regional bishop assigns the girl to Sister Doçura with the intention of making the child singer a ward of the Church. The child is also treasured by her tribe as a mystical Tuguy Kuna (Blood Woman).

The bishop summons The Vatican's Consilium de Virtutibus (The Council of Miracles) to certify Yema as a The First True Miracle of The New World, but when an Indian rebellion breaks out, the Council accuses the nun and child of heresy and condemns them to death as Doçura and Yema are forced to flee for their lives . . .
***
Interestingly, The Cantora enjoys a significant book club interest, particularly among young adult readers. Some of this may be due to the publisher-provided premiums to book club members who read the novel, 1) A uniquely designed silicone wristband with Cantora graphics, and 2) Oval stickers of the Cantora image.

***

Headlines for The Cantora (Editorial and Early Book Reviews)

"The Cantora, an utterly transporting reading experience. ...immensely skilled setting and scene building... Brazil during the 1500s--a vivid life for the reader." —Carina Guiterman, Editor, Little, Brown & Company Publishers

"The Cantora - The Symphony of  Words Continues … Musical… Beautiful… Complex" —Dr. Justin A. Frank, M.D., New York Times Bestselling Author of Bush on the Couch, & the Upcoming Trump on the Couch

"If You Enjoyed The Book Thief, You Will Fall In Love With Cantora" —Hailey Zwanzig, Illustrator, Left Hand Tree by Jay Gunter"

"A Lyrically Stunning Novel... A 16th Century Jackie Evancho. 5-Stars!" —Justin Haldeman, Author of the forthcoming novel The Duke's Jubilee

"The Cantora – "Most Likely The Best Young Adult Novel Published This Year," —Thomas F. Rau, Ph.D., Amazon & Goodreads

"My Nomination For Best Jewish Book Of The Year" —Nicole Brauch, Goodreads & Amazon

A two-column display for "The Cantora" will appear in the New York Times Book Review, Sunday September 17 on page 3.
***
For additional information, the following links are available:
Amazon Product Page: http://amzn.to/2tZt9yi .
The Cantora Website: http://thecantora.com/ .
         (Including an Email the Author link)
Smashwords Product Page: http://bit.ly/2mN8f2J .
         (All digital Formats)
The Cantora Facebook Page: http://bit.ly/2pPIG1u .
The Cantora Goodreads Page: http://bit.ly/2nXwPlF .
São Tomé Product Page: http://amzn.to/16BQsgw ,
         (The Prequel to The Cantora)
Rapto em Lisboa Product Page: http://bit.ly/JZEDaP ,
         (Portuguese Edition of São Tomé)
***

About Author Paul D. Cohn: In addition to the first novel São Tomé, Paul Cohn is published  overseas with the Portuguese edition Rapto em Lisboa by Medialivros/DIFEL in Lisbon. His short stories have appeared in the Huffington Post, The BoZone Monthly, The Big Sky Weekly, and Writers of the Gulch. He authored The Toolbox, a children's adventure radio series (Treehouse Corner), broadcast on KGLT Public Radio. His short story, São Tomé, won Honorable Mention in Moment Magazine's Karma Short Story Contest He has also been a guest instructor at many adult-education writing classes. His career began in nuclear engineering where he managed projects for Rockwell and Battelle Memorial Institute, and ran his own consulting business, Energy Engineering Associates. Mr. Cohn has a B.S. in chemical engineering, and an M.S. in nuclear engineering, and is the author of over 50 technical papers, journal articles, and book chapters.
_____________
Editor's note: Interested publishers in Brazil and Portugal are welcome to contact the author via http://thecantora.com/ to discuss a Portuguese language edition.