Mercedes Sosa: Voice of the People

“Have you ever heard a song that made your heart soar? A canción that captured your corazón?” Via folk-style digital collage and lengthy, beat-by-beat text, Perez-Prado traces the life of Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa (1935–2009) alongside her country’s sociopolitical climate. Growing up in a “humble home, sometimes there was not enough to eat, but there was always an abundance of amor.” Watching her father “sweat, struggle, and strain. All for a few pesos” at a sugar mill impacted her worldview. Through her singing—first as a child, then as a member of the Nuevo Cancionero movement—Mercedes became a social justice advocate who “gave a voice to the voiceless.” Argentina’s 1970s and ’80s rule by military junta subsequently saw her arrested, then exiled, and then becoming known as La Voz de Latinoamérica. Distilling Argentina’s history into accessible text, the work ends on an uplifting note, discussing how the figure’s “songs of empathy and esperanza, fearlessness and fuerza helped the country begin to heal.” A lengthy afterword offers further context. Ages 7–10. (Sept.)