The Queen of Water
By Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farninago

   Virginia’s true story starts in a small Andean village in Ecuador with her indígena family and siblings before everything changed. She had very little other than a dream of a life beyond the small confines of her dirt hut. Everything Virginia knew about the world she learned from herself and when she shared that she dreamed of a life where she was a successful mestiza she was shot down for disrespecting her people. When Virginia was seven years old she was taken away to work for a rich mestizo family. Theoretically, this supposed to help the indígena by helping them get jobs, but in reality it sentences the lower class into slavery.
Virginia is thrown into a new life filled with all the luxuries she always dreamed of like televisions and the clean clothes she finally gets to wear, but she faces her looming and abusive bosses that force a new culture on her constantly remind her she is worthless and and should be grateful that she does not live with her family because they never wanted her in the first place. Virginia works hard to prepare herself for a future she does not even know if she can live out. Virginia is made to feel ashamed of where comes from and does her best to hide it from the world. Her story reveals the true beauty and evil in ecuadorian culture. Also, it sheds light on the daily struggles of the indígena minority. So she is stuck in between two worlds, but does not belong to either of them.
When I think of discrimination, I think black and white. This book presented me with a new perspective on the struggles people face for how they look and where they come from. Also, this is a wonderful take on the classic underdog story. Nothing makes the tears flow more than rooting a character that you learned to love as they figure who they really are. This read really broadened my horizons and has left me asking more questions about the world around me. Other than the slightly slow moving plot I recommend to any curious person out there looking to be inspired by the valiant efforts of a young woman fighting her odds to make her way in the world. Virginia embodies all the qualities we hope to achieve so follow along as Laura Resau helps to tell Maria Virginia Farninago’s moving and uplifting story.