To help her poverty-stricken family, thirteen-year-old Lupita enters California as an illegal alien and starts to work while constantly on the watch for 'la migra.'

At turns heartbreaking, uplifting, fiercely romantic, and riotously funny, QUEEN OF AMERICA tells the unforgettable story of a young woman coming of age and finding her place in a new world. Beginning where Luis Alberto Urrea's bestselling The Hummingbird's Daughter left off, QUEEN OF AMERICA finds young Teresita Urrea, beloved healer and "Saint of Cabora," with her father in 1892 Arizona. But, besieged by pilgrims in desperate need of her healing powers, and pursued by assassins, she has no choice but to flee the borderlands and embark on an extraordinary journey into the heart of turn-of-the-century America. Teresita's passage will take her to New York, San Francisco, and St. Louis, where she will encounter European royalty, Cuban poets, beauty queens, anxious immigrants and grand tycoons-and, among them, a man who will force Teresita to finally ask herself the ultimate question: is a saint allowed to fall in love?

In this debut novel, T.M. Spooner convincingly portrays the often perilous journey north for Mexican migrants. The novel is narrated by anthropology student Paul Westin who is drawn to Mexico by one of the men he befriends while researching his doctoral dissertation. As Westin becomes more involved with the migrants and learns of a tragedy among them, he struggles to maintain professional objectivity. In Mexico he encounters La Purísima, the fractured village and symbol of rural Mexico, desperately struggling with the death of one of its own young men. The strange and unexpected reactions of the villagers force Westin and a local priest, Father Gabriel, to search for a solution to save La Purísima. Spooner tells the story with keen insight and knowledge of the contrasts between the U.S and Mexico. The novel, both exciting and authentic, shines light on Mexican migrants who are so often seen as a faceless mass. The novel reveals that the journey north is not only an economic necessity, but has evolved into a rite of passage for so many of Mexico's rural youth. Many migrants come reluctantly and the result can be tragic. T.M. Spooner's prose are filled with clarity and depth of knowledge of Mexico's past and present. The Salvation of La Purísima is compellingly told and written - with tender regard for its characters. We will see much more from this insightful and gifted writer.