291E: An orphan boy in colonial Quito

I lived in Quito, Ecuador from 1950 through 1952, and remember reading a book about an orphan boy, possibly on crutches, who lived in colonial Quito. The illustrations were in black, white and yellow (I think!)

2 thoughts on “291E: An orphan boy in colonial Quito

  1. Melissa

    Maybe this one? Chico of the Andes by Christina von Hagen. (1943) A story of Ecuador, and of a small mountain lad who learns that he is an unknown orphan, and who sets out to find the solution to the mystery of his birth. There is a vocational background here — the weaving of fine Panamas — and Chico seems to have inherited not only that gift, from the unknown parents, but a true Latin ability to make a good bargain. His puzzle is almost too easily solved -but the solution is capped when he decides to go back to his mountain home and to the old man who has been in loce parentis — and who turns out to be his real grandfather. Rather an overplayed succession of coincidences make a forced story, but the feel of the country is well handled.

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  2. Nancy Risser

    Thanks so much for your message, but unfortunately, I do not think that this is the book I remember. I have a vivid memory of it being set in old Quito, with some elegant drawings of the colonial buildings.

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