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Ramon Salazar grew up knowing many things. Some were true facts, like the fact that one day he would become a partner with his father, pearling the waters of Baja California. Some, perhaps, were not facts, like the stories his mother told him about the Manta Diablo. This monster of the sea hd the shape of a kite, but was as large as the largest ship in the harbor of La Paz, with seven rows of teeth in his mouth, Ramon's mother said. Other mothers and fathers and grandfathers in the village described the Manta Diablo differently, but all agreed that the Manta was there in the Vermilion Sea and he was the most dangerous creature in it. This dramatic story takes place when Ramon is sixteen, when he learns about pearling and about the Manta Diablo. For Ramon's dream of diving for pearls himself, as well as weighing them in to the counting house, leads him to find the great pearl---the magnificent, dusky Pearl of Heaven. B ut his discovery also gains for Ramon two enemies; the Manta whose pearl it truly is and the Sevillano, the finest diver in his father's fleet. And as the moving events unfold, Ramon learns that possession of the giant pearl profoundly reshapes his life. Recommended for ages 12 and up. A Newbery Honor book for 1968.
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