I Once Was Lost
by
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How many times as an inquisitive adult, or adventure hungry, young boy or girl have you marveled at a perfectly round, spinning sphere of blues and greens, have marveled at a map makers precision of boundless boundaries, or marveled at the depiction of age old wrinkled triangles called mountains, asymmetrical shapes called continents, and endless bodies of water called oceans or seas?
As a child, I too followed the boundary lines of a map with my right pointer finger. I too spread my hand across a continent to compare the sizes of continents or endless blue waters. And like you I wondered of the day when the little red pin on my map (representing me) would swoosh through the air like a jet, and land on a place I had never been to before. Later, tired and excited with the prospect of travel, I would shoot my cold feet between my green blanket and white sheets. Then I would flip my body around, and slam my nose into my clean white pillow. Finally, and with much precision, I would flip onto my back and sigh. “Would climate change, one day, cause the vastness of seas to swallow up everything including me? I would bring it up in school tomorrow. Never mind. My teacher would just tell me to look it up on the Internet.”
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About the Book
This deeply moving story is about a young Spanish boy living in the 1500s. Until now, only his close Catholic family, and his mother’s devotion to God have shaped him. He leaves Spain under strange circumstances, and is adopted by two suspicious sailors. Who or what will have the greatest hold on him?
About the Author
Maria Flores Lingo is a first-generation Puerto Rican American. She was born and raised in New York City to uneducated parents. She surprised her family by going to college. She was told to major in bilingual education. Instead, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature with a minor in Education at Queens College, City University of New York.
While living in Southern California, she was asked to teach elementary school instead of high school. Elementary education introduced her to English Language Learners and children’s books. Her love of teaching young children, and reading to them helped her to receive the California Distinguished School Teacher Award.
Another providential move took her to Naples, Florida. Mrs. Lingo continued working with elementary students. She had the opportunity of teaching children from many different countries; especially, Latin America. (At one time, almost 10 different Latin American Countries were represented by first generation American children in her class.) Although young, the students’ interests in each other sparked an investigation on “Why Over 30 Countries Speak Spanish.” It was then that Mrs. Lingo developed her interest in Colonial Spain, the Colombian Exchange and the Caribbean.
To her surprise, in 2010 the Foundation for Excellence in Education and its chairman (Governor Jeb Bush) awarded Maria Lingo the Excel Award. She was one of the top 100 teachers in Florida, whose students made remarkable gains in the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
In her fifties, she was moved to acquire her Master’s in Reading Education. Then she was driven to write. Her first book (I Once Was Lost) is a culmination of her loves: Christianity, history, teaching and writing.