BRADENTON, Fla. - Feb. 16, 2021 - About the book:
Rafael Ortega leads a quiet, uneventful life in the port town of Cádiz, but danger is never far from sight. The Spanish Inquisition looms over Spain with watchful eyes, waiting for any sign of heresy, and press gangs roam the coast looking for vulnerable young men to kidnap into servitude. For a Jewish boy like Rafael, whose family's faith is itself a dangerous secret, the question is less of if, but of when. It is on one fateful morning that the clock runs out: news of religious Inquisitors at Rafael's doorstep sends him rushing home in fear for his family. While risking a shortcut through the seedy backstreets of town, he is ambushed. The next thing he knows, he's been bound, stuffed into a wagon, and smuggled aboard a ship. Her name is El Albatros, and Rafael is now an unwilling member of her crew. Unaware of the fate of his family, Rafael finds himself in uncharted territory—at the mercy of El Albatros and the whims of the men on board as she journeys across the ocean to the New World. It is a voyage that will take them straight into the pirate-infested waters of the Caribbean, and Rafael, headed for the far side of the known world, can only hope he will make it out alive.

More information may be found here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692210016

About the Author: Joel was a staff writer for CTB McGraw-Hill. His stories and articles appeared in BLACK BELT Magazine, INSIDE KUNG FU, and CRICKET Magazine.

A current member of The Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators, he is the author of THE PIGEON MAN (Pants On Fire Press, 2015), A HANUKKAH WITH MAZEL (Lerner Books Group, Kar-Ben Publishing, 2016), and THE CAPTURE OF RAFAEL ORTEGA (Pants On Fire Press, 2020).

Joel lives in Florida with his wife, his son, two birds, and a tortoise.

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David Powers