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 * This article is about the novel. For the unrelated 1999 film, see Secret of the Andes (film)

Description
Secret of The Andes is a children's novel written by Ann Nolan Clark and illustrated by Jean Charlot. It was first published on March 7th, 1952 by Viking Press. It was later published by Puffin Books on October 28th 1976 It recieved the Newbery Medal in 1953. The setting of this book takes place in the Andes Mountains in Peru. In 1945, the Institute for Inter-American Affairs sent Clark to live and travel for five years in Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil. Those experiences led her to write books such as Magic Money, Looking-for-Something, and Secret of the Andes, which won the 1953 Newbery Medal.

Plot
Cusi is a 20th century Incan boy who lives in a high mountain valley with an old llama herder named Chuto. Chuto raised Cusi in a traditional Incan fashion, despite the fact that Spanish culture is prevalent in Peru since the conquest of the Incan Empire. Although eager for adventure, Cusi is still drawn to the home he has known all his life. Cusi sets out from his home to try to find a family. The reader follows Cusi on his biggest journey yet as he tries to find the meaning of life and discover more about his Incan roots outside the Andes Mountains.

Characters

 * Cusi, the main character, is a modern-day Native American boy who is unsatisfied with his life in the Andes Mountains, tending to his llamas and raised only by his guardian Chuto, Cusi feels isolated from civilization. He embarks on a journey to discover his true meaning in life and to search for the family that he longs for.
 * Chuto, is an old Native American who is highly knowledgeable in the history of the Incan Empire and their culture. He is also Cusi's mentor and hopes to pass on his knowledge to Cusi so that he can become the guardian of the hidden valley and help preserve the traditional Incan culture.
 * Misti, is Cusi's favorite pet llama who accompanies him on his journey.

Reception
E. B. White's Charlotte's Web was a runner-up for the Newbery Medal the year Secret of the Andes won the award. According to a 2008 article by children's literature expert Anita Silvey in the School Library Journal, one member of the Newbery committee stated that she voted for Secret of the Andes rather than Charlotte's Web "because she hadn't seen any good books about South America." Silvey further commented, "The Secret of the Andes is a good book; Charlotte's Web, the best." An article written by Gary D. Schmidt states that the reason why Secret of the Andes won the Newbery Award was because it presented a shift in cultural setting and perspective, "In a climate that stressed the importance of presenting new cultures to child readers, it is perhaps understandable that one of the elements that led to E.B. White's Charlotte's Web(1952) being awarded a Newbery Honor and Ann Nolan Clark's Secrets of the Andes(1952) being awarded that years Newbery Award might be that the latter presets the stubborn and noble persistence of the Incan culture within Spanish-conquered Peru, as Cusi resovles to hold on to the secrets of his ancestors and to cherish the traditions of herding llamas, who "watched him with eyes that were ancient and wise and sad with the grief of a conquered people"(80)." Kirkus review writes, Miss Clark's skill as a story teller, as interpreter of Indian feelings, mountain feelings, dramatic contrasts between the age of Inca civilization and the newness of the modern world, are put to much better use at this age level than at the younger, though her marked immersion in the genre, the interpolation of Incan songs and myths, the whole idyllic quality, may still be a bit hard to take.