El señor del cero (English: ''The Lord of the Zero'') is a 1997 children's novel by María Isabel Molina. The book was first published through

Alfaguara Alfaguara is a Spanish-language publishing house that serves markets in Hispanic America, Spain and the United States. It was founded by the Spanish writer and Nobel Prize winner Camilo José Cela. History and profile Alfaguara was establishe ...

and follows the character of José, a talented young

Mozarab The Mozarabs (from ), or more precisely Andalusi Christians, were the Christians of al-Andalus, or the territories of Iberia under Muslim rule from 711 to 1492. Following the Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania, the Christian ...

that has to flee his home. The book won a CCEI Award in 1997.

Synopsis

José Ben Alvar Mozarabic lives in Córdoba, where he excelled in school and planned to one day teach. His particularly strong skill in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

earns him much praise, but also much envy from a fellow student named Ali Ben Solomon. Ali was especially jealous due to their religious differences, as Ali was

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and José was

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. Two years have passed since the

Caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

Al-Hakam proposed peace with the Catalan counties, however Ali and his father do whatever they can to keep José from being awarded a coveted prize for being the best student of the year. They lie and say that José had blasphemed

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, which prompts José to flee to the Catalan where he can't receive the prize or do any serious studies. On his way to

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

José makes several friends, one of which is a young nun that can recite mathematical problems. He also meets Emma, the daughter of a man that fled an Arab land. In the end José marries Emma and they live happily in

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

. The two also send a letter to José's father saying that they would like to go to Toledo and raise a family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Senor del cero 1997 Spanish novels