If I hadn't had Luis Alberto Urrea himself read the majority of his novel to me via iPod, I would never have known the proper pronunciation of Parangarícutirimícuaro, not to mention a few choice insults! Good thing I also bought the book, because I wouldn't...
Chunky little fingers deserve bright, saturated colors to hold and giggle over, to learn little lessons from ...
This third and final installment of Luis Alberto Urrea's Border Trilogy is unmistakably his most personal. His "good Republican" mother from Staten Island never accepted his Mexican identity. His "devil on the dance floor"-father was once on Mexico's presidential staff, becoming a bowling alley janitor...
Once I opened this second volume in Luis Alberto Urrea's Border Trilogy, I simply couldn't stop. So here's the best thing I can say about Lake after reading his first border title, Across the Wire: Lake is more of the same ...
Thanks to a sudden snowstorm and ensuing power outage, I had every excuse to strap on my headband flashlight and read the first of Luis Alberto Urrea's Border Trilogy without pause. Given the sheer gawk-factor of these pages, any excuses were negligible: This is definitely...
"I always thought the biggest problem in my life was my name, Naomi Soledad León Outlaw, but little did I know that it was the least of my troubles, or that someday I would live up to it." So opens Pam Muñoz Ryan’s swiftly moving coming-of-age...
Marcelo marks quite a memorable moment in our family's dynamics: For the first time ever, our daughter actually shut us out with her headphones (I realize it's coming relatively late in modern teenage life), demanding that she be able to finish this book right now (it was...
José and his Papá live in San Diego. Mamá used to live with them until the factory where she works was raided, and Mamá was sent away to Tijuana, Mexico. Two weeks since her sudden disappearance, José and Papá will finally be able to see...
"A is for abuela. And abandoned car," begins an adventurous afternoon for two friends – one Latina, the other Asian Pacific American – as they explore the familiar yet unique streets and corners of the little girl's neighborhood. From the Chino-Latino corner store to the fire hydrant...
In a word – and to quote from the title – this book is amazing. Filled with poems chosen by award-winning poet Lee Bennett Hopkins that celebrate the wonders of our diversity, this gorgeous book is populated by the vibrant immediacy of Chris Soentpiet's stunning canvases...
Happy Cinco de Mayo from Perico and his human family! While everyone busily prepares for the big picnic and festivities on the rented barge that will float down the San Antonio River, Perico the parrot looks for ways he can help, too. But Grandmother and Aunt...
In a tony New Jersey suburb, artistic Jaya, outspoken Lola, and shy Maria find an instant bond with each other, recognizing their outsider experiences of being the daughters of immigrant mothers who work as housekeepers and nannies for the wealthy families of their eighth-grade classmates. Jaya...
"I hope my new family is the best family the world," Carlota wishes on her last night in the orphanage. Unable to sleep, she imagines what her new life might be like ...
One of my dearest friends in all the world starts making gratitude lists when all the STUFF that needs to get done starts keeping her up at night ...
Using research originally developed by Harvard psychologist Dr. Howard Gardner about multiple intelligences which was made popular by Dr. Thomas Armstrong, author Nikola-Lisa chooses 12 achievers to show how they were each 'smart' in different, important ways. "Here are eight basic ways people can be...
Guadalupe Rivera Marín grew up inspiring her legendary artist father, the Mexican muralist and sculptor Diego Rivera. Marin chooses some of her favorite works by her father – including a few for which she sat as his model – and shares both memories and lessons of...
A joyful celebration of all sorts of brown-tinted skin colors, reflected in the tan of a spicy masala chai to the cocoa of a frothy hot chocolate to the ochre of a bridal mehendi hand design to the coffee brown of café con leche to the adobe...
Because he must help his father, Armando does not have time to attend Señor David’s school, made of a single blue tarp spread on the ground. When his parents realize that education is Armando’s only way...
“This book is a corrective action,” insist the three adoptee editors of this recent collection of essays and memoirs about growing up as a transracial adoptee. “Over the past fifty years, white adoptive parents, academics, psychiatrists,...
For women of color, the fight for civil rights includes equitable reproductive rights. Both coercive sterilization and invasive long-term birth-control technologies have historically undermined the reproductive rights of women of color. Such practices continue...
