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National Education Association's Bilingual Booklist
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Pacific Crossing
by Gary SotoFourteen-year-old Mexican American Lincoln Mendoza spends a summer with a host family in Japan, encountering new experiences and making new friends.
Rain of Gold
by Victor Edmundo VillaseñorThe book follows two people and their families different journeys through the hard times of the Mexican Revolution and into U.S. and the different lives waiting for them. They meet new challenges and learn to adjust there.
Taking Sides
by Gary SotoFourteen-year-old Lincoln Mendoza, an aspiring basketball player, must come to terms with his divided loyalties when he moves from the Hispanic inner city to a white suburban neighborhood.
Silent Dancing
by Judith Ortiz CoferSilent Dancing is about a young girl as she struggles through life, constantly being moved from the U.S. to Puerto Rico, and back again.
Felita
by Nicholasa MohrThe everyday experiences of an eight-year-old Puerto Rican girl growing up in a close-knit, urban community.
Bless Me, Ultima
by Rudolfo AnayaStories filled with wonder and the haunting beauty of his culture have helped make Rudolfo Anaya the father of Chicano literature in English, and his tales fairly shimmer with the lyric richness of his prose.
Acclaimed in both Spanish and English, Anaya is perhaps best loved for his classic bestseller ...
Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. She is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic.
Under her wise wing, Tony will test the bonds that tie him to his people, and discover himself in the pagan past, in his father's wisdom, and in his mother's Catholicism. And at each life turn there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world-and will nurture the birth of his soul.
Family Pictures / Cuadros de Familia
by Carmen Lomas GarzaFamily Pictures is the story of Carmen Lomas Garza's girlhood: celebrating birthdays, making tamales, finding a hammerhead shark on the beach, picking cactus, going to a fair in Mexico, and confiding to her sister her dreams of becoming an artist.
These day-to-day experiences are told through fourteen vignettes of art and a descriptive narrative, each focusing on a different aspect of traditional Mexican American culture. The English-Spanish text and vivid illustrations reflect the author's strong sense of family and community. For Mexican Americans, Carmen Lomas Garza offers a book that reflects their lives and traditions. For others, this work offers insights into a beautifully rich community.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts for K-1 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
The Secret of Two Brothers
by Irene Beltrán Hernández21-year-old Beaver tries to create a decent life for himself and his brother following his mother's death and his own stint in prison. The story explores maintaining a family against difficult odds and trying to live an honorable life.
Hello, Amigos!
by Tricia Brown"Extends a warm invitation to share (Frankie Valdez's birthday and) to sample his culture's traditional festivities".--Booklist.
Fitting In
by Anilú BernardoAnilu Bernardo's spunky Cuban-American protagonists navigate the uncertain waters of adolescence in Miami, and their lot is all that much harder as they juggle the traditional burdens of middle school and high school coupled with the stresses of living those burdens in a foreign culture. This edition includes a study guide.
Alicia Alonso
by Sandra Martin ArnoldA biography of the Cuban ballerina who founded her own ballet school and company, performed with the Ballet Russe, and continued to dance even after she lost her sight.
Paco and the Witch
by Felix PitreA young boy is trapped by a crafty witch who will not free him unless he can guess her name. A Puerto Rican folk tale, with a glossary to help young readers understand the Spanish words.
Cien Años de Soledad
by Gabriel García Márquez1967. En Buenos Aires aparece la novela de un escritor colombiano de cuarenta años. No queda hoy lengua literaria a la que no haya sido traducida.
Barrio
by George AnconaWelcome to José's neighborhood. In his barrio, people speak an easy mix of Spanish and English and sometimes even Chinese. The masked revelry of Halloween leads into the festive remembrances of the Day of the Dead. And murals on the walls and buildings sing out the stories of the people who live here. As familiar as any neighborhood yet as strange as a foreign country, Jose's barrio isn't in Mexico or Argentina--it's in San Francisco. Award-winning author and photographer George Ancona follows José through a season in the barrio, and in the process gives readers a glimpse of a community as rich and varied as America itself.
La casa en Mango Street
by Sandra Cisneros and Elena PoniatowskaLa casa en Mango Street es la historia de una chica que mueve a una casa nueva en Mango Street pero no quiere vivir en el barrio.
Call Me Consuelo
by Ofelia Dumas LachtmanAfter suddenly being orphaned, twelve-year-old Consuelo reluctantly moves in with her American grandmother while hoping to return soon to her Mexican American family.
The Composition
by Antonio SkármetaIn a village in Chile, Pedro and Daniel are two typical nine-year-old boys. Up until Daniel's father gets arrested, their biggest worry had been how to improve their soccer skills. Now, they are thrust into a situation where they must grapple with the incomprehensible: dictatorship and its inherent abuses. "The Composition" is a winner of the Americas Award for Children's Literature and the Jane Addams Children's Book Award.
El Loro en el Horno
by Analia Bermejo and Victor MartinezManny Hernandez es un joven de 14 anos que debe enfrentarse a ese momento crucial en su vida.
Winner of the Pura Belpre Medal
Baseball in the Barrios
by Henry HorensteinJoin nine-year-old Hubaldo Romero Páez in Venezuela as he introduces his friends, his family, and his favorite sport -- baseball. Complemented by a map and an English-Spanish baseball glossary, Hubaldo's story is an inviting introduction to a foreign land viewed through the lens of a shared passion.
Tomás and the Library Lady
by Pat MoraTomás is a son of migrant workers. Every summer he and his family follow the crops north from Texas to Iowa, spending long, arduous days in the fields.
At night they gather around to hear Grandfather's wonderful stories. But before long, Tomás knows all the stories by heart.
"There are more stories in the library," Papa Grand tells him. The very next day, Tomás meets the library lady and a whole new world opens up for him.
Based on the true story of the Mexican-American author and educator Tomás Rivera, a child of migrant workers who went on to become the first minority Chancellor in the University of California system, this inspirational story suggests what libraries--and education--can make possible.
Raul Colón's warm, expressive paintings perfectly interweave the harsh realities of Tomás's life, the joyful imaginings he finds in books, and his special relationships with a wise grandfather and a caring librarian.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts for K-1 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
Como agua para chocolate
by Laura EsquivelEarthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in turn-of-the-century Mexico became a best-selling phenomenon with its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit. The classic love story takes place on the De la Garza ranch, as the tyrannical owner, Mama Elena, chops onions at the kitchen table in her final days of pregnancy. While still in her mother's womb, her daughter to be weeps so violently she causes an early labor, and little Tita slips out amid the spices and fixings for noodle soup. This early encounter with food soon becomes a way of life, and Tita grows up to be a master chef. She shares special points of her favorite preparations with listeners throughout the story.The Spanish language edition of the best-selling Like Water For Chocolate is a remarkable success in its own right. Now, in this mass market edition, thousands of new readers will be able to partake in the sumptuous, romantic, and hilarious tale of Tita, the terrific cook with an extra special something in her sauce.From the Paperback edition.
Amelia's Road
by Linda Jacobs AltmanTired of moving around so much, Amelia, the daughter of migrant farm workers, dreams of a stable home.
The Forty-Third War
by Louise MoeriTwelve-year-old Uno is conscripted into the army of a revolutionary force in a Central American country that is fighting for its freedom.