Special Collections
My Name is María Isabel
by Alma Flor AdaA third grader realizes the importance of her name in this classic story of heritage and self-identity.For María Isabel Salazar López, the hardest thing about being the new girl in school is that the teacher doesn't call her by her real name. "We already have two Marías in this class," says her teacher. "Why don't we call you Mary instead?" But María Isabel has been named for her Papá's mother and for Chabela, her beloved Puerto Rican grandmother. Can she find a way to make her teacher see that if she loses her name, she's lost the most important part of herself?
Dancing Home
by Gabriel M. Zubizarreta and Alma Flor AdaAmerican-born Margie only sees problems when she thinks of Mexico, her parents' home. By shortening her name and perfecting her unaccented English, she's finally convinced the kids at school that she is one hundred percent American. But when her Mexican cousin Lupe comes to visit, everything changes. Things at home hadn't been the same for Lupe since her father left to find work in the North. But being in a new school in the States doesn't seem to be any easier, and Lupe finds herself in need of a friend. When a special performance puts the two girls onstage, side-by-side, they'll find a new kind of home--in each other. Award-winning author Alma Flor Ada, for the first time with her son, Gabriel M. Zubizarreta, crafts an honest and accessible story about the quintessential immigrant experience: struggling to be a part of something new, while staying true to who you are.