Marta’s Magnets

Marta’s sister Rosa calls her magnet collection junk, but Marta’s magnets help her make friends in her new home and help her retrieve a lost key for Rosa’s new friend.

Snakes!: Strange and Wonderful

Provides a comprehensive look at the world of snakes through a presentation of the many types found around the world–reviewing their similarities, differences, and unique abilities.

Grandpa’s Magic Tortilla

When Grandpa Luis’s grandchildren are visiting him in Chimayo, New Mexico, they see pictures of animals in one of the tortillas he has cooked for their breakfast.

500 Anos del Pueblo Chicano/500 Years of Chicano History: In Pictures

500 yearsThis bilingual pictorial history depicts the Mexican American/Chicano people from their origins 500 years ago with Columbus’ “discovery” and the invasions of the New World, to their struggles for social justice today. Over 800 photographs with brief explanatory texts tell the story of how Mexicans came to what is now the U.S. well before the Pilgrims and after the U.S. war of 1846-48, were made strangers in their own land. Elizabeth Martinez, author of books and articles on social movements, presents a vivid record of the life, culture, and collective struggles by farmworkers, miners, students, factory workers, women’s organizations, noted leaders, immigrants, and artists across the country. The faces of weathered workers, militant youth and beautiful children alternate with victims of lynchings and bloody repression to create a work of both pain and celebration. This updated edition should be of special interest, given today’s emphasis on multiculturalism, to teachers and students as well as the general public. The publisher, the SouthWest Organizing Project, is a community-based organization nationally known for its work on racial, social, and economic justice issues. Order from Southwest Community Resources, 211 10th St., SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, 505-247-8832.

Karma

After her Hindu mother’s suicide, 15-year-old Maya and her Sikh father travel from Canada to India for a traditional burial. The year is 1984, and on the night of their arrival in New Delhi, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her Sikh guards. When the city erupts in chaos, both Maya and her father find themselves in great danger. Through a sequence of horrifying events, father and daughter are separated, and Maya is left alone in a violent foreign country where she must rely on the help of strangers to reach safety.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume 4, Issue 1

Small Acts of Amazing Courage

It is 1918, six months after the end of World War I, and Rosalind awaits the return of her father from the war. While it is common practice for British children in India to be packed off to boarding school at the age of 6, Rosalind is unusual because she lives and is schooled in India because her mother insists. The heart of this penetrating story is Rosalind’s coming of age set against the hardship of life for the Indian people, Rosalind’s daily life in India, the rise of Ghandi and Rosalind’s coming to make her own decisions and become her own person.