Author: Book Importer

Book Importer

Isabel’s Texas Two-Step (Beacon Street Girls)

Isabel’s sister Elena Maria is turning fifteen, and the Martinez family is planning her quinceañera — at Uncle Hector’s ranch in San Antonio!

The Tequila Worm

Sofia comes from a family of storytellers. Here are her tales of growing up in the barrio in McAllen, Texas, full of the magic and mystery of family traditions: making Easter cascarones, celebrating el Dia de los Muertos, preparing for quinceañera, rejoicing in the Christmas nacimiento, and curing homesickness by eating the tequila worm. When Sofia is singled out to receive a scholarship to boarding school, she longs to explore life beyond the barrio, even though it means leaving her family to navigate a strange world of rich, privileged kids. It’s a different mundo, but one where Sofia’s traditions take on new meaning and illuminate her path.

Voices In First Person: Reflections On Latino Identity

This eclectic, gritty, and groundbreaking collection of short monologues features 21 of the most respected Latino authors writing today, including Sandra Cisneros, Oscar Hijuelos, Esmeralda Santiago, and Gary Soto. Their fictional narratives give voice to what it’s like to be a Latinx teen in America. These voices are yearning. These voices are angry. These voices are, above all else, hopeful. These voices are America.

Desert Passage

Miguel and Ramón are in big trouble with their family. The cousins were almost expelled from school for fighting, and just as they’re finishing up their final year in middle school and preparing to enter high school, their grades have dropped. Miguel’s father Rodrigo who, with his wife Connie, has raised Ramón since his father’s tragic death in a car accident has decided the boys need to be punished. So instead of going on the family’s summer vacation to Santa Fe, they’ll stay with their Abuelita Rosa in a remote town in northern Arizona and do chores around her place.Dreading a long, boring month with their grandmother in the middle of nowhere, the boys get started on the extensive list of tasks they are supposed to complete. Cleaning the shed seems like the least disagreeable one, and soon they find something interesting: a two-wheeled Vespa scooter covered with dust and cobwebs. Excited at their find, the boys decide fixing the scooter might enliven their stay. If they can get it to run, they’ll at least be able to get around town.The next morning, though, Miguel and Ramón wake to a quiet house, and they’re shocked to find their grandmother unconscious in her bed. When the ambulance takes her away to the hospital, the boys are left alone and unable to contact Miguel’s parents. Suddenly, the scooter seems to be the only answer to reaching their family, and so the boys gather food, water, sleeping bags, and the small amount of money they have and begin the long trip to New Mexico.Miguel and Ramón quickly learn that traveling across the country isn’t as easy as they had expected. Sharing the road with fast-moving eighteen-wheelers and camping in the cold desert all make for an exhausting trip. But along the way the boys see many wonderful sights including the Grand Canyon and the red rocks of Sedona and meet lots of interesting people: Frank, an old friend of their grandfather’s who helps them get the scooter ready for the trip; Turner, an attentive youth group counselor they meet at the Grand Canyon; and a group of scientists exploring an ancient Native American site. Most importantly, Miguel and Ramón will discover a lot about themselves through their growing independence as emergent young men.

Tortilla Chronicles: Growing Up In Santa Fe

A family memoir full of New Mexico flavor, Tortilla Chronicles serves up a hearty helping of the “City Different” from the perspective of the humble, hardworking Romeros, a family honored for its contributions to regional folk arts. Marie Romero Cash, herself a renowned artist, poignantly sketches each family member using his or her own voice. Their stories present a rare glimpse into the life of a traditional Hispano family and provide an antidote to typical nostalgic tourist accounts of 1950s Santa Fe. One of the main characters is Santa Fe itself, and the narrative tours the city’s streets, shops, plaza, and surrounding hills and arroyos in astounding detail. The ancestry and rituals of family life, the culture and religion of northern New Mexico, and the growth of a neighborhood and its children are all part of the recipe.

Quesadilla Moon

As a young migrant worker, David is shocked and thrilled when the man running the field store offers him a loaf of bread in exchange for a song. Singing has been strongly discouraged by David’s father, who views it as a less-than-manly activity. But the opportunity to get food for free is a temptation David can’t resist, and the praise he receives afterwards produces a sense of euphoria he has never felt. Someone is actually paying him to sing! But singing always leads to conflict with his father, and the only time David can do it without getting into trouble is when the others start to harmonize to pass the time as they move up and down the rows, picking cotton, asparagus, or other crops. To help get through the grueling labor, David regularly daydreams about performing in front of an adoring audience. As David and his family move from town to town following the crops, he begins to forget his dream of becoming a singer, until one day when he learns about a local competition. Somehow, his feet carry him to the Four Square Apostolic Church where the contest will take place, but he is shaken when the elderly black ladies setting up for the event tell him it’s only for “colored folk.” When he is ultimately given the chance to participate, he eagerly seizes the opportunity. Is it really possible that his dreams might come true? Will the people who believe in him–a group of African-American women and an ambitious young reporter from the Oakland Tribune–be able to help David overcome the racial, social, and familial barriers he faces?

Prizefighter En Mi Casa

Following a car accident that left her with epilepsy, twelve-year-old Chula–with a little help from a visiting fearsome Mexican boxer–tries to deal with the repercussions her new condition has on her family, neighborhood, and school.