A five-year-old describes the way her mother is working and coping with problems while her father is in prison.
Author: Book Importer
We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin dedicated his life to helping others—fighting injustices and discriminations—so that people could live as one. Protesting segregation long before there was a civil rights movement, he often was arrested for his beliefs and actions. As a nonviolent activist, Bayard made his mark working alongside many African American leaders, notably A. Philip Randolph and Martin Luther King, Jr. As an organizer, Bayard was largely responsible for bringing people together to walk for freedom and jobs in Washington, D.C., on that memorable summer day, August 28, 1963. With style and careful attention to history, Larry Dane Brimner captures a story of passion, courage, and triumph through Bayard’s own words and archival photographs in this Jane Addams Children’s Book Award winner.
Frida Maria
Two six-page gate folds and fresco-like paintings enhance the drama, and the fun, of the strong-willed Frida Maria’s preparations–with her horse, Diablo–for the fiesta, her attempts to please Mama by behaving properly, and her decision concerning a high-stakes race.
We Walk In Sandy Places
When animals cross the desert their tracks leave behind a story in the sand.
Julian Rodriguez Episode Two: Invasion Of The Relatives
When last we encountered Julian Rodriguez, he’d saved Earth from destruction by bending to the will of his archenemy, Evilomami, and taking out the dreaded trash. In this episode, our hero must don an absurd ceremonial costume and risk contamination at the hands of The Relatives, a band of crude, genetically linked mini-brains. Yet again, Julian saves Earth from total annihilation after he realizes that the planet has at least one redeeming quality — the Earthling delicacy known as empanadas, which his Alpha Nana just happens to be serving for dinner. PRAISE FOR JULIAN RODRIGUEZ EPISODE ONE: “First in what readers will hope will be a robust series, this hybrid of fiction and graphic novel dusts off a favorite conceit with a slick swipe of edgy visuals and tart commentary. . . . It’s impossible to read this without laughing.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review
Return to Sender
After his family hires migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure, eleven-year-old Tyler befriends the oldest daughter, but when he discovers they may not be in the country legally, he realizes that real friendship knows no borders.
Featured in WOW Review Volume XI, Issue 3
A So-Called Vacation
Brothers Gabriel and Gustavo, high school students in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, are horrified when their father suggests that they spend the summer in California doing field work to earn extra money. They’re not immigrants; the boys and their younger sister Paula were born in Texas, and the idea of picking fruits and vegetables hard labor usually associated with undocumented workers is totally humiliating. But their father thinks working in the fields will be good for his children. After all, the experience didn’t hurt him when he was a kid. ”Look at me. I didn’t die. All that work made me stronger.” Gustavo, heading into his senior year, doesn’t want to leave his girlfriend. And what will all his friends think? Gabriel doesn’t care what anyone thinks; he’s just not interested in spending the summer doing back-breaking labor. It’s only when the promise of visiting Disneyland, after working the fields, is offered that they ultimately agree to the ”vacation.” Before long, the family finds itself in a migrant camp, living in a shack with no electricity or bathroom. Toiling in the fields by day, trying to get the hang of picking strawberries, the boys and their father attempt to make sense of it all, including the motives and hopes of their fellow workers: the manic Borrado brothers, who are the fastest pickers around, and Victor, who introduces them to the canal where the migrant teens swim, even though two boys drowned there last season. Unfortunately, while learning their way around town, the family members experience the racism frequently directed at recent immigrants. How often, Gabriel wonders, has he done the same thing and dismissed someone just for being in the U.S. illegally? In this illuminating novel for teens that sheds light on the subjects of immigrant labor and prejudice within the Hispanic community, Genaro Gonzalez blends the ageless theme of fathers and sons at odds with a contemporary issue weighing on many minds. While set in a place unfamiliar to many, the characters’ hopes and dreams for the future will resonate with young adult readers.
Rattling Chains and Other Stories for Children / Ruido De Cadenas Y Otros Cuentos Para Ninos
A collection of scary stories based on the lore of New Mexico, in English and in Spanish.
Journey Of Dreams
For the peaceful highlanders of Guatemala, life has become a nightmare. Helicopters slash like machetes through the once-quiet air. Soldiers patrol the streets, hunting down suspected guerillas. Villagers mysteriously disappear and children are recruited as soldiers. Tomasa’s family is growing increasingly desperate, especially after Mama goes into hiding with Tomasa’s oldest brother. Finally, after their house is razed to the ground and the villagers massacred, Tomasa, Manuelito, and baby Maria set off with Papa on a perilous journey to find Mama and Carlos, only to discover that where one journey ends, another begins. This gripping novel tells the story of how Tomasa’s family survives the Guatemalan army’s brutal regime and how, in the midst of tragedy, their love and loyalty — and Papa’s storytelling — keeps them going on their harrowing journey as refugees to the United States. Mirrored in the tapestries of Tomasa’s dreams, the dramatic events of the Guatemalan army’s “scorched earth” campaign of the 1980s are tempered with hope and the generosity of the human spirit.
Sundays on Fourth Street / Los Domingos En La Calle Cuatro
”My cousin Pepe combs my hair back just like his, and Aunt Pilar laughs. Then she slides her red lipstick across my lips, but Mama wipes it off because I’m too young. Mama puts on her new jeans, and Aunt Pilar polishes her high heels. Uncle Armando finishes washing his old car.” And then, a young girl and her family pile into the shiny car, grown-ups in the front, and kids in the back, and head to Fourth Street.Sundays spent on Fourth Street are magical, family outings that three young cousins eagerly anticipate. Strolling down Fourth Street with their parents, the children encounter a bustling wonderland filled with music, food, and fun. The cousins savor sharp bursts of flavor from mangos on a stick covered with lemon, chili and salt; delight in the sight of folk dancers spinning in the plaza; revel in rides and raffles at the church carnival; and yearn for clothes and toys they see in shop windows. While the children may not get the things that so often catch their attention, they can always look forward to more fun together next Sunday on Fourth Street. Based on real-life visits to Fourth Street in Santa Ana, California, author Amy Costales has written a story that pays homage to a special street and, more importantly, time spent with loved ones. Paired with Elaine Jerome’s colorful illustrations that depict lively street scenes, readers of all ages will enjoy Sundays on Fourth Street.