Intermediate (ages 9-14)

Material appropriate for intermediate age groups

Bird Springs

Eleven-year-old Gregory and his family had to leave the Navajo reservation at Bird Springs—the only home they’ve ever known—and move to a motel in Tucson, Arizona. Gregory misses his absent father, but he likes school, particularly art class with the kind teacher. He also makes a new friend, Matt, who promptly informs him art class is really art therapy and that Gregory is staying in a shelter, not a motel. Even though Matt can be outspoken, he’s just what Gregory needs now. He’s honest and generous with his allowance so they can ride the Ferris wheel at the carnival. Award-winning author Carolyn Marsden paints a poignant story of a little boy who, as he confronts the more painful aspects of his past, is filled with a sense of hope.

Felita

A vivid portrayal of a close-knit Hispanic community Felita’s parents promise she will love their new neighborhood. Only Abuelita, her grandmother, understands how much Felita will miss her old block, and her best friend Gigi. But her new neighbors taunt and tease Felita and her family because they are from Puerto Rico. First published twenty years ago, Felita’s compelling story has resonance for kids today.”An honest, realistic view of an important aspect of contemporary American life.” –The Horn Book* An NCSS-CBC Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies* A Child Study Children’s Book Committee Children’s Book of the Year* A Puffin Novel * 112 pages * Ages 8-12

My Land Sings: Stories from the Rio Grande

A collection of ten original and traditional stories set in New Mexico, including “Lupe and la Llorona,” “The Shepherd Who Knew the Language of Animals,” and “Coyote and Raven.”

 

See the review at WOW Review, Volume 3, Issue 2

Young Zorro: The Iron Brand (Young Zorro)

Diego de la Vega is more concerned with riding horses and making mischief with his best friend, Bernardo, than about fighting injustice. But all that changes when men start disappearing from the pueblo of Los Angeles and cattle go missing from his father’s rancho. Diego and Bernardo are about to encounter an injustice so evil that they will have no choice but to take action. Inspired by Isabel Allende’s novel Zorro, which reveals how Diego de la Vega became the legendary masked hero, Young Zorro: The Iron Brand introduces readers to a land of vaqueros and kidnappers—an exciting world in which a young hero is formed.

Lasso the Moon

In a compelling story by the author of Lizard, April cannot stop thinking about Fernando, her father’s patient from El Salvador, but when she hears two different stories of his life she wonders which one is the truth.

Brujas, Lechuzas Y Espantos / Witches, Owls And Spooks

In this bilingual collection of five stories, Don Cecilio tells the neighborhood children stories that make their hair stand on end. \”In my barrio they told the story…\” and so his cuento would begin. In \”The Owl and the Bundle,\” young Tomas disappears without a trace. Distraught, his parents and siblings look for him everywhere with no luck. Upon returning home, his father sees something curious, an owl flying above the house carrying a bundle with its talons. \”Is it possible,\” he wonders, \”that the bundle is Little Tomas?\” Could the owl have taken their precious son? Based on oral tradition, these stories featuring witches, owls, and other spooky creatures have been told in Spanish-speaking barrios for generations. Now, this new edition with a first-ever English translation provided by John Pluecker will entertain and terrify a new generation of English- and Spanish-speaking children with the supernatural tales of the Hispanic community. Originally published in Spanish in 1972 as La Lechuza: Cuentos de mi barrio (The Naylor Company), Brujas, lechuzas y espantos / Witches, Owls and Spooks will fascinate children interested in scary stories and at the same time will provide a window into a different time and place, when people lived a more rural life and winged shadows flitted across the darkened countryside.

Crazy Weekend

Hector and Mando, two Chicano seventh graders from East Los Angeles, visit Hector’s uncle in the less-than-exciting town of Fresno and find plenty of excitement, laughs, and thrills after they witness a robbery and are chased by the dim-witted criminals.

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.

Petty Crimes

Meet Manuel, a young man who wears hand-me-downs from his older brothers until he finally gets a brand-new pair of shoes. And Jose Luis, who watches the vet bills rise after he buys a sick rooster to save it from becoming someone’s dinner. And Alma, a young woman who runs to every shop and flea market in town buying back the clothes of her dead mother that her father has given away. These Mexican American youths meet life’s challenges head-on in this hard-hitting collection of short stories.