Material appropriate for intermediate age groups
Lon Chaney Rodriguez is a typical thirteen-year-old until his mother, a security guard, is shot and killed and he becomes haunted by the feeling that he is letting her down by getting bad grades, skipping church, lying, and goofing off while worrying that he and his alcoholic, unemployed father will wind up homeless.
“The ordinary tortilla was an extraordinary bond between the human and divine. . . . From birthdays to religious ceremonies, the people of Mesoamerica commemorated important events with tortillas. One Maya tribe even buried their dead with tortillas so that the dogs eaten as dinner during life would not bite the deceased in revenge.”–from Tortillas: A Cultural History For centuries tortillas have remained a staple of the Mexican diet, but the rich significance of this unleavened flatbread stretches far beyond food. Today the tortilla crosses cultures and borders as part of an international network of people, customs, and culinary traditions. In this entertaining and informative account Paula E. Morton surveys the history of the tortilla from its roots in ancient Mesoamerica to the cross-cultural global tortilla. Morton tells the story of tortillas and the people who make and eat them–from the Mexican woman rolling the mano over the metate to grind corn, to the enormous wheat tortillas made in northern Mexico, to twenty-first-century elaborations like the stuffed burrito. This study–the first to extensively present the tortilla’s history, symbolism, and impact–shows how the tortilla has changed our understanding of home cooking, industrialized food, healthy cuisine, and the people who live across borders.
Celeste is heartbroken when her grandmother dies, but when letters and recipes begin to arrive with her grandmother’s advice and recipes, Celeste finds consolation in preparing the dishes for herself, her mother, and their friends. Includes six traditional Cuban recipes.
As bullets ring and bombs are dropped, children watch—mostly from the sidelines, but occasionally in the direct line of fire. Unaware of the political issues or power struggles behind the battle, all they know are the human, emotional consequences of this thing called war. This collection examines all of war’s implications for young people—from those caught in the line of fire to the children of the veterans of wars long past.Critically acclaimed author Jennifer Armstrong brings together 12 powerful voices in young people’s literature to explore the realities of war from a child’s perspective. The settings vary widely—the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, an attempted coup in Venezuela, the American Civil War, crisis in the Middle East—but the effects are largely the same. In war, no life is ever left untouched. In war, lives are shattered.
Beginning with January 1 and arranged by birth date, a collection of quotations from 366 noteworthy figures.
The mystery of the young pharaoh’s death is only one of the puzzles that modern science has helped solve. Thanks to forensics — the scientific way of examining physical evidence — we now know what killed Napoleon and whether Anastasia survived the massacre of the Russian royal family.
Plants might start out as leafy things growing in the earth, but they can come into our lives in unexpected ways. And believe it or not, some have even played an exciting role in our world’s history.
Presents instructions for speaking thirteen secret languages, including Pig Latin, one of the best known and easiest codes to learn, and Boontling, developed by people in a California town.
A master storyteller offers a collection of folktales, from Brazil, China, India, Japan, and other countries, that involve dreams and dreaming. By the award-winning author of The Man Who Tricked a Ghost.
Walking tour maps, brain scans, satellite maps and subway maps show large and small worlds on flat surfaces. Kids learn how maps are put together in layers like sandwiches, how to use a map to get oriented, and the use of hundreds of different maps. They meet mapmakers who personalize the art of cartography.