Age

Catalog sorted by age group

Crazy Loco

Lively, fascinating, and often laugh-out-loud funny, this short story collection provides an intimate glimpse into the life of Mexican American kids in South Texas. From the tale of a boy’s first crush to that of a girl who yearns to see more of the world, from the feud between Texas brothers and their California cousins to the exploits of a reluctant altar boy, from a poignant reminiscence about a family’s maid to a zany tale of a car-crazy dog, this collection is a whirlwind of insight and entertainment. Loosely based on the author’s own Mexican American childhood, Crazy Loco depicts a South Texas full of charm, humor and energy.

Featured in Volume VI, Issue 1 of WOW Review.

Surprising Cecilia

Surprising Cecilia is the second novel-following the success of Cecilia’s Year-about a girl whose dreams carry her far beyond the small farm community she lives in. Both novels are set in the rich Hispanic culture of the Rio Grande Valley in the 1930s. Cecilia has worked hard so that she can go to high school. Now it’s September-the school bus is bringing Cecilia to the new adventures, surprises, and responsibilities of growing up. Susan Gonzales Abraham and Denise Gonzales Abraham are the daughters of Cecilia Gonzales Abraham, the hero of the Cecilia books. Cecilia’s Year has been selected as the Best Book for Young Adults in 2004 by the Texas Institute of Letters.

The Boys of San Joaquin

Paolo calls Rufus “a Mack truck with no one driving.” Rufus is the O’Neil family dog, and he shows up one morning with part of a twenty-dollar bill in his teeth.Paolo, age twelve, figures that there must be more where that bill came from, and since his cousin Billy needs to repair a bent wheel on his bike, there’s a reason for looking. He, Georgie, and Billy end up in the monsignor’s garden behind the Cathedral of San Joaquin, but it’s not exactly treasure they find, it’s a hand that shoots out of the undergrowth to grab Paolo’s neck. The search for the stash leads the boys — sometimes scared spitless — on many a byway around Orange Grove City, California, in the summer of 1951. And onto the byway of conscience.”Suppose you found a treasure. Couldn’t you keep it?” Paolo asks his uncle. “I mean, say you know who it belongs to, and they probably need it….But when you find it, nobody has it. Isn’t nobody’s property in particular, then,” he reasons. “Well, maybe somebody has it, but it isn’t theirs. It would be yours, wouldn’t it?”No answer. “How in the heck is a guy supposed to be somebody in this world without any money?”

Star of Luis

When Luís’s father joins the army shortly after the start of World War II, Luís’s entire life changes. His mother decides to return to the dusty New Mexican village where she and her husband grew up. In Los Angeles, Luís had struggled to find a place in his ethnically diverse neighborhood and had been intimidated into ending a close friendship with a Jewish boy. In Las Manos, everyone is Hispanic and Catholic like Luís, but the way of life seems backward and slow. Luís and his mother stay in a cramped bungalow with his dying grandfather and sullen grandmother, and Luís must share a bed with his uncle, a priest. Then, just as Luís begins to feel more comfortable in Las Manos, he learns an settling fact-his family is not Catholic after all. They are Jewish, a secret that has been kept for generations. Angry and confused, Luís realizes he must confront his feelings about family, religion, and friends, and ultimately make his own decision about who he is. Glossary of Spanish words.

The Santero’s Miracle: A Bilingual Story

In this bilingual story of faith, Don Jacobo has a dream that, in the end, is a reminder that miracles do happen. Jacobo is teaching his visiting grandson Andrés how to become a santero. Christmas is coming, snow is falling in the village, and the two are working on a carving of San Isidro, the patron saint of farmers. The half-finished carving stands in the living room beside the two oxen and the angel that don Jacobo carved earlier in the month. The snow-covered mountains are beautiful, but the road to the village is impassable. Andrés’s parents will not be able to get to the house for the holiday, and Jacobo’s neighbor Leopoldo is desperately ill but cannot get to the hospital. Then comes Jacobo’s dream; San Isidro is plowing with the two oxen and the angel is helping. \”But we don’t plow ’til April\” don Jacobo muses upon awakening. \”What does it mean?\” The night had been bitterly cold and don Jacobo must bundle up to go to the barn to feed his cows and chickens. As he steps outside, he can hardly believe his eyes. The snow-packed road is clear. Rudolfo Anaya’s story of the power of faith, hope, and love will be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

Americas Award For Children’s And Young Adult Literature. Commended (Awards)

Sip, Slurp, Soup, Soup – Caldo, Caldo, Caldo

A bilingual picture book offers up a celebration of a kitchen where mom has just pulled out the large stew pot to begin a fabulous vegetable soup and all the kids are invited to help.

Salsa

Rita, a young girl living in New York’s El Barrio, describes the Afro-Caribbean dance music, salsa, and imagines being a salsa director.

Adiós, Tricycle

TricycleIt’s yard sale time, and things are flying off the tables. But this little piggy isn’t letting anybody buy his tricycle. Sure, he’s too big to ride it, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love it anymore! But when the day is almost over, someone just the right size comes along, and it’s clearly time to let the trike go. Luckily, it turns out the yard sale money is meant for a very exciting new purchase—a big-boy bike! Susan Middleton Elya’s trademark mix of Spanish vocabulary and clever verse and Elisabeth Schlossberg’s vibrant illustrations come together in a funny, tender tale of saying good-bye to things you’ve outgrown.

Super Cilantro Girl/La Superniña Del Cilantro

What happens when a small girl suddenly starts turning green, as green as a cilantro leaf, and grows to be fifty feet tall? She becomes Super Cilantro Girl, and can overcome all obstacles, that’s what! Esmeralda Sinfronteras is the winning super-hero in this effervescent tale about a child who flies huge distances and scales tall walls in order to rescue her mom. Award-winning writer Juan Felipe Herrera taps into the wellsprings of his imagination to address and transform the concerns many first-generation children have about national borders and immigrant status. Honorio Robledo Tapia has created brilliant images and landscapes that will delight all children.

Three Little Tamales

While three little tamales cool off on a windowsill, a tortilla rolls by. “You’ll be eaten. You’d better run,” he tells them. And so the tamales jump out the window. The first runs to the prairie and builds a house of sagebrush. The second runs to a cornfield and builds a house of cornstalks. The third runs to the desert and builds a house of cactus. Then who should come along but Senior Lobo, the Big Bad Wolf, with plans to blow their houses down. Valeria Docampo’s oil-and-pencil illustrations add zest and humor to this rollicking southwestern version of a popular tale.