The biggest race of the school year is on! Fifth-grader Miata Ramirez is running for class president. Her best friend, Ana, is her running mate. The girls are stunned when they learn they are running against class clown Rudy Herrera and his friend Alex. At first Miata is certain she will win the election. She has big plans to make the school a better place. She’ll clean up the graffiti, plant flowers and trees, and get computers. Rudy’s confident he’ll get votes by promising longer recess periods and selling the students ice cream every day. Miata is serious and means business. But the boys are funnier and louder. The girls think if they quickly change their image, they’ll get those extra votes. But the election is just a few days away. Readers will catch election fever as the boys square off against the girls in Gary Soto’s latest novel featuring Miata Ramirez from The Skirt and Rudy Herrera from The Pool Party.
Age
Catalog sorted by age group
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.
Fiesta U.S.A./Spanish (Spanish Edition)
In a tribute to the customs and traditions of Latinos in the United States, engaging photographs capture four fiestas: the Day of the Dead, las Posadas, the dance of the Matachines, and Three Kings’ Day.
The Rowdy, Rowdy Ranch / Alla En El Rancho Grande
On El Rancho Grande, the grandchildren are not so interested in how Grandpa bought the ranch, but in what can be done on the ranch. The children play hide and seek in cornfields, under “the canopy of green leaves, golden threads and giant ears of corn.” They feed the family horses, ride the rambunctious pigs, and take frolicking dips in the duck pond. But through all of the outdoor escapades, their family stories are circling in the air, like the “sunflower wind” blooming around them. While drinking ice-cold lemonade in the sunshine, they hear about how Grandpa’s song of sorrow won him El Rancho. They hear about chickens that have abandoned their coops to live in Abuela’s chicken tree, and they even discover a story about a boy who cried chocolate tears. In those days of running and jumping, the narrator, Tito, did not realize that he was hearing the stories that would wrap him up “like an enchanted sarape to keep me warm for the rest of [his] life.”
The Perfect Pinata/La Pinata Perfecta
Marisa’s sixth birthday was drawing near, and today her mother took her to buy a piñata. At the store, Marisa saw a beautiful butterfly piñata and knew she had to have it. “It’s perfect for my party!” she exclaimed. When they brought the piñata home, her mother wanted to put it in the closet, but Marisa begged to keep it on her dresser. That week Marisa took her butterfly everywhere, and it watched over her at night while she slept. The morning of the party, Mama filled the piñata with candy and toys. Soon the guests arrived. It was time to hit the piñata! Marisa was the first in line. But the butterfly looked down at her with its happy eyes, and Marisa started to cry. “I can’t do it!” she said as she ran into the house.
Vatos
One evening, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Jos Galvez heard Luis Alberto Urrea read “Hymn to Vatos Who Will Never Be in a Poem” with its chant-like repetitions and its evocation of Chicano manhood. As Luis read each line, an image clicked in Jos’s memory, and he knew that he had already taken that photograph. The result of that experience is this remarkable book. Vatos is street slang for dude, guy, pal, brother. It sprang from the highly stylized language of the Pachucos (los chukotes) in the ’50s. It’s a Chicano term derived from the once-common friendly insult chivato, or goat. It had a slightly unacceptable air to it, which the Locos and Weesas of the Chuco world enjoyed. They were able to take the sting out of racism by calling themselves a bunch of names assimilated “good Mexicans” didn’t like.
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.
Uno, Dos, Tres, Posada! Let’s Celebrate Christmas
A posada is an important Latino holiday tradition that happens all over the world on each of the nine nights before Christmas. There’s a lot to do every night before the party can begin, and here a little girl guides us through each step—from putting out poinsettias to hanging the piñata—as she counts to ten in English and Spanish. Young readers can follow along by counting the different items mentioned. An author’s note at the end of the story further explains the origins of the posada. Sprinkled with Spanish vocabulary and filled with lively illustrations, this is a posada no one should miss!
Tomas And The Library Lady
Tomás is a son of migrant workers. Every summer he and his family follow the crops north from Texas to Iowa, spending long, arduous days in the fields. At night they gather around to hear Grandfather’s wonderful stories. But before long, Tomás knows all the stories by heart. “There are more stories in the library,” Papa Grande tells him. The very next day, Tomás meets the library lady and a whole new world opens up for him. Based on the true story of the Mexican-American author and educator Tomás Rivera, a child of migrant workers who went on to become the first minority Chancellor in the University of California system, this inspirational story suggests what libraries–and education–can make possible. Raul Colón’s warm, expressive paintings perfectly interweave the harsh realities of Tomás’s life, the joyful imaginings he finds in books, and his special relationships with a wise grandfather and a caring librarian.
My Feet Are Laughing
Sadie, an imaginative young Dominican American, relates her experiences growing up in her grandmother’s brownstone house in Harlem.