Sisters / Hermanas

Compares the lives of two fourteen-year-olds–an illegal immigrant who sells herself on the streets and a suburban princess obsessed with becoming head cheerleader–both trapped in worlds where beauty and youth are pricey commodities.

Sparky’s Bark/El ladrido de Sparky

When Lucy comes to the United States for the first time, no one can understand her English, not even Sparky. How will Sparky help her? Cuando Lucy viene a los Estados Unidos por primera vez, nadie puede entender su inglés, ni siquiera Sparky. ¿Cómo la ayudará Sparky?

Remembering Grandma / Recordando a Abuela

A poignant bilingual picture book about the death of a grandmother Like most Saturdays, Mr. García’s rooster wakes Lorena much earlier than she wants to wake up. Lorena pulls the covers over her head to block out the day, but she knows she has to get up. Today is no ordinary Saturday. She and her mother will be going to Grandpa’s house. Since Grandma’s recent death, everything has changed for Lorena. Her mother often cries, and Grandpa sits motionless in his chair staring out the window. Though Mamá says Grandma must be in heaven, Lorena misses Grandma, too. She can’t see or touch heaven. Where is Grandma? At Grandpa’s house, Lorena tries to help him stop grieving, but not even Grandma’s miracle words, “sana, sana, colita de rana…” work. How can Lorena help Grandpa? Lorena notices a beatiful carved chest in the corner of the room. When Lorena opens it, she sees a tangle of colors, fabrics, and keepsakes from when Grandma was alive.

Jungle Crossing

Kat can think of dozens of good reasons not to go on a boring family vacation to hot, grungy Mexico. Number one: missing her friend Fiona’s minicamp. If she’s not there, she’ll begin eighth grade as a social reject. Despite her reluctance, Kat ends up on a teen adventure tour where she meets Nando, a young Mayan guide (who happens to be quite a cutie). As they travel to different Mayan ruins each day, Nando tells Kat his original legend of Muluc, a girl who lived in the time of the Ancient Maya. The dangerous, dramatic world in which Muluc lives is as full of rivalry, betrayal, and sacrifice as Kat’s world at school. And as she makes new friends and discovers treasures in Mexico, Kat begins to wonder: Is she willing to keep sacrificing her self in exchange for popularity?

What The Moon Saw

Fourteen-year-old Clara Luna spends the summer with her grandparents in the tiny, remote village of Yucuyoo, Mexico, learning about her grandmother’s life as a healer, her father’s decision to leave home for the United States, and her own place in the world.

My Diary from Here to There/Mi Diario De Aqui Hasta Alla

A young girl describes her feelings when her father decides to leave their home in Mexico to look for work in the United States.

Vejigante Masquerader

Determined to look his best for the upcoming celebration, a young Puerto Rican boy makes a special costume so that he can be a vejigante, or masquerader, in a book that includes a Spanish-English glossary, chants, and instructions for making a vejigante mask.