Follow Miss Lewis as she circumnavigates the globe aboard the ship Explorer and reports her experiences in photographs, sketches, and letters sent back to her students at home.
Around The World
Americas
Materials from the Americas
Buried Onions
When nineteen-year-old Eddie drops out of college, he struggles to find a place for himself as a Mexican American living in a violence-infested neighborhood of Fresno, California.
Canto Familiar
Twenty-five poems about the pleasures and woes that Mexican American children experience growing up. Simple poems, many involving Mexican Americans, celebrate experiences at school, home, and in the street. A companion to Neighborhood Odes, (1992). Touching, vibrant, and humorous, this lively collection of poems accompanied by beautiful illustrations celebrates childhood and the Mexican American experience. Invoking ordinary domestic and community incidents, it’ a fine introduction not only to poetry but to Chicano culture. Nelson debuts with scenes–homey, comfortable, bright–that make the book even more accessible.
Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems On Growing Up Hispanic In The United States (Edge Books)
Growing up Latino in America means speaking two languages, living two lives, learning the rules of two cultures. Cool Salsa celebrates the tones, rhythms, sounds, and experiences of that double life. Here are poems about families and parties, insults and sad memories, hot dogs and mangos, the sweet syllables of Spanish and the snag-toothed traps of English. Here is the glory, and pain, of being Latino American.Latino Americans hail from Cuba and California, Mexico and Michigan, Nicaragua and New York, and editor Lori M. Carlson has made sure to capture all of those accents. With poets such as Sandra Cisneros, Martiacute;n Espada, Gary Soto, and Ed Vega, and a very personal introduction by Oscar Hijuelos, this collection encompasses the voices of Latino America. By selecting poems about the experiences of teenagers, Carlson has given a focus to that rich diversity; by presenting the poems both in their original language and in translation, she has made them available to us all.As you move from memories of red wagons, to dreams of orange trees, to fights with street gangs, you feel Cool Salsa’s musical and emotional cross rhythms. Here is a world of exciting poetry for you, y tuacute; tambieacute;n.
Neighborhood Odes
Twenty-one poems about growing up in an Hispanic neighborhood, highlighting the delights in such everyday items as sprinklers, the park, the library, and pomegranates.
Let’s Salsa / Bailemos Salsa
Estella can’t help but giggle when she sees her neighbors, Dona Rosa and Dona Maria, shaking their hips while dancing and sweating at an exercise class at the community recreation center. A few days later, when her mother complains about gaining weight, Estella encourages her to join the class.
Let’s Salsa / Bailemos Salsa has been discussed in My Take/Your Take for September 2020.
I Am Rene, The Boy/ Soy Rene, El Nino
When René learns that in the United States his name is also a girl’s name, he does some research and relates the name’s meaning and letters to his homeland of El Salvador and the things that make him special.
Home at Last
Ana Patino is adjusting well to her new life in the United States, but her mother is having problems because she doesn’t know English. When one of the babies falls ill, Mama tries to get help, but no one can understand her. Convinced that she needs to learn the new language, Mama agrees to take English lessons. As Mama gains new language skills, she also develops a sense of confidence and belonging.
Green Corn Tamales / Tamales De Elote
GREEN CORN TAMLAES – TAMALES DE ELOTE narrates the experience of one small girl growing up in an Hispanic-American family which gathers every year at grandmother’s ranch to make wonderful green corn tamales
Estela’s Swap
A young Mexican American girl accompanies her father to a swap meet, where she hopes to sell her music box for money for dancing lessons.