Anita And The Dragons

Anita watches the dragons high above her as she hops from one cement roof to another in her village in the Dominican Republic. But being the valiant princesa she is, she never lets them scare her. Will she be brave enough to enter the belly of the beast and take flight to new adventures?

Ghost Squad

Shortly before Halloween, Lucely and her best friend, Syd, cast a spell that accidentally awakens malicious spirits, wreaking havoc throughout St. Augustine. Together, they must join forces with Syd’s witch grandmother, Babette, and her tubby tabby, Chunk, to fight the haunting head-on and reverse the curse to save the town and Lucely’s firefly spirits before it’s too late.

Sofi Paints Her Dreams

After a bad school day, Sofi is transported from a New York City community garden to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and helps composer Juan Luis and artist Guerlande.

Islandborn

Lola was just a baby when her family left the Island, so when she has to draw it for a school assignment, she asks her family, friends, and neighbors about their memories of her homeland…and in the process, comes up with a new way of understanding her own heritage.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XI, Issue 1.

Islandborn was featured in WOW Currents Rompiendo nuestra burbuja: An International Perspective on Culturally Specific Literature from the United States.

The Color Of My Words

When life gets difficult for Ana Rosa, a twelve-year-old would-be writer living in a small village in the Dominican Republic, she can depend on her older brother to make her feel better–until the life-changing events on her thirteenth birthday.

 

Un Regalo De Gracias: La Leyenda De La Altagracia (Spanish Edition)

After their olive crop fails, Maria fears that her family will have to abandon their farm on the new island colony. Then, one night she dreams of a mysterious and beautiful lady shrouded by trees with branches hung with hundreds of little suns. They are oranges like the ones Maria’s parents once ate in their homeland, Valencia, Spain. That very day, Maria and her family plant the seeds that soon yield a magnificent orange grove and save the farm. But who was the mysterious lady who appeared in her dream and will Maria ever find her again to say gracias?

The Secret Footprints

The Dominican legend of the ciguapas, creatures who lived in underwater caves and whose feet were on backward so that humans couldn’t follow their footprints, is reinvented by Julia Alvarez. Although the ciguapas fear humans, Guapa, a bold and brave ciguapa, can’t help but be curious–especially about a boy she sees on the nights when she goes on the land to hunt for food. When she gets too close to his family and is discovered, she learns that some humans are kind. Even though she escapes unharmed and promises never to get too close to a human again, Guapa still sneaks over to the boy’s house some evenings, where she finds a warm pastelito in the pocket of his jacket on the clothesline.

Over Here It’s Different: Carolina’s Story

Relates, in text and photographs, the experiences of an eleven-year-old girl who emigrated from the Dominican Republic at age seven, and describes the two worlds she lives in as an American trying to preserve her heritage.