Alice and the Hurricane a Story of Puerto Rico\Alicia y el huracán un cuento de Puerto Rico

Written By\escrito por: Leslea Newman

Illustrated By\ilustrado por: Elizabeth Erazo Baez

Publisher\publicado por: Children’s Book Press an Imprint of Lee and Low Books (2022)

Region: North America (U.S.), Caribbean (Puerto Rico)

Ages\Edades: Young readers\leyentes jovenes  (3-6)

Written in English and Spanish

Alicia y el huracán Un cuento de Puerto Rico escrito por Leslea Newman e ilustrado por Elizabeth Erazo Baez explora el impacto del Hurácan María en la joven Alicia a través de su conexión con la rana coqui. Todas las noches antes de acostarse Alicia escucha al coqui cantar su canción, durante y después del huracán Alicia no está segura de si escucharé el croa del coqui de nuevo. Recoge el libro de Newman para averiguar cómo Alicia se reconecta con la hermosa melodía que utiliza el coqui para arrullarla a dormir cada noche.

Recursos Adicionales:

El sitio de we de la aútora

La autora conversa sobre su libro

Alicia and the Hurricane A Story of Puerto Rico written by Leslá Newman and illustrated by Elizabeth Erazo Baez is a children’s book that explores the impact of Hurricane María on young Alicia through her connection to the coqui frog. Every night before bed Alicia listens to the coqui sing its song, during and after the hurricane Alicia isn’t sure if she’ll hear the coqui croak again. Pick up Newman’s book to find out how Alicia reconnects with the beautiful tune the coqui’s use to lull her to sleep at night.

Additional Resources:

The Author’s Website

The author discusses the book.

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Where Wonder Grows

Written by Xelena González 

Illustrated by  Adriana M. Garcia

Published by Cinco Puntos Press an Imprint of Lee and Low Books 2022

Region: North America (U.S.)

Ages: Young readers (3-6)

The inspiration behind Gonzalez and Garcia’s  book came from their readers’ love and wonder for rocks. Where Wonder Grows captures the marvel and mystery behind the different stories of rock formations, from what they may know, to what they may tell us about life. Where Wonder Grows centers different Indigenous epistemologies, creating space for different ideas and histories of specific rock formations to inform the reader. Where Wonder Grows facilitates young readers travel through time and space leaving them inspired by, and connected to, nature.

Additional Resources:

NPR Picture This – Grandma’s garden of magical rocks is “Where Wonder Grows”

Author’s Website

Illustrators Website

Dominicana

By: Angie Cruz

Publisher: Flatiron Books (2019)

Ages: Adult/Teen

Region: North America (U.S.), Caribbean (Dominican Republic)

Angie Cruz’s Dominicana was inspired by her mother’s own story of immigration to the United States. At fifteen years-old, Cruz’s Afro-Dominicana protagonist, Ana, is arranged to marry a man more than ten years her senior. The arranged marriage could promise her and her family’s security as the political situation in the Dominican Republic worsens. However, the marriage is far from a happy one. Ana must navigate her abusive marriage as a sacrifice for her family’s well-being, adapt to a new country and language, innovate in the face of economic hardships, and confront the possibility of falling in love with a forbidden man. The weight of the world is on young Ana’s shoulders; see how she preserveres in Angie Cruz’s Dominicana.

Additional Resources:

Rincey Reads Review 

The Author’s website

Podcast Interview on her New Book How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water

Ordinary Girls

Written by: Jaquira Diaz

Published by: Workman Publishing (2019)

Region: North America, Puerto Rico

Ages: Adult

Ordinary Girls, Winner of a Whiting Award in Nonfiction, Winner of a Florida Book Awards Gold Medal, and a 2020 Lambda Literary Awards Finalist, is a gripping memoir on gender, sexuality, race and poverty by Jaquira Diaz. Diaz’s memoir illustrates the intersectionality of these different categories in her coming of age stories. Ordinary girls is equal parts heart-wrenching and hopeful, chock full of grit and resistance. From abuse to addiction you will be rooting for Diaz, the whole way. Ordinary Girls is a must read.

Additional Resources:

Author’s Website

Author Interview w/ Steve Inskeep of NPR

What’s Mine and Yours

By: Naima Coster

Grand Central Publishing (2021)

Age: Adult

Region: North America

What’s Mine and Yours details the interweaving of two working-class families brought together through the integration of the city and county school systems in Piedmont, North Carolina. The intergenerational story of love and loss covers addiction to reproductive rights, racism, and politics. The novel investigates the challenges of inheriting or disinheriting a parent’s legacy and how we forge our own paths in the world. It documents the hardships of parenting and the limits of its power. What’s Mine and Yours is a powerful family saga that captures the trials and tribulations of the families we choose and the family we’re born into.

Additional Resources:

“I Didn’t Consider My Marriage Interracial. But I Wasn’t Being Totally Honest With Myself” By Naima Coster for Time

Naima Coster’s Website

Vamos a Leer Book Review of Naima Coster’s Halsey Street

The Town of Babylon

Written by: Alejandro Varela

Published by: Penguin RandomHouse 2022

Age: Adult

Region: North America/U.S

Andrés is a first generation child of immigrants from Latin America. Although the book starts in his early forties as a Public Health Professor who begrudgingly returns to his hometown when his father becomes ill, much of the story revolves around Andrés understanding of self and sexuality in his youth. The story is told half in the present and half looking backwards, the reader comes to understand Andrés through the anecdotes of his upbringing as a gay son of immigrants living in a suburban neighborhood of mostly white people at a catholic school. The book grapples with larger systemic racial and economic issues and poignantly details how such larger systemic forces have intimately impacted Andrés family and life. Varela magically weaves together the micro and the macro in this beautiful and heartbreaking coming of age story of resistance and belonging.

Additional Resources:

Author’s Website: https://alejandrovarela.work/

The Latino Book Review: Three Questions for the Author https://www.latinobookreview.com/three-questions-for-alejandro-varela-regarding-his-debut-novel-the-town-of-babylon-by-daniel-a-olivas–latino-book-review.html

Furia

Author: Yamile Saied Méndez

Publisher: Algonquin, 2020

Awards: A 2021 Pura Belpré Medal Winner

Camila Hassan loves the game of soccer, and she’s good at it too. But in Rosario, Argentina, her brother Pablo is the soccer star. He plays for the hometown professional team Central, while Camila has to sneakily attend her practices and prepare for the SudAmericano cup, her first shot at going pro. Camila navigates life amidst the Ni Uno Menos movement, a movement to stop the violence against women and girls. Not only is she hiding her soccer  dreams from her family but she has to navigate the city with care and vigilance amidst constant threats to her safety because of her gender.  On top of all that Camila’s first love Diego, a famous professional soccer star, is back in town. With so much hanging in the balance, Camila will have to choose what matter’s most. Furia is an excellent coming of age novel that highlights the challenging intersections of gender, soccer, class, and love.

Age Range: High School

Region: South America/Argentina

Additional Resources:

Author’s Website

The National Book Club Discussion Questions https://promo.booksamillion.com/BookClub/DiscussionQuestions/Furia_Discussion_Questions_Book_Club_Kit.pdf

More Information on Rosario, Argentina

Picture from https://www.workman.com/products/furia/paperback

Miguel and the Grand Harmony

Written by: Matt de la Peña

Illustrated by: Ana Ramírez

Disney Press 2017

Ages: 3-7

Region: Mexico

Music is the protagonist in Newburry Medal winner, Matt de la Peña’s, Miguel and the Grand Harmony. The Music is a part of life, and it travels through town on the beat, rhythm, and cacophonies of its makers. The music is stumped however when it reaches Miguel, a boy who loves music but is not allowed to play. The Music cooks up a scheme to bring a guitar into Miguel’s life and inspires him to play, to play whats in his heart. De la Peña highlights the many ways music shows up in our lives, and its connection to happiness.

Discussion Questions:

How did the colors in the book communicate emotion?

Why would playing music upset Mama Coco?

Region: Mexico/North America

Additional Resources:

Coco by Disney Pixar

Matt de la Peña’s Website

More books by Matt de la Peña

The Princess and the Warrior

(Winner of the Pura Belpré Award)

Written and Illustrated by: Duncan Tonatiuh

Abrams Book for Young Readers 2016

Ages: 3-7

Region: Mexico, North America

The Princess and the Warrior details the love story of, a thoughtful and caring princess, Izta, and a brave military man Popoca.

Although Itza was coveted by suitable men, in her fathers eyes, they were not what Izta wanted. She was not impressed with their lavish gifts. Izta instead fell in love with a brave and caring warrior Popoca, for he offered her something much more valuable than any quetzal feathers or turquoise necklace could, a promise to be by her side, and love her forever.

The love match is not enough for Itza’s father, at least not at first. In order for Popoca to prove himself worthy he must defeat the emperor’s enemy, Jaguar claw, a tlatoani, of a nearby kingdom. Although Popoca bravely takes on the mission, he is unaware of Jaguar Claws cunning. Will Popoca be able to fulfill his promise to Itza or will Jaguar Claw prevent Popoca from uniting with his true love, Itza?

Discussion Questions:

Why do you think Popoca needed to prove himself worthy to the Emperor?

Do Itza and Popoca end up together? Why or why? Explain your answer.

Vocab: tlatoani [nahua] – ruler, king

Additional Resources:

More books by Duncan Tonatiuh

The Author’s Website

The Legend of Popocatepetl & Iztaccíhuatl: A Love Story

The Rainbow Weaver/Tejedora del Arcoíris

Written by: Linda Elovitz Marshall

Illustrated by: Elisa Chavarri

Children’s Book Press 2016

Ages: 3-7

Region: Guatemala/Central America

Ixchel lives in the Highlands of Guatemala, and is longing to learn how to weave, like her mother, and grandmother, and many generations of Mayan women before her. Ixchel’s mother uses part of the proceeds that her weaving earns to pay for Ixchels school fees and books. Ixchel not only wants to learn the way of weaving like her ancestors before her, but also wants to help her mom pay for her school and books. Unfortunately, there is not enough thread to spare, and Ixchel can only watch. Frustrated Ixchel sets off to find a different material to weave with, first it is grass, second is wool, but to no avail. Right when Ixchel is about to give up she notices the vibrant colors of the plastic bags on the roads and in the ditches. Putting her creativity to the test Ixchel repurposes the colorful plastic bags into weaving material to be sold at the market, starting a movement that catches on amongst other weavers in the village.

Ixchel vive en las tierras altas de Guatemala, y tiene un gran deseo aprender a tejer, como su madre, abuela y las muchas generaciones de mujeres Maya que vine antes de ella. La madre de Ixchel usa la ganancia de su tejido para pagar para la escuela y los libros de Ixchel. Ixchel quiere aprender a tejer no solo para ser como su antepasadas, before también para ayudar su mama pagar para su escula. Desafortunadamente, no hay suficiente hilo para sobrar, como resultado Ixchel solo puede mirar. Frustrada, Ixchel se desembarca para encontrar otra material para poder tejer, primero usa hierba de pajón, segundo usa lana, pero sin suceso. Al momento que Ixchel se va rendir, se nota los colores vibrantes de las bolsas de plástico en el camino y colgando de las ramas. Usando su creatividad Ixchel se reutiliza las bolsas de plástico en material de tejido para vender en el mercado. Su creatividad se prende entre las otras tejedoras empezando un movimiento en su pueblo.

Additional Resources:

Teacher’s Guide to Rainbow Weaver

Spanish Playground Rainbow Weaver Activities

The Author’s Website