Latino Books

This bilingual rendering of `The Harvest Birds/Los Pajaros De LA Cosecha', and the beautiful clear lines of Enrique Flores artwork, make the telling of this wonderfully ecologically minded folktale, an inspiration for young and old alike as they share this delightful book, and provides a very natural springboard for meaningful discussion on ecological issues, and brainstorming of ideas for action that we can participate in to help preserve our World. More over the vocabulary has helped my grandsons as we prepare to go on an ecological / natural history based holiday amongst the unique flora and fauna of the beautiful Islas Canarias.

Notes from my reading, Day One:

"I didn't stop there. Of course I didn't. I just felt I had to add that I probably had a better idea of the serious philosophy of anarchy than a man like him whose addiction to order seriously undermined his feeble attempts at engaging his imagination.
"He returned my remark by reminding me that he remained unimpressed with my shallow intellectual demeanor and that nothing could disguise my obstinate, disrespectful, and undisciplined attitude. He said being a smart aleck didn't actually make me smart. And then he said it again: 'Despite your extensive, if aggressive vocabulary, you're nothing but an angry, disrespectful young man who needs a little discipline.' You see, the thing with adults is that respect is just a word they use to guilt us nonadults into doing what they want us to do. But did Mr. Alexis leave it at that? Of course not. He reminded me and Tom and John that it was a privilege to attend a pre-med magnet school and if we weren't very careful, well, we just might be sent back to a normal school. That's how he put it. A normal school. That guy, he destroys me. Where in the hell was he going to find a normal school? How can schools be normal when they're run by adults like him."

To tell you the truth, reading HE FORGOT TO SAY GOODBYE has so far been really slow going for me. But that is only because Ben Saenz is a poet, and while there is theoretically not a line of verse in the whole book, reading it is sure causing me to treat it as if it were an exceptional volume of YA poetry. This is one of those books that I need to read aloud and then read aloud again so that I can savor the words and expressions -- English and Spanish -- of entire amazing passages.

Notes from my reading, Day Two:

I would really prefer to have an audience so that I could actually be sharing these words and expressions and entire amazing passages but, instead, I have been sitting up in my room alone, reading aloud and loudly to myself, and totally cracking up every couple of pages, particularly with the Jake monologues. Yes, there are a whole slew of passages here which are so hysterical that I am repeatedly delaying any forward motion by re-reading and re-re-reading two- and three-page passages aloud in order to cause myself to laugh all over again. (By now the family dog must think I'm in serious need of a mental health professional.) In fact, I was inspired to write the Day One notes yesterday upon reaching page 39; now -- hours of reading later -- I've just finished re-reading page 52. And I'm still sitting here cracking up.

Notes from my reading, Day Three:

HE FORGOT TO SAY GOODBYE is a story about what it is to become a man. It is the tale of two teenage guys in El Paso, Texas who know each other on a very casual basis. What they don't yet know they have in common is that neither really knows more about his own respective father than what he has gotten from his mom and -- in Ramiro's case -- his mom's sister.

Ramiro Lopez lives with his thirty-something, single mother, who works for a physician, and his younger brother Tito (an angry, violent, drug-abusing teenager with deadened eyes who is big trouble). Ramiro attends Jefferson High School (La Jeff).

Jake Upthegrove, the self-described teen anarchist (whose attitudes and observations about adults have kept me in stitches for days) lives with his mother -- whose "work" is shopping --and his wealthy-attorney-stepfather in a home that is staffed by a full-time Mexican American maid and a part time gardener. Jake attends the pre-med magnet high school that adjoins La Jeff.

"Put it this way: The good, intelligent pre-med magnet school students 'attend their classes in a separate facility.' So we don't even have 'contact.' That's the word they use too. 'Contact.' Like they've landed on the moon. I mean, crap, what's wrong with contact? What are we gonna do to those kids, kill them? Touch them? Infect them with Mexican ways of thinking? Make them ride burros? Take their English and put it between two pieces of corn tortillas until it sounds Spanish? What? It really makes me mad. So we're all separate. I mean, the only person I know from the pre-med magnet school is this guy named Jake. We both sort of hang out in the same place on the school grounds. We don't say much -- we just sort of nod at each other. Sometimes we exchange a few words. That's it. He likes to smoke. Sometimes we talk a little bit. Not a lot. I mean, I'm not sure what to say to the guy. The thing is, I don't think either one of us fits in at school. It's a place we go to because we have to. "School is like this speed bump, and I think we're both in a hurry to move on down the road. So we both sort of hide out just off the school grounds, which is illegal. Well. not exactly illegal, but against the rules. Rules, see, they keep us in line. In line is better than chaos, I suppose. Or maybe not. Who knows?"

I'm not going to blog each succeeding day in the week that it took me to finish reading the book with all of the u-turns I made along the way. But I have, in fact, now spent a lot of quality time with Ramiro and Jake and can say that this one is right up there with my all-time favorite YAs.

From reading HE FORGOT TO SAY GOODBYE, it is clear that becoming a man has much to do with relationships. There are relationships here between adolescent guys and other guys, with girls as friends, with girls as girlfriends, with teachers, with siblings, with neighbors, with hired help, with mothers and with themselves.

HE FORGOT TO SAY GOODBYE is not a book that is going to be able to be taught in middle school because of the language contained in it, but it will surely appeal to many students heading into high school and this is unquestionably a book good enough to be added to a high school English curriculum.

Ben Saenz is also the author of SAMMY AND JULIANA IN HOLLYWOOD, which was up at the top of my Best of 2004 list. It is not at all going out on a limb to predict that a year from now HE FORGOT TO SAY GOODBYE will be sitting up there on my Best of 2008 list.

At a time when there is a proliferation of New Age books on Latinos on the shelves, it is refreshing to find such a serious and indepth collection of articles that explore the important issue of health in the Latino community. This is a comprehensive reader written by leading scholars and practitioners of Latino health issues. It represents an important follow-up to the editors' earlier pathbreaking reader on the subject. This is a serious academic textbook and is certainly not a light read, but it should be on the bookshelves of all persons and institutions concerned about the health status of the Latino community.

This book is a wonderful teaching tool for the classroom, especially for kids who are bilingual. The book tells the story of a young Spanish speaking boy on his birthday. You will be invited into his world and learn how he celebrates. Learn what he does at his school and what subjects he loves! Let kids explore Ricky's world with this vivid childrens book.

As a librarian I am always looking for books for Lation Kids. The short stories in this book are fun. Great characters and plots. Latino teens will enjoy reading this particular book!!!

This book is the Spanish version of "Henry and Mudge in Puddle Trouble". Funny story about Henry and his big dog Mudge, as they enjoy springtime adventures together. Henry is disappointed when Mudge eats a snow glory he has been waiting to pick. Henry and Mudge decide to enjoy a mud puddle, and Mudge becomes the protector of five baby kittens. Fun story and adorable pictures!

THIS IS THE BOOK I'D BEEN LOOKING FOR TO LEARN ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF LATINOS IN EVERY AREA OF ENDEAVOR--MUSIC, SPORTS, SCIENCE, ART, LITERATURE...LATINOS HAVE GIVEN SO MUCH TO OUR COUNTRY AND THESE BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES REALLY GIVES THEM THE PRIDE OF PLACE THEY DESERVE! IT'S A GREAT READ FOR EVERYONE, FROM STUDENTS TO CULTURE VULTURES WHO WANT TO REALLY KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT THE TOPICS THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT. IF YOU HAVE LATINO FRIENDS, THIS BOOK IS A MUST. IF YOU ARE LATINO, THIS BOOK IS A MUST. IF YOU LIVE IN THE WORLD, THIS BOOK IS A MUST!

The essays collected in this volume represent the efforts of a varied and interdisciplinary group of scholars to come to grips with some of these pressing issues of identity, ethnicity, race, and rights. The questions arising from identity have major implications not just for Hispanics/Latinos but also for all citizens...For those serious students of these issues, this volume will be an extraordinary catalyst for future discussions and practical guidelines for implementation.

I'll admit I don't read a lot of short stories--I'm a more of a novel kind of guy. But I was totally won over and completely captivated by Rane Arroyo's first collection of fiction. His short stories are about gay and bisexual Latino men and their lovers, ex-lovers, future lovers and the families they all come from. Some of his written words made me laugh out loud; others made me incredibly sad. And being from the Windy City myself, I loved his references to various Chicago places like the bar, Little Jim's, and the vegetarian restaurant, The Chicago Diner--both of which are still in business on Halsted Street. But what I found most intriguing about Mr. Arroyo's stories was his experimentation with different writing styles. "The Blackie Soto Mystery Series" is a hilarious descriptive list of a series of mysteries about Blackie and his two friends who have wild adventures while solving crimes--kind of a gay Latino Hardy Boys. And "Rat Poison: The Book of Marcus Mar" tells the tale--in 101 sentences--of a young man committing suicide--I found it disturbing, sad and beautifully written. Other stories are told as monologues, in verse, and even as cyberspace emails. "How to Name a Hurricane" is a quick, wonderful read that you will have a difficult time putting down once you begin. I highly recommend that you check it out.

Great book my kids loved it even though they don't speak Spanish - I used the Spanish to translate some words for them. The pictures are very well done and the story was interesting enough that when I was interrupted a few times they reminded me to continue with the story.

This is a book we will take care of and keep for a long time ---