Latino Books

The book Trino's Choice is a great book to read for children aged 12 and above. The story is centered on the main character Trino Olivares. Trino's family is facing serious financial problems and they are barely getting by on a daily basis. Trino's circumstances have forced him to grow earlier than his age and share his family's responsibility. His life gets worse after he witnesses Rosca and his small gang beat Mr. Epifaño, the owner of the neighborhood grocery store. He runs for his life when he meets Lisana, a fellow student. Trino is pushed in a situation where he has to decide between keeping his old friends who hung out with dangerous kids or being friends with Lisana and her group. Trino agrees not to tell the cops about Rosca's is crime. Rosca offers him money to join his gang. He is faced with with a difficult decision because his mother recently lost her job and the family needs the money, Trino considers the option. He must choose between taking the job Rosca has offered or staying away from trouble. On his way to meet Rosca about his new job, Trino witnesses another murder; his friend Zipper was shot.

There are some very important messages conveyed in this book, such as choosing between right and wrong, independance, issues related to identity, peer pressure, love, loneliness, and family problems. This book helps all children to learn and understand the complexity of taking decisions and the thought process required in making a choice. The language of the book will appeal to young readers as well as older ones.

This book teaches the reader that not all decisions should be based on the need for money and sometimes one has to go through a lot of trouble while doing the ethical thing. What will be Trino's choice? Read to find out.

I thought this was a great book. It adequately portrays the struggles some junior high students face every day. I like the fact that the main character's life wasn't an easy one.

It's been a long time since I've been in seventh grade, and I've never lived in the barrio, but I was with Trino all the way as he struggled with the colliding forces in his world--his empty stomach, his mother's dead end job, his dead father and "pest" little brothers who want more than he can give them, friends who want to fit in places that he's trying to escape and a beautiful young girl who loves poetry. Like THE COLOR OF WORDS, this book illustrates all the richness of life in a family of color and the power of writing, specifically poetry here, to help a person realease his words into choices. As a mother, a writer, a poet and former seventh grader I salute Ms. Bertrand and look forward to more work from her.

Trino's Choice, by Diane Gonzales Bertrand, is a story about a young boy named Trino. Trino is in the 7th grade and lives in a trailer park and is struggling through his adolescent stages while facing many problems that will force him to choose between right and wrong.

The author catches the reader's attention is several different ways. Suspense, questioning, and love are just some of those ways. However the reader needs to relate to Trino's life and the poor, trailer park life. If the reader hasn't been able to relate, this book gives the reader a good idea of how many adolescent teens live, and the problems they face.

Overall, this book was at best mediocre. It lacked a major attention getter and was slow on getting a point across. However, Trino's Choice did show the reader how some teens really live and how life is not always as pleasant as it is portrayed.

This book is an excellent read for young adults. It deals with the themes of person vs. person and person vs. self. This novel focuses on how Trino views his life and why he feels the way he does. He struggles with entering manhood with no guidance from a male role model and deciding whether to hang out with a school-type crowd or a rough crowd. Trino is a character that many children of this age level can identify with. He faces realistic conflicts between himself, friends, enemies and family members that young adults might be facing in their schools or at home. The author begins the book by Trino running away from someone who wants to kill him. This grabs the reader's attention because you don't know why he is trying to hide and who he is hiding from. The author draws her readers in and makes them want to know what is going to happen to Trino next. The Spanish dialogue that is incorporated into the text gives the reader a more realistic view of the novel because all the characters in this book are Latino. Trino is definitely a dynamic character because he experiences major changes in his life such as dealing with the death of a close friend, entering a new relationship with a girl, and entering manhood. This novel is highly recommended for teenagers because it focuses on issues that they are concerned about and can experience at this age.

I read this book a couple of years ago and I will always remember it as an excellent anthology of gay Latino writing. The abstract "My Name, Multitudinos Mass" by Larry la Fountain-Stokes is the weakest in the bunch. I recommended this anthology to my G&L book group who was very impressed with the the writing. Highly recommended, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I do think several so called "gay writers" could take lessons in effective story telling from the authors in this collection.

This anthology of short stories is both satisfying and frustrating - satisfying in the varietal range of writers, frustrating in that there isn't more to read! There are common threads that editors Manrique and Dorris have discovered and those threads are woven into sometimes gaudy/garrish flags and at other times into tender/vulnerable mantillas. The flavors are quintessentially Latin and if some of the stories are more tenuous in content and form, this only serves to evidence the valor of a history of suppressed sexuality each author addresses. Some of the works are mature, elegantly written vignettes and the editors are kind to give us past and future works for further investigation. Others show many degrees of promise. In all, this is a collection to be savoured...and a terrific appetizer!

This book is one of the weakest collections of stories I've ever read. Painted Leaf Press has a habit of throwing out half-baked stories. It's called Editor. Get one. Many of these stories had great potential, but lacked execution. Others were just cliche. Emanuel Xavier paints a nice story. but his words on the page are flat, flat, flat. The strongest, most complete stories are by a group of San Francisco writers: Jaime Cortez, Joel Villalon and Al Lujan. They have even stronger pieces in another book that came out a year after this one: Virgins, Guerrillas and Locas. You'd be better served getting that book instead. it has a better cover too.

Do you want to cry, do you want to fall in love, con un macho muy macho. Or do you want to see what it's like Livin La Vida de una Loca? If you do this is the book for you. Filled with la vidas Latino-Gay style! A must read for all the LOCAS that are "out" there.

I read this book from cover to cover and enjoyed most of the pieces. The anthology is quite a varied gathering of gay Latino writers at many stages of their careers, so it was interesting to note how this collection balanced the range of literary talents. I was impressed by most of the pieces, disappointed in others. If you read this collection you will recognize the weak writing rather quickly. (Find out for yourself!) I was, however, a bit dismayed that so many of these stories dealt with sex. There were few exceptions. So I found it difficult to see how this collection offered anything different from the mediocre "white gay" collections that have flooded the market recently, other than that these are gay Latinos. But that is just an observation, not necessarily a criticism. I still have to commend this effort, kudos to Mr. Manriquez. I have found some new voices here that I know are sure to make a difference in the changing landscape of American literature.

El Bronx is an exellent collection of short stories you will always remember. It all happened in a city called New York and in hood called The Bronx.

This book is full of 12 short stories. The first short story is about the Fernandezes. The Fernandezes are a family that have a special pet, a little hen named after their favorite movie star, Joncrofo. Mrs fernandez wants to kill the hen because the hen doesn't lay eggs. The second short story is about three kids who walk to school passing a funeral house.They always see a new person in the window display who had passed away. the days passed and something bad happened to a person that they loved so much. Another story is about a 15 year old girl who is pregnant. She had problems with her parents, she doesn't work and she can't go to school because she is pregnant. One day she meets a guy named Herman and she falls in love with him.

The rest of the stories are interesting too, because they have somethings that can happen in the real world. Some of the parts of the stories I don't like because it doesn't explain much of the sequence or events of the story. I recomend this book because it may help you to know something that you shouldn't do.I enjoyed it so much that I couln't stop reading it. I got interested in this book because some of the parts of the stories were funny. I loved this book and i hope you read it.

Although I agree that this portrays very moving look at the Bronx in a way that brings it to life for the outsider, this is NOT a book for the school market! It opens too many issues for moral controversy.

Marvelously written, characters with flesh-and-blood aliveness, fantastic insights into people and culture and situations, very simply and clearly yet subtly written (with great sharp transitions - she doesn't waste your time!), and so emotionally connected - this book brought tears to my eyes several times...which is why I'm recommending it so highly. Most books can't pull that off.

And although at times it is an uplifting book, mostly it's really a sad book, a book about pain and heartache and people who can't fit it, who fall between the cracks, who are rejected by American society at large, and at times their own cultures and families. It so beautifully depicts people living compromised lives, yet living nonetheless and making the best of it. It offers a great entrance into a time and place that I don't often get much contact with. Thank you, Nicholasa (and I loved your book Nilda also)!

Even though this book is in the young adult section, I, a mature 23 year old read it and loved it. The short stories are well written and entertaining, and each story is different from the last. The book can be finished within a few hours, so its a great book for long car rides, days at the beach, or for those times when there's nothing good on T.V.

I really enjoyed this book. I read this book last year when I was in the 7th grade. And I am a boriqua too so I can relate a little to what the author is say. This book tells the truth about life in the Bronx and being a puerto rican

I was disappointed in this book after hearing friends rave about it. The illustrations are beautiful and the theme is endearing-- but, oh, how boring it is! In our family, we make up our own words to go along with the great pictures.

I just loved this book. It conveys the sense of tradition that we grew up with and long for in todays fast paced world. Thank you to Lynn Resier for giving us a means to demonstrate to our children how things used to be.

This story is part of our first grade reading series. The illustrations are beautiful and give good clues as to what the story is about. The text offers appropriate and varied vocabulary as well as a predictable pattern that helps children read it more fluently. Though the theme of the story is challenging (concerning tradition: some things stay the same, some things are a bit different) it gives children an opportunity to think about the meaning of the story, instead of just reading a story with a bunch of meaningless rhymes.

I just loved this book. It conveys the sense of tradition that we grew up with and long for in todays fast paced world. Thank you to Lynn Resier for giving us a means to demonstrate to our children how things used to be.

A little girl describes how cherry pies, flower garlands, quilts and lullabies have been passed down through her family from great-grandmother to grandmother to mother to her and then to her teddy bear. Each picture's details shows how different each generation is or, as the text explains, Every time it was the same, but different. The bold outlined drawings have an appealing, colorful, cartoon-like quality which is charming and homey. The outlined frames for each picture add to the quilt-like mood and give the book an inviting feel. Included is the author's lullaby lyrics (to the tune of Brahms' "Lullaby".)

Es muy poco probable que otro autor americano se haya dado a la tarea de escribir sobre una problemática tan común para millones de hispanos en los Estados Unidos.
Con una pluma ligera y muy certera, Lionel Sosa va deshojando la margarita del dilema de ser Hispano / Latino. Uno a uno va desprendiendo y analizando los pétalos de esta problemática desde una posición muy pragmática y, a veces, sumamente real y cruda, llamando a las cosas por su nombre, duélale a quien le duela.
A través de estas páginas se va develando el misterio con el cual se cubren y escudan muchos hispanos para dejar de hacer y desaprovechar las inmensas oportunidades que se les presentan a diario en este gran país de la América del Norte.

Este es, sin duda, un libro de cabecera para todo aquel que siendo hispano desee triunfar y alcanzar el Sueño Americano.

En este libro Sosa demuestra atravez de sus vida y experiencias personales como los latinos(y todas las personas) pueden triunfar en la vida, enseñando los errores que los latinos cometemos comunmente, y ademas mostrandonos los metodos y actitudes, que por lo general los latinos triunfadores usan, tambien nos enseña como adoptar los modos y pensamientos gringos pero evitando los excesos y errores que ellos cometen normalmente. En lo personal es uno de los mejores libros que he leido.

"El sueno americano" es una guia indispensable para quienes deseen profundizar en las razones del exito (y del fracaso) de empresas e individuos hispanos en los Estados Unidos. El senor Sosa escribe en un estilo claro y convincente, basandose en su propia experiencia y en los ejemplos de multiples personas, famosas o no. El resultado es didactico y abrira sus ojos a realidades que se viven a diario pero que no siempre son analizadas o entendidas (por ejemplo, la enorme diferencia de sentido que una misma frase puede tener para un angloamericano y para un latino.) Este libro es una obra constructiva, que respeta nuestra idiosincracia y, al mismo tiempo, ofrece consejos practicos para una mejor comprehension del mundo angloamericano. Altamente recomendado.

A mi me gusta el libro "El Sueno Americano" mucho. Lo es un libro ese dice latinos pueden hacer muy bien en los Estados Unidos. Yo lo recomendaria a todos el gente, si tu sabes donde qieres ir. El libro es muy bien para todos Latinos en los Estados Unidos.

El libro sigue las recetas típicas de autoayuda: actitud positiva, valoración de uno mismo, trabajo duro, etc. Pero empieza a hacer agua cuando trata de vincular dichas recetas con temas socioculturales.

Por ejemplo el castellano hablado en ciertas regiones de Latinoamérica es, según el Señor Sosa, inherentemente servil (a propósito, el inglés y el portugués no).

Las conductas negativas tratan de explicarse a través de antropología barata y slogans antihispanistas.

El único saldo positivo que deja el libro es que, al terminar de leerlo, uno termina totalmente determinado a triunfar en la vida, simplemente para demostrarle al Señor Sosa cuán equivocado está en cuanto a que la forma de lograrlo no es renegar de la propia herencia cultural.

I loved this book. It was fun and good story. Whenever you don't have enough book to read then try this book it is just great to killing time.

I really don't know what to make of *Growing Up Latino*. I mean, I did enjoy the book. I laughed, nodded and groaned with memories of my Hispanic background as I read the stories. However, I was surprised at excerpted stories in this book by other well known Hispanic authors.

Oscar "Zeta" Acosta's "The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo" and Jose Antonio Villarreal's "Pocho" are a couple of examples where an excerpt of their stories are in this book. So, it made me wonder just how many other works in this book were also excerpts.

To me, there were lots of other wonderful stories by well known authors, such as Sandra Cisneros, Richard Rodriguez, Gloria Anzaldua, Rudolfo A. Anaya and many more. Each of them were unique with the topics they've chosen as well as their writing styles.

There were many topics covered in the stories. However, just about almost everyone had a similar experience. Topics covered death, education, religion, Spanish, English, gringos, food, social norms and many more. Experiences were similar when it came to social norms, teachers, Catholic schools, pronunciation of names and the like. I could relate to some of them, which made some stories more cherished than others. There were a couple of stories that I just could not "get it".

Nonetheless, it was a good read. I just wished that there were no excerpted stories. Excerpted stories feel abrupted and it's mainly because you're only read a sample. Regardless, I will recommend my friends to read this book, along with an explanation.

This is a marvelous anthology. I've given it to friends and want students to read. It is cleverly thought out and has a wonderful preface by Stavans and a solid introduction. The contributors are all first-rate.

I thought that Growing Up Latino really showed different views of Latino life. They do not come in all the same way. I was glad that to see some of my favorite authors were in this book. I also found new authors that I never knew I was interested in until I read this book. The book showed us through the victories and struggles that follow with the Latino culture. I really enjoyed this book and even recommended it to my friends.

This book is an anthology of works of various hispanic writers and their experiences in the united states. It provides each reader with a sence of being because in a strange way you are able to relate to each story. Its a great book!

I've been looking for descriptions of festivities from the Latin American world for a long time. And it's not easy ! Too often it's assumed that everyone knows whar Cinco de Mayo is all abour, but it's all mysterious and novel in my part of the world.

Thank you very much Valerie Menard for your excellent resource

Its really great you can learn about the different celebrations of the Latino culture. You'll also find some traditional recipes, and other little fact we might have never bothered to learn from our parents. Its a nice and easy read. Its a great book for us latinos who want to know more about our traditions and or those who are interested in our culture. Everyone Latino and NON alike should go out and get this book its a great reference guide into the Latino culture, celebrations, and traditions.

When my sister-in-law was planning to get married, I wanted to get her a gift that she could keep and refer to throughout her future. We come from a large Hispanic family, so when I saw this book I was impressed. It made a cute gift and she was really excited to have gotten it. It goes thru all the different Mexican-themed holidays, offering history and ways to celebrate. Once she has kids, I know they will like it too!

There are not a lot of comprehensive books on Latin American Holidays (many on individual holidays, but few books that offer a solid description of multiple holidays). This book, though it focuses exclusively on the holidays and how they are celebrated in the United States, does manage to describe a number of holidays, and best of all, gives lots of ideas for activities (whether its recipes, or children's activity, or websites to visit for more information) that would work just as well in a classroom or in your own home, whether you hope to resurrect your own families' traditions, or create new traditions of your own. The layout is lovely, and the information is fairly complete, giving historical descriptions as well as descriptions of the traditions associated with the holiday. I highly recommend this book. Also note that the book is available in Spanish, under the title (I believe) _Tradiciones_.

There is a necessity for a book like this, although this book could have done a more even job of filling the need. A resource on some of the latino holiday/celebrations, slanted towards how they are celebrated in the U.S., this is can be a helpful resource.
The down side is not all the celbrations are covered that you would expect; practically nothing about how Carneval (Mardi Gras) is celebrated in Latin America itself, only a mention of the Miami, Florida festivity. And there is absolutely no mention of Semana Santa, the week before Easter. On the other hand, a good job of describing the difference between Cinco de Mayo and the real Mexican Independence day in September; as well as receipes and insights that give the book a light-hearted feel. If you are looking for information on a specific holiday, this good be a good resource or a complete blank: If you are looking to find out more about Lation culture, this will be helpful. This is not a travel resource to prepare so much for visiting Latin America during festivals, meant more for understanding the celebrations here in the States, how they are celebrated, why, and their origins.

I bought this for my daughter who will be studying Spanish in college next year. She loved it. It is a beautiful book at a great price.

In my center we work with many immigrants, especially Spanish speaking immgrants. All of our bilingual staff of parent educators love this book. We are responsible to help these families get their children ready for kindergarten entrance and one of the requirements now is the child has to be able to recite nursery rhymes. Of course the children have no idea what Humpty Dumpty or London Bridge is talking about. So this puts them at a disadvantage. We encourage parents to share these rhymes with their children, which are the rhymes most of the parents grew up with. Nursery rhymes and finger plays, along with the lullabies of childhood become the first forms of wider world language comprehension in the child's brain. They develop sensitivity to sounds of language, variations in those sounds, similarities and differences, build receptive vocabulary. This book with its delightful translations can help both the parent and the child transition from native Spanish language to the target language English, all the while retaining the first culture for both parent and child. Since we all must learn by hanging what we want to know on what we already know, this book is a tool in forming an effective bridge for Spanish speaking families. Some English speaking families are using it also to teach Spanish to their children. I wish there were books like this 14 other languages! Do we know anyone who could write one in Arabic or Mandarin Chinese?

I thought I'd check this out from my local library before purchasing it. There are different sections involving games, finger plays, sayings, nursery rhymes, etc....What you usually get in a book of this type. The illustrations are what make this book interesting. Many bilingual books have really cheap and uninteresting pictures in them. I have several Spanish bilingual children's books and the same stuff is pretty much in all of them. I prefer Jose Luis Orozco as you can get a cd to go with every book. He's a really folksy singer so be prepared. He is the "real deal" though. My little girl likes the cds by Las Gatitas and Cri-Cri also. If you're interested, Pio Peep and Los Pollitos Dicen may be books your little ones would like.

Acclaimed authors Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy have combined their talents to present a collection of sayings, nursery rhymes, games, and more. MAMA GOOSE: A Latino Nursery Treasury expounds on heritage and how various cultures have contributed to what is now considered Latino tradition or folklore.

My favorite portions of the book were the jump rope songs, proverbs, and birthday songs. Remembering my childhood, I was able to revisit some of my favorite songs and compare them to the ones presented in MAMA GOOSE. What I really enjoyed was that the book was written in both Spanish and English, allowing everyone, regardless of background, to appreciate the selections. I enjoyed being a kid again, reading, singing, and playing with the characters of this book. My daughter also loved listening and giving her own renditions of the colorful illustrations drawn by Maribel Suarez. MAMA GOOSE is a wonderful selection I'd recommend adding to any child's library as it's sure to be one of their favorites.

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

I think it is a nice book, however I was disappointed. The title says " A Latino Nursery Treasury", the truth is that the content is 95% based on Mexican folklore. I wish the content included rymes and other pieces from other countries in Latin America: Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, etc...

Most of the content is not knwon from people outside of Mexico.

I am a teacher, and just read this to a class of first graders. They were both enthralled with and terrified of Mr. Sugar, but not to the point of being TOO terrified. However, they were hiding their eyes, etc. I think it's a great way to teach kids a very sophisticated lesson of the dangers of temptation: how something can seem wonderful but really be bad for you. It teaches them that too much sugar is bad for you in a way that kids understand. Adults get scared of words like diabetes and obesity, but kids need different images to help them understand that too much sugar is really horrible for you. Wonderful book!

This is a delightful story but I'm concerned that kids miss the point that an overdose of sugar is the problem. Kids do think in concrete terms. If all sugar is bad, why do my parents let me have any sugar? Do my parents want me to do things that are bad for me? Again, the answer is the balance not that all sugar is bad. Fruits and many other healthy food have natural sugar in them. I am a diabetic and I'm very aware of the problems of too much sugar. If an appropriate discussion follows the book, I think it is a good book and I agree with other reviewers. Using this book is like using sugar: do it carefully.

I read this story to a second grade bilingual class who just loved the story and were able to understand the message of the story. When I read it to a sixth grade bilingual class using puppets, It was just as enjoyable to the older children. Since it is in Spanish and English, the whole class was able to enjoy the story and learn what temptation can do to them. I recommend this book to anyone teaching a bilingual class or learning either language.

I first read this book years back at the library with two children I was babysitting for the summer. We read it and laughed in bemused horror.

The book chronicles the tale of two children lured to a magical wagon owned by a Mr. Sugar. His friendly countenance and gentle words urge them to try one of his confections, and thus begins the downward spiral into serious sugar addiction.

They become severely obese, jump up on the school roof, run backwards, and fall asleep in class. What have we to blame? That cursed sugar.

A surprise twist in the end pulls no punches, and teaches children with heavy-handed propaganda that sugar is bad. Very bad.

At once amusing and freaky-deaky, I've recommended this to people learning Spanish (for its bilingual aspect) and people interested in the weird and unusual.

Mr. Sugar came to town is the fantastic, yet somewhat terrifying story of two children; manipulated by the powers of temptation. Seemingly idiotic, this book explores psychological concepts that are usually incomprehecable to young readers. Furthermore, this is a bilingual book, therefore, children who's native tounge is English, have the opperatunity to learn a limited, yet useful Spanish vocabulary. This works in the opposite way as well. I recommend this book to all people, who speak either English, Spanish, or both. It is a wonderful tale for people of all ages.

My 95% Hispanic charter high school students (both male and female) enjoyed this book. They liked Lincoln and Mitsuo and said they'd like to go to Japan if given the opportunity. They thought the summer was best time,because they said they'd be scared that school would be too hard there. Two English as a Second Language students are anxiously awaiting the copy in Spanish read to be sure that they didn't miss anything crucial in the novel. I ordered it in December and it hasn't arrived yet.

Pacific crossing

I recommend this book to the people that like karate and people that like books about things that they do in China. In this book there are two friend named Lincoln and Tony. They live in San Francisco. Their principle asked them if they wanted to go to Japan, and they said that they would go. So they got on a jet and met two families that they will be live with for a little bit. When they got there they met the families and then got to work in the family's land. There was one other boy with Lincoln named Mistuo. They were friends for a long time. They learned many things about Chin. And their way of life they also went to school there and after 6 weeks, the two boys went back to their families.

It is a really good concept for a book - two boys spending the summer in Japan and if some of the ideas had been expanded, Crossing Pacific could have been a very interesting book. But instead it just skims over the surface, with no details to really interest the reader. There are no conflicts between Lincoln and his host family - they manage to speak impecable English. He teaches them American slang and practices kempo. There is no development of Mitsuo's interest in baseball or how they can all speak English so well. It might be interesting for younger students looking for a quick read, but if you want more details about a summer spent in Japan, look elsewhere!

I liked this book because it gives a sense of true being and grace. A Great read

A Review by Geoff

This book is about a boy named Lincoln and his friend Tony. They are two Mexican-American teenagers who live in San Francisco and get the opportunity to go to Japan on a foreign-exchange student program. Lincoln stays with Mr.Ono and his family and he studies martial arts with their son Mitsuo. Lincoln is very good and is trying to become a black belt. Lincoln and Tony have an amazing experience in Japan and they have a lot of fun. Lincoln and Mitsuo have lot's of fun and they both work hard in the families fields.

The first thing that I liked about this book was that it's really fun and the book has a fast pace so you don't get bored but it's not too fast so that you don't get lost. The second thing that I like about this book is that Mr.Ono is a big funny man who gives the book some good comic relief. The third thing I liked about this book were the characters because all of them seem so real like they are real people in some far off place in the east. The characters help paint a vivid picture of Japan.

I think that this book would appeal to people who want to enjoy a good martial arts foreign action book.