South America Books

Any history book by Kevin Starr is worth reading. I'm working my way through all of them. He is the greatest California historian ever!

Kevin Starr has created a brilliant picture of California in an eventful decade. I need not add to the summaries Amazon has above; I can say that Starr's writing is vivid and sweeping and he manages to place all the events and social evolution in perspective.

And I found material that was still fresh, even given my own background as a consumer of history and as a lifetime Californian. The impact of wartime shipbuilding and aviation industry on California's sleepy economy and postwar prosperity; the zoot-suit riots and what they revealed about California's race problems; the bar and nightlife scenes in SF and LA; the Legislature's mover-fixer Artie Samish and his downfall; the noirish Black Dahlia murder in a time when Hollywood was discovering film noir. Indeed, Mr. Starr illuminates the last one by pointing out Hollywood's mingling with the LA underworld and with some of the rougher LAPD detectives.

It's true that Starr may have crowded his canvas somewhat, but he is adept at fitting them together and presenting them as one epic transformation in the state's history. Given the impact that California's major social upheavals have had for the US and the wider world -- the Gold Rush, Silicon Valley, the dot-com boom -- this book, and this period, is well worth a read.

High school senior Emily Goldberg has a perfect summer planned, the highlight of which is a cross-country road trip with her two best friends before they head off to separate colleges. But her plans are drastically altered when her maternal grandmother dies suddenly and Emily's family must fly to Puerto Rico to attend the funeral. Emily experiences culture shock when she finds herself in a crowded Catholic church with hundreds of relatives she didn't even know she had, including a cousin her own age named Lucy. When Emily's mother decides to remain in Puerto Rico for the rest of the summer to cope with her grief, Emily can't refuse her father's request that she stay with her. Feeling like an outsider (and the Jew from New York whom cousin Lucy refers to as "the nuyorican,"), Emily intends to quietly suffer through two months in a world so different from her own. But when Emily's mother finally opens up about her long unspoken past, Emily begins to reach out to her new relatives, and discovers the importance of connecting to both sides of her heritage. Emily's voice is authentic and witty, and her thoughts and observations will ring true with teens. Spanish words and phrases pepper the dialogue throughout this engaging novel. Ages 12-16.

It's the summer after her senior year, right before she and her friends split up for college, and Emily Goldberg has plans. A road trip across the country with her best friends, Izzy and Adrienne. Hanging out with her boyfriend, Nate, and maybe figuring out what they're going to do at the end of the summer. But whatever else they may have held, her plans definitely hadn't included standing in a hot, crowded funeral home in a country she'd never been in, at the funeral for a grandmother she'd never met. EMILY GOLDBERG LEARNS TO SALSA is a funny, heartwarming story about family and roots, and how learning about them can teach you about yourself.

Emily's mother is from Puerto Rico, but she'd left for college, met and married Emily's father, and never gone back. Emily's never met her grandmother, or her many aunts, uncles, and cousins, until she's forced to go down to Puerto Rico for the funeral. But at least it's only for a few days...until her mother has some sort of crisis and Emily is forced to stay with her.

Sharing a bedroom with her mother, stuck in a country where she barely speaks the language, and living in her ultra-religious Tia Rosa's house with an impossible set of rules, Emily is not looking forward to the rest of the summer. It doesn't help that her cousin Lucy thinks she's a pampered princess from the mainland, and that her boyfriend back home isn't returning her calls. But readers will laugh as she's thrust into one uncomfortable situation after another. Salsa dancing for a girl with two left feet? Cooking with lard? Driving in a country with no street signs? Emily faces them all, slowly getting dragged out of the safe world she's built for herself and connecting with the family she'd never known she'd missed.

Ostow writes with an authentic teenage voice, in clear and uncluttered prose. Her descriptions of a country unfamiliar to many of her readers will fascinate and intrigue them. Writing with respect for a culture different from that of the United States isn't easy, but Ostow pulls it off with style, drawing on her personal experiences. Recommended for readers looking for a fun and enjoyable read.

Reviewed by: Dena Landon

Creo que el libro de Juan Guzmán Tapía nos muestra que los jueces de Chile (se han estado criticados por su incapacidad de procesar a los que comitieron violaciones de los derechos humanos durante el régimen de Pinochet) no son iguales. Guzmán Tapía quería justicia y un cambio de opinión sobre la defensa de los derechos humanos por el sistema judicial en Chile. Le recomdería este libro a una persona que quiera entender el impacto de un juez individual en la lucha para los derechos.

Juan Guzman Tapia se muestra tan imparcial en su narracion, como lo que debio ser como juez. No tiene reservaciones en hablarnos de sus prejuicios, pero tambien nos habla de sus ideales y de los males que han aquejado a Chile, que tambien son los de toda nuestra America.

Lo que describe Alvarito, es ni más ni menos que la verdad. Este chico ha salido igual que se padre. Bueno todavía le falta mucho, pero va por buen camino.

This novel is a radiography of the convulsed 1990s Peru where several people for necessity, conviction or personal ambitions chose an ideology or political posture because of the economic, political and social crisis of this South American country. Terrorism, espionage, counterespionage, execution of opponents, corruption and treason are some of the activities that must of the people cited in this book - some real figures of the regime or opposition, some fiction figures - are forced to do to reach their goals

A refreshingly varied and up-to-date coverage of areas of American culture that have been impacted significantly by Jews.

Collaboratively compiled and co-edited by Stephen H. Norwood and Eunice G. Pollack, the "Encyclopedia Of American Jewish History" is a two volume compendium of information covering every aspect of more than three and a half centuries of Jewish immigrants and their descendants with respect to their influence and impact upon American culture -- as well as the Jewish communities elsewhere in the world. Here detailed are the seminal contributions of Jewish Americans to academia, the arts, politics, the professions, the sciences, music, and American popular culture in general. Enhanced throughout, this two volume set features essays, maps, documents, tables, charts, and a thoroughly 'reader friendly' text that makes it especially appropriate and strongly recommended for school as well as community library Judaic Studies and American History reference collections.

This book is for all who have an interest in Women's Studies, American History or the West. Not only for libraries, this book makes an awesome addition to any home collection as well.

Compiled and co-edited by Gordon Morris Bakken (Professor of History, California State University, Fullerton) and Brenda Farmington (Adjunct Faculty Member, Long Beach City College), Encyclopedia Of Women In The American West is a scholarly reference studying the often-overlooked lives and roles of women on the American frontier. Alphabetical entries offer succinct summaries of great figures, events, situations, facets of daily duties, and more. A highly educational and enlightening resource, the Encyclopedia Of Women In The American West is a core recommendation for academic and public library American Western History Studies and Women's Studies reference collections, as well as an invaluable resource for writers and non-specialist general readers with an interest in studying women's experiences and contributions to American society and culture.

I had to continually remind myself that this remarkable story was indeed fiction and not a scholarly account of a factual occurrence. I had actually purchased this book believing it to be a descriptive work of field anthropology. Enigma Variations was published by Harvard University Press, the authors acknowledged their fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, every page is illustrated with scanned images of Saramakan art objects, and the footnotes referenced genuine scholarly publications. I did not immediately realize that this fascinating story was actually a rare blend of cultural anthropology and suspenseful fiction.

Richard Price and Sally Price have individually and jointly published scholarly works with titles like Stedman's Surinam: Life in an Eighteenth Century Slave Society, The Guiana Maroons, Primitive Art in Civilized Places, and Saramaka Social Structure. According to the book cover, they divide their time between rural Martinique and the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

In this short novel two anthropologists are asked to appraise a remarkable set of museum quality Saramakan musical instruments that are offered for sale. In following their investigations we readers learn about art smuggling, art renovation, and art forgery, and gradually discover that the ethical distinction between original and forged art can become quite blurred.

Enigma Variations is an exceptional book that defines an entirely new genre. I highly recommend this fascinating work.

Curiosity: This soft cover publication by Harvard University Press is printed on high quality, vanilla colored paper. The pages were bound backward in my discounted copy.

Richard and Sally Price are practicing anthropologists who have written a novel about some of the non-academic aspects of their work. Based on their real experiences, this book describes a detective hunt to establish the authenticity of some South American tribal and slave artifacts. But a simple yes/no question quickly blurs into shades of grey as they worm their way through collectors who 'restore' pieces, native carvers who mix styles to please buyers and museum officials trying to justify monies spent.

The book provides a fascinating philosophical discussion of authenticity and the differences between the way the art world and the academic world define it. Every page includes a photograph of an artifact discussed in the story, only at the end do we get a glimpse of which were genuine and which were not.

I expected a quick read and got a picture of a world I've never seen before. A boundary stretching book that holds your attention with personal narrative. I'll never look at a native mask or bowl the same way again.

A coffee table book filled with exquisite photographs and detailed historical and cultural insight on Argentina's premier properties -- the estancias. Through this book we catch a glimpse of the Argentine estancias that rivaled the great homes of Europe and also formed the backbone of the Argentine economy.

A must see for anyone interested in all things Argentine. In no other publication can you find such a profusion of photographic, historical and cultural information on Argentine architecture and society.

Additionally, this book is a steal when purchased in the United States -- I have seen it retail in Buenos Aires for up to $140.00 US.

Although now out of print and quite difficult to find this book is a rare gem. Beautifully photographed and rich in historical text concerning the Estancia system in general and 20-odd Estancias in particular. The reader is taken on a journey from Argentina's north to the Pampas outisde Buenos Aires, to Patagonia and finally to the Southern most tip where Argentina meets the icey waters of the South Atlantic. Over all a great "Coffee Table" box and a wonderful read too.

Since 1965 the United States has been in the midst of a most profound demographic transformation. The non-European immigrant population has increased dramatically and by 1997 approximately 55 million people (20.5 percent) of the total U.S. population were foreign-born. These newcomers are concentrated in California, Florida, Texas, and New York/New Jersey. To study these important demographic and social changes to the foundation of the American landscape, Alejandro Portes and Ruben Rumbaut began in 1990 to follow 5, 262 students enrolled in the eighth and ninth grades in Southern California and Southern Florida. Students were eligible to enter the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS) if they were U.S. born but had at least one foreign-born parent (second generation) or if they themselves were foreign-born and had come to the U.S. at an early age (before age 12) (1.5 generation). Five years later in 1995-1996 a second survey of the same group of children was conducted-- this time supplemented by separate-in-depth interviews with a large sample of their parents. The purpose of this follow-up effort, which succeeded in re-interviewing 82 percent of the baseline sample, was to ascertain changes over time in their family situation, school achievement, educational and occupational aspirations, language use and preferences, ethnic identities, experiences and expectations of discrimination, and psycho-social adjustment.
The outcome of this research was two volumes-- one entitled: Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant Second Generation (2001). This volume focused on the patterns of acculturation, family and school life, language, identity, experiences of discrimination, self-esteem, ambition and achievement. The weakness of this work is that it does not probe very deeply into the importance of ethnicity and how it influences adaptation patterns and trajectories of the children of immigrants. The second volume entitled Ethnicities: Children of Immigrants in America (2001) presents seven individually authored case studies in an attempt to provide a closer look at the adaptation patterns and trajectories of youth from: Cuba, Nicaragua, Vietnam, Haiti, Mexico, Jamaica and other West Indian origins. To undertake this analysis, Rumbaut and Portes brought together a group of scholars who specialize in each of the major immigrant nationalities, made available to them the CILS data set, and invited them to combine their expertise to explain what each group was experiencing
The researchers came to a number of similar conclusions. The first was that second and 1.5 generation acculturation is being aggravated by troubles associated with coming of age in an era far more materialistic and individualistic than those encountered by immigrant children in years gone by. Today's youth often find themselves straddling different worlds and receiving conflicting signals. At home, they hear that they must work hard and do well in school to move up; on the street they learn a different lesson, that of rebellion against authority and rejection of the goals of achievement.
Unlike their European origin predecessors the present second and 1.5 generation is undergoing a process of segmented assimilation in which outcomes vary across immigrant populations and in which rapid integration and acceptance into the American mainstream represent just one possible alternative. A number of factors are decisive in determining this segmented assimilation. They include: (1) the history of the immigrant first generation, including the human capital brought by immigrant parents and the context of their reception; (2) the differential pace of acculturation among parents and children, including the development of language gaps between them; (3) the cultural and economic barriers confronted by second-generation youth in their quest for successful adaptation; and (4) the family and community resources avaliable for confronting these barriers.
Each chapter in Ethnicities: Children of Immigrants in America illustrates how varied the process of assimilation has become. In some instances, such as the Filipinos, a high human capital among immigrant parents combined with a relatively neutral or favorable context of reception produced a rapid mobility into the middle class. In other cases, socio-economic success depends less on advanced educational credentials in the first generation than on the possession of entrepreneurial skills and a favorable context of reception. The diverse Cuban enclave in Miami illustrates this type of assimilation as do the Vietnamese refugees whose positive reception by the U.S. government provided the grounds for reconstruction of families and communities.
In other cases, such as Mexicans, limited professional or entrepreneurial skills among the first generation, an unfavorable government reception, and a hostile societal reception means that their children seldom have the opportunity to assimilate into middle-class American circles but rather have every opportunity to sink into the native poor and underclass. Nicaraguans also face the possibility of downward assimilation because they have met with an unwelcome official reception and severe handicaps in the local labor market. The downward assimilation pattern is also evident among Haitian immigrants in Southern Florida. Hostile governmental reception, a low average human capital among the first generation, and a widespread social and labor market discrimination have produced what is arguably the most impoverished immigrant community in the region. Jamaican and other West Indian immigrants are subject to similar external discrimination, however in their case an unfavorable context of reception is partially balanced by the educational and occupational credentials of many parents, and their fluent (and distinctly accented) English.
Overall, the studies in this book provide an excellent overview of the situation faced by non-European second and 1.5 generation migrants. Rumbaut and Portes have once again established themselves as the leading research team on migration issues in the United States. A reliable source of longitudinal data accounts for the importance and richness of these studies. In addition, as members of the community they studied, many of the authors were able to offer more information or speculation as to the reasons behind the successes or failures of each particular group. In the past, immigrants (or more likely their children) first became ethnics and later plain Americans, today the journey is bumpy for non-white ethnic groups. There is no longer just one America that newcomers enter nor only one American identity that they may adopt. Ethnicities: Children of Immigrants in America highlights these realities and is highly recommend as a primary source to students doing upper level Sociology of Migration or Ethnic Studies courses. Individuals using this book will find helpful tools for understanding how the new non-European second and 1.5 generation immigrants build, remodel, and adapt to their lives in the United States.

This collection of studies by Rumbaut and Portes presents a highly detailed study of immigrant's children in the US from Asia, Latin American and the Caribbean. The studies cover the children's stories at various times while they are growing up making it easy to see how they deal with adolsence and coming of age. It deals with such important issues as educational ambitions, levels of discrimination, language usage (both in English and their parent's language), and relationships with their parents and the larger community around them.

The second book of the Gatekeeper series "Evil Star" is about a boy named Matt Freeman who has special powers. The bad thing is he can't control them. He first noticed them when he was 5 and his parents died. Matt knew his parents were going to die because he saw it in a dream. Now he lives with his friend Richard Cole. Matt is one of the five kids who have to save the world from creatures called The Old Ones. He gets sent on a mission to Peru by a secret organization called the Nexus, to find one of the gates that release the Old Ones.
Matt has these dreams where he sees three boys and one girl on a beach. He is on a rock in the water. When Matt goes to Peru he starts getting shot at and almost gets captured like his friend Richard did. He meets a boy named Pedro who is one of the five chosen to save the world. Pedro speaks Spanish and they can only understand each other in their dreams. They go all around Peru trying to find Richard and finally find him in a place called Cuzco. They meet the ancestors of the Incas and they help them along their way.
They go to Nazca, where there are the Nazca lines. These are a series of lines that were dug to look like animals and other pictures. They meet a woman who has been studying the lines for her whole life. Her name is Professor Chambers. She thinks that on a day called Inti Raymi the stars are going to line up with the pictures and that alignment will open the gate. There is a man named Salamanda who is going to use a artificial star to open the gate. Matt isn't going to let that happen.
I really liked this book because it has a lot of action and the author used a lot of description to explain what is happening in the book. I recommend this for kids in their teens that enjoy action, adventure and suspense. The main characters in some of his books are around 13-14 years old. I have read two book in this series and four books in a different series by the same author. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

By Brian Williams

EVIL STAR is the second book in the Anthony Horowitz series called THE GATEKEEPERS.

In book one, titled Raven's Gate (The Gatekeepers), main character Matt discovers he is one of five specially chosen teens. Their purpose is to save the world. Matt doesn't know the other five and must "close" Raven's Gate on his own. As the second book, EVIL STAR, begins, Matt finds himself in Peru meeting up with Pedro, who turns out to be one of the chosen five.

Matt and Pedro join forces, although it isn't easy since Matt speaks only English and Pedro speaks Spanish. Their unusual connection does allow them to communicate while in a dream state. They learn each others' stories and realize that their paths will someday cross the paths of their remaining team.

Together Matt and Pedro must find and prevent the opening of the second gate. Its history is intertwined with the ancient Incas and the Peruvian culture. As they search the seamier side of Peru, they encounter kidnapping, gun battles, the evil "big headed" Salamanda, high altitude jungle treks, and terrifying helicopter rides. Exactly what is the Evil Star and can they find the next gate in time to close it and save the world from the Old Ones?

Horowitz provides his usual fast-paced, non-stop action in this new series. It is sure to impress his already established fans and create plenty of new ones.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"