I completely agree that "2017 was a great year for Latino culture and the arts." I'm just disappointed that not one reference to poetry or prose by Latino writers or illustrators was mentioned. So here's my own personal addendum to the story.
Picture Books
I love anything that Carmen Agra Deedy writes and says. If you ever have the opportunity to hear her speak, drop everything and go. She will make you laugh and cry and laugh again. Then you will cry because it's over. I was fortunate enough to see her twice in 2017--once at the TLA conference in San Antonio in April and then in October at the Bank Street Book Festival in NYC. Both times wonderful. I love The Rooster Who Wouldn't be Quiet. It has a great message and is a fun read aloud. Mrs. Yager's third graders even performed it at our November assembly.
My fifth grade Reading Ambassadors loved The Chupacabra Ate the Candlelebra written by Marc Tyler Nobleman and illustrated by Ana Aranda. A fun story with vibrant illustrations that light up the page. We all love the funny and unpredictable ending.
Everyone is talking (including me) about Margarita Engle's poetry anthology, Bravo! Poems about Amazing Hispanics, beautifully illustrated by Rafael Lopez. I referenced the book and shared the poem on Pura Belpre when teaching about the award named after her.
I was introduced to author poet Emma Otheguy at the Bank Street Book Festival when I attended her Latinx literature book group. Her gorgeous English and Spanish biography in verse on Jose Marti, Marti's Song for Freedom, illustrated by Beatriz Vidal, is a must for all collections in all buildings.
One of my second graders in my Mock Caldecott class pretty strongly shared that All the Way to Havana by Margarita Engle and illustrated by Mike Curato is his top pick for Caldecott so far. Enough said.
I absolutely LOVE The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez. Malu is full of the spunk that I wish I had when I was 12 and she is way cooler than I ever will be. I'm going to recommend this book to everyone beginning from strong readers in third grade through middle school. If it's up to me we'll all be singing Ramones alongside Lola Beltran.
There hasn't been much buzz around My Brigadista Year, Katherine Paterson's latest, but I enjoyed it. It's the 1960s and brave young Lora leaves her family in Havana for a year to teach folks in the country how to read. Seems simple, but Lora learns so much from her year away from home.
In September I read Benjamin Alire Saenz's The Inexplicable Logic of My Life and fell hard for the characters and Saenz. I literally could not put it down. Brushed my teeth with it, listened to the audio everywhere, and read past midnight many nights. It's not a short book but I got it finished in only a few days and that's with being swamped at work.
One of the last books I read this year was I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez. The first line has you hooked, "What surprised me most about seeing my sister dead is the lingering smirk on her face." It made me cry, laugh ("You think you're all grow up. You're only fifteen. You don't even know how to make a tortilla...", smile (boyfriend Connor), hold my breath...I don't know if it was because I am a parent of a fifteen year old myself, Jewish (there are so many similarities in cultures), a good story with a strong heroine or a combination but this was an all around winner in my book.
I also really loved Adam Silvera's They Both Die in the End. I kept hoping throughout the whole book that for once Death-Cast would be wrong. "Life isn't meant to be lived alone. Neither are End Days."
Everyone is talking (including me) about Margarita Engle's poetry anthology, Bravo! Poems about Amazing Hispanics, beautifully illustrated by Rafael Lopez. I referenced the book and shared the poem on Pura Belpre when teaching about the award named after her.
I was introduced to author poet Emma Otheguy at the Bank Street Book Festival when I attended her Latinx literature book group. Her gorgeous English and Spanish biography in verse on Jose Marti, Marti's Song for Freedom, illustrated by Beatriz Vidal, is a must for all collections in all buildings.
One of my second graders in my Mock Caldecott class pretty strongly shared that All the Way to Havana by Margarita Engle and illustrated by Mike Curato is his top pick for Caldecott so far. Enough said.
Middle Grade
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| Mr. Reischer and his book group |
There hasn't been much buzz around My Brigadista Year, Katherine Paterson's latest, but I enjoyed it. It's the 1960s and brave young Lora leaves her family in Havana for a year to teach folks in the country how to read. Seems simple, but Lora learns so much from her year away from home.
If you read my blog, you already know that I love Ruth Behar and her middle grade debut, Lucky Broken Girl.
Grab your apron and your poetry pen before you begin reading The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya. Right after I read it I wrote in my notes, "Pick up this epically awesome MG novel about family, love and the courage to speak your mind."
Young Adult
In September I read Benjamin Alire Saenz's The Inexplicable Logic of My Life and fell hard for the characters and Saenz. I literally could not put it down. Brushed my teeth with it, listened to the audio everywhere, and read past midnight many nights. It's not a short book but I got it finished in only a few days and that's with being swamped at work.
One of the last books I read this year was I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez. The first line has you hooked, "What surprised me most about seeing my sister dead is the lingering smirk on her face." It made me cry, laugh ("You think you're all grow up. You're only fifteen. You don't even know how to make a tortilla...", smile (boyfriend Connor), hold my breath...I don't know if it was because I am a parent of a fifteen year old myself, Jewish (there are so many similarities in cultures), a good story with a strong heroine or a combination but this was an all around winner in my book.
I also really loved Adam Silvera's They Both Die in the End. I kept hoping throughout the whole book that for once Death-Cast would be wrong. "Life isn't meant to be lived alone. Neither are End Days."
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