THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION DETAILS: John Jay College of Criminal Justice 524 W. 59th Street, (at 10th Ave) Conference Center Saturday, February 25, 2012, 2-5pm Please join John Jay College of Criminal Justice Latin American and Latina/o Studies students as they stand in solidarity with the students of Arizona and the Librotraficante Tony Diaz in protest of the book banning in Arizona. Guests include Librotraficantes Tony Diaz, Bryan Parras, LiLo, Writer Sergio Troncoso and others. Students, writers, scholars, and activists will discuss the following during the teach-in: 1. Why should NY care about what is going on in Arizona? 2. Why are students across the country so inspired about this cause? 3. What is the historical context for this moment? 4. Why is there an anti-Latina/os movement in the United State of America? 5. Why should other cultures care about the plight of Latinos? You can also donate banned books to the Librotraficante caravan in one of two ways:

   UNDER THE MESQUITE by Guadalupe Garcia McCall (Lee and Low Books Inc.) has won the 2012 Pura Belpre Award.  Garcia McCall's winning entry is an "emotionally riveting" tale of growing up in a bicultural community in Texas from the point of view of fourteen-year-old Lupita, the oldest of eight children, who is in charge while her mother battles cancer. The 2012 Illustrator Award went to Duncan Tonatiuh for DIEGO RIVERA: HIS WORLD AND OURS.  Tonatiuh wrote and illustratrate the book, which was published by Abrams Books for Young Readers. The annual award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library.  For the complete listing of winners and honorable mentions, click here .

   Let’s celebrate the Month of Love with a charming tale of unrequited love in turn-of-the-century Mexico. In LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, each chapter begins with a recipe since our protagonist, Tita, is most comfortable in the kitchen, the heart and soul of the Mexican family. Tita is the youngest daughter of a well-to-do rancher. She falls in love with Pedro, but her mother decrees that Tita must remain single and care for her as tradition dictates. In a cruel twist of fate, it is her older sister Rosaura that marries Pedro and they move into the family home. Tita pours all her passion and frustrations into her cooking with hilarious results. Luckily, her unrequited love survives the Mexican Revolution, the births of Rosaura and Pedro's children, even a proposal of marriage from an eligible doctor. And in the end, Tita does manage to break with tradition for herself and future generations. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mexican author Laura Esquivel started writing while working as a