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BOOK COVER FRIDAYS WITH SYLVIA MORENO-GARCIA

    by Maria Ferrer Welcome to a new feature on The Latina Book Club ,  Book Cover Fridays    Every Friday we will be discussing book covers, because YES, we do judge books by their cover. They are so much fun, and book covers often times give clues as to what the book is truly about. In a 2018 survey, 82% of respondents said they check out the book covers and read the back cover copy before buying a book. We agree. We are visual people so let’s judge books by their covers. We want to start with Sylvia Moreno-Garcia ’s MEXICAN GOTHIC (Del Rey), last year’s runaway hit. The author’s first gothic novel and an Amazon Best Book of July 2020. What do you see on this book cover? Well the title alone tells us that it is going to be dark. Gothic conjures up images of dark pleasures and forbidden desires. The heroine is young, sexy, and look at that beautiful dress with lace bodice and tulle skirt. Gorgeous. Now, did you notice the brocade wallpaper behind her, ...

LATINX HERITAGE MONTH: HISTORY OF LATINX IN THE UNITED STATES

  A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots. –Marcus Garvey We’re not taught anything that we contributed to this country and we’ve been around for 500 years . – John Leguizamo   I get my energy and strength from the spirit and words of my ancestors, from my mother’s spirit that shines so bright, and from the unconditional love and support of my father and family. –Yvette Modestin   My great strength is knowing who I am and where I come from, my island. –Oscar de la Renta   Celebrating Latinx Heritage Month by looking at some books on Latinx history in the U.S.  In 2014, for the first time in history the majority of students were non-white. Finally, some educators were able to start teaching history that included the contributions of marginalized peoples.  It’s a start.  It’s a wave. A storm is coming, and we are the storm.   AN AFRICAN AMERICAN AND LATINX HISTORY OF T...

BOOK OF THE MONTH: MY TIME TO SPEAK BY ILIA CALDERON

Atria Books Silence has a price…. I’ve spent decades of my life practicing my own “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in terms of my skin color and facial features. Form the over-the-shoulder looks at school to the thousands of products I bought to straighten my hair to try to look more like other girls. Although I never wanted to think of myself as a victim of discrimination, rejection grazed me like bullets, no matter what kind of body armor I wore to try and ignore the problem. – Ilia Calderón This is a book by an exceptional woman. She does it all. There are very few stories of triumph that even touch what Ilia has achieved as a mother and a journalist. Give her any challenge, and she’ll overcome it. And I have no idea how she does it all with a smile on her face, as if it  were nothing. I’m so lucky to work with her and be a witness to the way this woman is changing the world.  -- Jorge Ramos, lead anchor of Noticiero Univision Inspiring. Timely. Candid. Fearle...

PICK FIVE! LATINX MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS

   The Latina Book Club’s PICK FIVE for this week are all middle grade books  that spark our fancy and imagination. Happy Reading. And as always, #ReadLatinoLit. MY YEAR IN THE MIDDLE By Lila Quintero Weaver Candlewick Press Sixth-grader Lu Olivera just wants to keep her head down and get along with everyone in her class. But Lu can’t stay neutral about the racial divide at school. Will she find the gumption to stand up for what’s right and to choose friends who do the same?   This story is based on the author’s childhood.     WHAT LANE? By Torrey Maldonado Nancy Paulsen Books As a mixed kid, Steven feels like he's living in two worlds with different rules--and he's been noticing that strangers treat him differently than his white friends. Hold on tight as Stephen swerves in and out of lanes to find out which are his--and who should be with him . THE DREAM WEAVER  By Reina Luz Alegre  S...

PICK FIVE: LATINX YOUNG ADULT

The Latina Book Club ’s PICK FIVE for this week are all young adult novels  about family, friendship, romance, and being true to yourself no matter what.    Happy Reading. And as always, #ReadLatinoLit. RUNNING By Natalia Sylvester Clarion Books When fifteen-year-old Cuban American Mariana Ruiz’s father runs for president, Mari starts to see him with new eyes. A novel about waking up and standing up, and what happens when you stop seeing your dad as your hero—while the whole country is watching. BECAUSE OF THE SUN By Jenny Torres Sanchez Delacorte Press From the backyards of suburban Florida to the parched desert of New Mexico,  Because of the Sun  explores the complexity of family, the saving grace of friendship, and the healing that can begin when the truth is brought to light. THE LIBRARY OF LOST THINGS By Laura Taylor Namey Inkyard Press From the moment she first learned to read, liter...

THROWBACK THURSDAY! THE COLLECTED POEMS OF OCTAVIO PAZ

Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz is incontestably Latin America's foremost beloved poet.  THE COLLECTED POEMS OF OCTAVIO PAZ (New Directions) is a landmark bilingual gathering of all the poetry he has published in book form since 1952, the year of his premier long poem,  Sunstone  ( Piedra de Sol )―here translated anew by Eliot Weinberger―made its appearance.  Here’s an excerpt: a sudden presence like a burst of song, like the wind singing in a burning building, a glance that holds the world and all its seas and mountains dangling in the air, body of light filtered through an agate, thighs of light, belly of light, the bays, the solar rock, cloud-colored body, color of a brisk and leaping day, the hour sparkles and has a body, the world is visible through your body, transparent through your transparency. -- Sunstone , Octavio Paz ABOUT THE AUTHOR:    Octavio Paz  (1914-1998) was born in Mexico City...

#THROWBACK THURSDAY! WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN BY ESMERALDA SANTIAGO

Al jibaro nunca se le quita la mancha de platano. A jibaro can never wash away the stain of the plantain .                         -Esmeralda Santiago Vintage, 1990 If you are Puerto Rican, you have probably heard of Esmeralda Santiago.  She is the author that gave Puerto Ricans a face and a voice.  She is every Boricua – torn between two cultures, two languages, two identities.  Which is the real Esmeralda? The answer is another question – why can’t she be both? Esmeralda’s WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN is the first of three memoirs that take readers from the pueblitos of the small Caribbean island to the big city in Manhattan.  Esme’s new life is full of challenges, discoveries and dualities.  In fact, the original version of the novel had two parts  –  Puerto Rico and America.  Esmeralda is both Puerto Rican ...

CELEBRATING WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH: DAHLMA LLANOS-FIGUEROA

The Latina Book Club is Celebrating Women’s History Month by showcasing female authors and poets all this month.    We thank these fearless women for joining the celebration and sharing their works with us.   Enjoy! Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa was born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York City. She is a product of the Puerto Rican communities on the island and in the South Bronx. She attended the New York City public school system and received her academic degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo and Queens College-City University of New York. As a child she was sent to live with her grandparents in Puerto Rico where she was introduced to the culture of rural Puerto Rico, including the storytelling that came naturally to the women in her family, especially the older women. Much of her work is based on her experiences during this time. Dahlma taught creative writing and language and literature in the New York City public school system before ...