THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

We must use our lives to make the world  a  better place to live, not just to acquire things. That is what we are put on the earth for. – Dolores Huerta The Latina Book Club wishes  Dolores Huerta a Happy 90 th  Birthday!   Dolores Huerta is the Voice of the Working Poor. She is a Labor Leader, a Trailblazer, a Visionary.   She worked along with  César Chávez  to form the United Farm Workers of America, all while caring and raising her children.   She was an extraordinary woman, and the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom form Barack Obama in 2012.   The following books help celebrate her life and her accomplishments. Felicidades! DOLORES HUERTA: GET TO KNOW THE VOICE OF MIGRANT WORKERS By Robert Liu-Trujillo Capstone Press Dolores Huerta led farm workers to demand better pay, reasonable hours, and respect on the job. She knew laws needed to be passed to protect the workers and i...

      The Latina Book Club congratulates our friend Aurora Anaya-Cerda , founder and owner of La Casa Azul Bookstore , whom the White House today recognized as a Crowdfunding “Champion of Change.” This is an honor well deserved! “The Champions of Change that the White House is honoring today are using crowdfunding to create jobs for our Nation’s veterans, accelerate the deployment of solar energy, revitalize our cities, and expand the frontiers of citizen science,” said Thomas Kalil, Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “Crowdfunding is the 21st century equivalent of barn-raising. We can use it to help our neighbors and fellow citizens start a business, enrich our culture, and apply grassroots creativity and imagination to challenges big and small.” Aurora is the founder of La Casa Azul Bookstore, East Harlem’s only independent bookstore and the only bookstore in New York that feat...

The Latina Book Club congratulates President Obama on his second term in office. We’d also like to congratulate Richard Blanco for being the first Latino Inaugural Poet. Today, January 21, 2013, Americans celebrate the birthday of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, President Barack Hussein Obama takes the Oath of Office for his second term. Today, for the fifth time in history, there is an Inaugural Poet, and for the first time in history, that Poet is a Latino living the American Dream – Richard Blanco . Below is the full text of Richard’s inaugural poem. One Today By Richard Blanco Inaugural Poet January 21, 2013 One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores, peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies. One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a story told by our silent gestures moving behind windows. My face, your face, millions o...

   HOT OFF THE PRESS!  BOOK DEBUTS TODAY! From a Bronx housing project to the Federal bench, Sonia Sotomayor has come a long way.  She is an inspiration to Latina girls of all ages.  Here for the first time, is the story of Sotomayor's rocky childhood, and the long, hard road to becoming the first Hispanic and the third woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court.  It's a personal look at the private woman behind the bench.  Congratulations, Sonia! BOOK SUMMARY:     MY BELOVED WORLD  tells the story of Sotomayor's precarious childhood, with an alcoholic father (who would die when she was nine) and a devoted but overburdened mother, and of the refuge a little girl took from the turmoil at home with her passionately spirited paternal grandmother. But it was when she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes that the precocious Sonia recognized she must ultimately depend on herself. She would learn to giv...

        Congratulations to our friend author Tor rey Maldonado for being named one of the Top Ten Latino Authors to Read and Watch for 2012 by  LatinoStories .  Here's what they had to say about Torrey and his book: Torrey Maldonado's book [SECRET SATURDAYS] is one of the great success stories of the year. Given all the negative press that teachers have received in these difficult economic times, it's great to see a talent like Mr. Maldonado emerge.  Following in the tradition of school teachers like Wally Lamb, whose debut grabbed national attention, this author is sure to continue to impress. This is a heartfelt story about a twelve-year old boy growing up in Brooklyn housing projects with a voice that is captured with great sensitivity. To see what other authors made Latino Stories' Top Ten List, click here . To read The Latina Book Club's interview with Torrey, click here .  Congratulations again, Torrey.  It is wel...

The Latina Book Club is Celebrating Men this month, and we are honored to welcome author Torrey Maldonado as a Guest Blogger.  Torrey will be talking about Fathers and how their absence affects everyone.  Happy Reading, and as always, Read Latino. "Your father’s dead. He's gone." That's what my mother told me over the phone. I didn’t know how to feel. My father was absent for so much of our lives. Wasn't he already “gone” to us? Yet, here I was experiencing his real death. The kid in me suddenly wanted him back to give us what he never had: his full and fully positive presence. True to the song, my “poppa was a rolling stone.” He regularly disappeared for years and, during his absence, I didn’t know him. When he returned, my mom let him stay with us and I didn’t know him. He often disappeared into the streets, came home, and disappeared into his bedroom. From my first day of daycare to my first gray hair, he spent more time outside with guy-friends and ...