THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

University of New Mexico Press, 1988 The city usually swallows up the people who move . -- Neighbor Immigration. Racism.   Socialism.   All challenges we face today, and the main and universal themes in Rudolfo A. Anaya’s HEART OF AZTLAN published almost 40 years ago.   The story follows a small family who move from the country to the big city for a better life. All they get is poverty, gang wars, violence, loss of culture, values and family.   But, there is hope at the end and determination to survive, to be stronger and to unite the family -- that’s every family’s dream. SUMMARY:    T he Albuquerque barrio portrayed in this vivid novel of postwar New Mexico is a place where urban and rural, political and religious realities coexist, collide, and combine. The magic realism for which Anaya is well known combines with an emphatic portrayal of the plight of workers dispossessed of their heritage and struggling to survive in an a...

In honor of Father’s Day, The Latina Book Club , has put together this short list of male authors.    We selected a wide variety, from coming of age stories to political poems to dark thrillers.   G reat selections all.     Happy Reading.     LOVE by Matt de la Peňa (G.P. Putnam) Written by a Newbery Medal winning author, this novel is about the love that surrounds us. As children we can see it, feel it, even taste it.  We lose that feeling as adults, but this beautifully illustrated picture book by Loren Long, brings those loving feelings back to life. MAXIMILIAN AND THE LUCHA LIBRE CLUB: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller by Xavier Garza (Cinco Puntos Press) Book 3 in the series, has Max joining the Lucha Libre Club – a club for kids related to the luchadores. His friend Paloma is in it too, but it’s Cecilia who has captured Max’s young heart, no? WHAT LANE?   by Torrey Maldonado (Nancy Paulsen...

The Latina Book Club welcomes author, musician and counselor Ed  C á rdenas .    We admire his fortitude, his productivity and his love for his family and 16 grandchildren.  It is for them that he writes and composes. Buenos Dias! Yo soy Ed C á rdenas. I was born in Taos, New Mexico, and raised on a small farm by my maternal grandparents. Growing up in a traditional home - where the only language spoken was Spanish - my grandparents taught me old traditional virtues, like respect and cari ñ o, which set the foundation for my chosen field of social work. I am blessed to have roots in Taos. The land has presented a serene and wholesome milieu from nature; and its amable gente, that still practices cultural virtues like respect. LOVITO Inspiration for LOVITO began in 1999, when I developed heart disease. My cardiologist told me, “only love can save you.” I asked myself, where I could find such love? The answer came from my 16 grandchildre...

    “The world is full of sorrow,” Agapita whispered to Alfonso. Did she stamp those words into his destiny? University of Oklahoma Press The story of Alfonso, a Nuevo Mexicano, begins with his birth, when the   curandera  Agapita delivers these haunting words into his infant ear. What then unfolds is an elegiac song to the llanos of New Mexico where Alfonso comes of age. As this exquisite novel charts Alfonso’s life journey from childhood through his education and evolution as a writer, renowned Chicano author Rudolfo Anaya invites readers to reflect on the truths and mysteries of the human condition. Because Alfonso “didn’t write his own biography,” it falls to his childhood friend, the anonymous narrator here, to tell his story, through a series of letters addressed to a mysterious figure named K. The narrator depicts young Alfonso caught between dual influences: his beloved, devout Catholic mother, Rafaelita, and the folk healer Agapita. Aft...

The Latina Book Club is honored to reprint Rudolfo Anaya’s new poem in memory of the 49 fallen in Orlando.  Our prayers continue to be with the family and friends, and the LGBT Community at large. #LoveIsLoveIsLove “The Pulse of Life” It was the twelfth of June             another hot and humid Florida night. In Orlando young people gathered at the             Pulse Club, enjoying camaraderie, the             dance floor pulsating with life,             dancers moving to syncopated music,             Latin rhythms, good will embraces,             laughter, friendships, plans for ...

    The Latina Book Club is proud to release its 3 rd Annual Books of the Year list. All the books are written by Latino authors or about Latino characters.  The List contains something for everyone – fiction,  non-fiction, poetry, short stories, young adult, memoirs, mysteries, thrillers, children’s books, etc. We encourage all our readers to Help Support An Author by buying their books and telling all your friends.  We also wish everyone  H appy Reading and Happy Holidays. --Maria Ferrer 2015 BOOKS OF THE YEAR A Estudiar, Carajo by Ana María González (Amazon Digital - Spanish) A Falling Star by Chantel Acevedo (Carolina Wren Press) A Miracle from God in the Hands of a Mother by Catalina Prieto (CBH Books) Adultery by Paulo Coelho (Vintage) Alburquerque by Rudolfo Anaya (Open Road Media) As My Mother Would Say/ Como Decia Mi Mama by Judith Valles (iUniverse) Barrio Imbroglio: An Abraxas He...

HAPPY HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH!    The Latina Book Club  invites you to check out our weekly Cover Reveals feature. Every Saturday, we'll bring you a new book cover from a Latino author. Let us know what you think.  Enjoy. ALBURQUERQUE by Rudolfo Anaya Open Road Media http://www.feedyourneedtoread.com/contributor/rudolfo-anaya/ Taking its title from the original spelling of the city’s name,   ALBURQUERQUE  is the story of a Chicano boxer’s quest for identity .