THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

Real revolution in language is taking the stranger’s tongue and using it better than he.— Richard Rodriguez HUNGER OF MEMORY The Education of Richard Rodriguez By Richard Rodriguez Bantam, 1982 Memoir Astounding. Superb. A Triumph. The difficult journey of an immigrant child struggling to navigate two cultures, two languages, two worlds is the same now as it was in the 1960’s and 1970's.   The struggle to learn a new language, to be accepted, to belong to the new world takes a toll on the child and can often threaten the bonds of family and culture.   Such is Richard’s story. HUNGER OF MEMORY is the story of Mexican-American Richard Rodriguez, who begins his schooling in Sacramento, California, knowing just 50 words of English, and concludes his university studies in the stately quiet of the reading room of the British Museum.   Here is the poignant journey of a “minority student” who pays the cost of his social assimilation and...

ABRAMS PRESS The brotherhood of Beast Riders is lifting me in a huge hum of instructions, with great ferocity of purpose, with a kind of love new to me.    Love that says , Stranger, we are in this together. --Manuel The Latina Book Club is proud to be a blogger reviewer for Multicultural Children’s Book Day – January 31, 2020.   This year’s book review is of the BEAST RIDER by Tony Johnston and Maria Elena Fontanot de Rhoads (Abrams Press).   Views expressed are our own.  Haunting. Inspiring. Genuine.    BEAST RIDER is a harrowing, thrilling, and emotional ride fraught with danger and hope.   It’s one boy’s journey across the border to reconnect with his long lost brother. This very realistic tale is about love, courage, family and growing up fast. It’s also frightening because it can – and does! -- happen.   Young boys – girls, adults, elders – do ride “The Beast,” the fast moving train from Mexico tow...

The Latina Book Club celebrates LATINX HERITAGE MONTH every day. To honor authors during this celebratory month, we will highlight a new book every day. Join us and #ReadLatinoLit. A PECULIAR KIND OF IMMIGRANT’S SON By Sergio Troncoso Cinco Puntos Press   RELEASED TODAY ! Brilliant. Thought provoking. Extraordinary. Sergio Troncoso’s much anticipated new collection of stories takes us on journeys from Boston to Manhattan to West Texas. The book is full of unique characters going out into the world, struggling with two cultures, learning to be true to themselves. SUMMARY:   How does a Mexican-American, the son of poor immigrants, leave his border home and move to the heart of gringo America? How does he adapt to the worlds of wealth, elite universities, the rush and power of New York City? How does he make peace with a stern old-fashioned father who has only known hard field labor his whole life? With echoes of Dreiser’s American Tra...

Poetry is like a song, like a psalm, like a prayer. Poetry is different things to many people, and April being Poetry Month,  The Latina Book Club is celebrating by featuring Latino poets all week long.   “ All I wanted was the impossible: To be the who I am in a land unafraid of the me I have become .”—Frank Varela DIASPORA: SELECTED AND NEW POEMS By Frank Varela Arte Publico Pr ess Given all that has been happening with Puerto Rico this past year, we searched for a book of poems that spoke to us about the island; about being a part of it and not; about dreams and reality; about success and disappointment; about love and loss. Summary:  In this collection of 55 poems, Varela writes about growing up Puerto Rican in Brooklyn, noting that there are two types of Puerto Ricans: “those born on the island, / others like me, / the children of exiles.” Pondering the universal sentiment of immigrant children, he notes that he was considered a ...

The Latina Book Club  welcomes author René Colato Laínez  and  chats with him about his new book and illegal aliens.     Q:  Congratulations on your new book, MAMÁ THE ALIEN/ MAMÁ LA  EXTRATERRESTE.  We love how your books are bilingual.  Do you write the Spanish version first or the English? René Colato Laínez :  Thank you! I am so happy that MAMÁ THE ALIEN/ MAMÁ LA EXTRATERRESTE is ready to fly and visit homes, classrooms and libraries. When I am writing a story for the first time, I write it in English or Spanish. When it is time to submit the manuscript for publication, my agent always submit an English manuscript. I work on that manuscript with my editor until it is ready to print. It is until then, when I translate the manuscript from English to Spanish. Q:  Thanks to you and many other diverse authors, our children are finally seeing books with heroes that look like them.  When you were growing up...

    "La vida le pone situaciones por delante a las personas y no queda más que afrontarlas con entereza por debíl que uno crea que es."   //   "Life places people in difficult situations and the only recourse is to face them head-on no matter how weak one feels." --Ramona   ¡El que persevera triumfa! // He who perseveres triumphs!       ¡A ESTUDIAR, CARAJO! may be a short book -- 56 pages! -- put it packs a wallop.   Ana Maria Gonzalez' novel is about female empowerment; about perseverance; about overcoming all obstacles with determination and hard work.   It's about the immigrant experience; about racism; about tolerance; about survival. It's about being a woman, a mother, a student, a worker.   This novel is in Spanish.   It's written in the third person and is mostly narrative, but it contains a lot of action, a lot of living.   ¡A ESTUDIAR, CARAJO! is inspiring, empowering, and makes you want ...

GIVEAWAY:   One lucky reader will receive a free copy of this book.   Just leave a comment below or retweet our post on Twitter.   I am proud of my Cuban heritage. At the same time, I am an American, through and through. I care about the community I live in and I’m grateful to the country that gave me a home. Many take the meaning of “home” for granted. I don’t. -- Mike Fernandez Happy New Year from The Latina Book Club.   We wanted to start 2015 with an inspirational book and we found the perfect one by Miguel "Mike" Benito Fernandez.    Story Farm, Jan 2015, with Martin Merzer HUMBLED BY THE JOURNEY: Life Lessons For My Family ... And Yours is part self-portrait, part adventure story.   It tells two tales: one is about a penniless Cuban immigrant, who became one of Miami's most successful business leaders and philanthropist. The other is the tale of his 508-mile, 3-million steps pilgrimage on El Camino de Santiag...