THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

The Latina Book Club is honored to participate once again in  Multicultural Children’s Book Day January 29, 2021.  The book was a gift, but the review is our own.  We welcome author Vanessa Varela. ATTRIBUTES OF A HISPANIC GIRL: I CAN  Written and illustrated by Vanessa Varela, M.Ed., M.A. FLL.  (Bilingual Book)  The stick-figure drawings are powerful in their simplicity and femininity. The book is short, sweet, pink!, and to the point. The author has taken all the negative remarks about girls and Latinos, and turned them into positive attributes, like speaking two languages allows girls to bridge two cultures. And she does it all in English and Spanish.  All we can say is: Brava! INTERVIEW The Latina Book Club: This book started as an academic paper based on Gloria Anzaldua’s book BORDERLANDS & Jaques Lacan’s MIRROR STAGE. Share with us what you saw in their work that inspired you. Vanessa Varela: Literature is the window that has let me unders...

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...

   I am no longer that hungry, insecure little girl anymore. While I’ve managed to subdue my past, I believe my past hasn’t spoiled me, but has prepared me for the future. I may not be perfect but, whenever I stumble, I can wipe the crud off and walk on.       Life is precious.  Life is worth living.  As I choose to walk in forgiveness, to become better and not bitter…I am whole.  I am significant.  I am free at last.  ¡Wepa!     --- Mary A. P é rez Chart House Press RUNNING IN HEELS is a story about child abuse, survival, forgiveness and redemption. Mary P é rez’s first memory is that of her and her older brother being kidnapped from their kindergarten school by their mother and her latest boyfriend.  By the time Mary is three her parents are divorced and she alone is living with her mom.  Mary grows up a hungry child – hungry for food, but more importantly, for love and accept...

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...