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Product Description: Amalia’s best friend Martha is moving away, and Amalia is feeling sad and angry. And yet, even when life seems unfair, the loving, wise words of Amalia’s abuelita have a way of making everything a little bit brighter. But when another loss racks Amalia’s life, nothing makes sense anymore. In her sorrow, will Amalia realize just how special she is, even when the ones she loves are no longer near?

Love, Amalia

Pat Mora

Age Level:

9-12

“Telling of her childhood in Cuba, Ada begins with an introduction to her homeland followed by 11 episodes about her family and her community. One story tells of her grandfather Modesto’s courage and loyalty in the face of the death of his beloved wife and the simultaneous collapse of the Cuban economy. Another tells of her great-grandmother Mina, who continued to make rag dolls for the village children even after she had lost her sight. And a third tale tells of a Japanese street vendor who sold ice cream for a living, but gave generous samples to children who could not afford to pay.” — School Library Journal

Where the Flame Trees Bloom

Alma Flor Ada

Age Level:

9-12

Genre:

Nonfiction, Biography

Welcome to Tía Lola’s bed and breakfast! With the help of her niece and nephew and the three Sword Sisters, Tía Lola is opening the doors of Colonel Charlebois’ grand old Vermont house to visitors from all over. But Tía Lola and the children soon realize that running a B & B isn’t as easy they had initially thought — especially when it appears that someone is out to sabotage them! Will Tía Lola and the kids discover who’s behind the plot to make their B & B fail?

How Tia Lola Ended Up Starting Over

Julia Alvarez

Age Level:

9-12

Genre:

Fiction

A biography of Evelina Antonetty, a Puerto Rican immigrant who helped people in Spanish Harlem during the Depression. During the dark days of the Great Depression, eleven-year-old Evelina Lopez leaves Puerto Rico to live with an aunt in New York City. Evelina learns that one person can make a difference as she adjusts to life in her new home.

All for the Better: A Story of El Barrio

Nicholasa Mohr

Age Level:

9-12

Genre:

Biography, Nonfiction

The Day It Snowed Tortillas

Joe Hayes

Age Level:

9-12

Product Description: Zitlally’s family is undocumented, and her father has just been arrested for speeding and deported back to Mexico. As her family waits for him to return — they’ve paid a coyote to guide him back across the border — they receive news that he and the coyote’s other charges have been kidnapped and are being held for ransom. Meanwhile, Zitlally and a new friend find a dog in the forest near their trailer park. They name it Star for the star-shaped patch over its eye. As time goes on, Zitlally starts to realize that Star is her father’s ‘spirit animal,’ and that as long as Star is safe, her father will be also. But what will happen to Zitlally’s dad when Star disappears?

Star in the Forest

Laura Resau

Age Level:

9-12

“This collection of stories has elements of both Mexican and Native American folklore. Anaya has included five of his own stories and retold and enhanced five traditional tales. Filled with ghosts, devils, and tricksters, these cuentos are suffused with the beliefs of the peoples in the Río Grande regionAnaya champions the reading of a good book or listening to a folktale as an opportunity to insert one’s own experiences into the story and, hence, to nurture the imagination. ” — School Library Journal

My Land Sings: Stories from the Río Grande

Rudolfo Anaya

Illustrator:

Amy Cordova

Age Level:

9-12

“Francisco Jiménez was born in Mexico, entered California illegally as a very young child, and spent his boyhood alternating between migrant farm work and the classroom. This collection of autobiographical short stories was written years later, when Jiménez had become an established professor at Santa Clara University (CA), but they give immediate access to the feelings of the growing boy.” — School Library Journal

The Circuit

Francisco Jiménez

Age Level:

9-12

Product Description: Nailed into a crate in the back of a truck, fifteen-year-old Maria, her older sister, Julia, their little brother, Oscar, and a boy named Tomas endure a terrifying and torturous journey across the U.S. border and then north to Chicago. There they struggle to find work — cleaning, sewing, washing dishes — always fearful of arrest and deportation back to the cruelties of El Salvador.

Journey of the Sparrows

Fran Leeper Buss

Age Level:

9-12

Product Description: When twelve-year-old Izzy discovers a beat-up baseball marked with the words “Becausemagic” while unpacking in yet another new apartment, she is determined to figure out what it means. What secrets does this old ball have to tell? Her mom certainly isn’t sharing anyespecially when it comes to Izzy’s father, who died before Izzy was born. But when she spends the summer in her Nana’s remote New Mexico village, Izzy discovers long-buried secrets that come alive in an enchanted landscape of watermelon mountains, whispering winds, and tortilla suns.

Tortilla Sun

Jennifer Cervantes

Age Level:

9-12

Product Description: In 1961, two years after the Communist revolution, Lucía Álvarez still leads a carefree life, dreaming of parties and her first crush. But when the soldiers come to her sleepy Cuban town, everything begins to change. As the revolution’s impact becomes more oppressive, Lucía’s parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send her and her little brother to the United States — on their own. Suddenly plunked down in Nebraska with well-meaning strangers, Lucía struggles to adapt to a new country, a new language, and a new way of life.

The Red Umbrella

Christina Gonzalez

Age Level:

9-12

Product Description: After Jose’s mother died, his father left to work in the United States, leaving Jose on his own in Mexico. Jose’s attempt to cross the border is harrowing, and his stay at a migrant worker camp turns into a nightmare, forcing him to flee for his life. Hiding out in a church seems a wise thing to do — until the blood dripping from his wounded shoulder lands on a statue of Christ. Now everyone thinks the statue itself is bleeding. Jose’s accidental “miracle” kick-starts a media frenzy — and threatens the future of an entire town.

The Maldonado Miracle

Theodore Taylor

Age Level:

9-12

Product Description: Mickey Rangel, kid detective extraordinaire, has just exited the school bus one sweltering afternoon when he hears a blood-curdling shriek. It’s coming from the creepy neighbor lady’s house. “My lemons, Mickey, my prize-winning lemons. They’re gone. They re all gone,” Senorita Andrade cries. Who could have removed several sacks full of lemons? In this second bilingual book in The Mickey Rangel Mystery series for intermediate readers, author and educator René Saldaña, Jr. has crafted another engaging book for kids, and his wise-cracking, smart protagonist will appeal to even the most reluctant readers.

The Lemon Tree Caper: A Mickey Rangel Mystery

René Saldaña, Jr.

Age Level:

9-12

Product Description: These lively stories follow Rey Castaneda from sixth through eighth grade in Nuevo Penitas, Texas. As Rey begins to cross the border from childhood into manhood, he turns from jokes and games to sense the meaning of work, love, poverty, and grief, and what it means to be a proud Chicano — moments that sometimes propel him to show feelings un hombre should never express. It’s a new territory where Rey longs to follow the example his hardworking, loving father has set for him.

The Jumping Tree

René Saldaña, Jr.

Age Level:

9-12

Product Description: Twelve-year-old Ana Rosa is a blossoming writer growing up in the Dominican Republic, a country where words are feared. Yet there is so much inspiration all around her — watching her brother search for a future, learning to dance and to love, and finding out what it means to be part of a community — that Ana Rosa must write it all down. As she struggles to find her own voice and a way to make it heard, Ana Rosa realizes the power of her words to transform the world around her — and to transcend the most unthinkable of tragedies.

The Color of My Words

Lynn Joseph

Age Level:

9-12

Taking Sides

Gary Soto

Age Level:

9-12

Product Description: Sylvia Mendez never expected to be at the center of a landmark legal battle; all she wanted was to enroll in school. Aki Munemitsu never expected to be relocated to a Japanese internment camp in the Arizona desert; all she wanted was to stay on her family farm and finish the school year. The two girls certainly never expected to know each other, until their lives intersected in Southern California during a time when their country changed forever. Based on a true story.

Sylvia & Aki

Winifred Conkling

Age Level:

9-12

“Cusi, a modern-day Native American boy, and his guardian, Chuto, tend a herd of prized llamas in Hidden Valley, an isolated valley high in the Andes Mountains. Cusi is unaware that he is a direct descendant of the ruler of the ancient Incas. During the course of the story he is instructed by his guardian in the religion and history of his ancient people, and goes in search of his true identity.” — BookRags Newbery Winner.

Secret of the Andes

Ann Nolan Clark

Age Level:

9-12

Product Description: When guerrilla soldiers strike Santiago’s Guatemalan village, they destroy everything in their path — including his home and family. Santiago and his four-year-old sister escape, running for their lives. They set sail in a sea kayak their Uncle Ramos built while dreaming of his own escape. Sailing through narrow channels guarded by soldiers, shark-infested waters, and days of painful heat and raging storms, Santiago and Angelina face an almost impossible voyage hundreds of miles across the open ocean, heading for the hope of a new life in the United States.

Red Midnight

Ben Mikaelsen

Age Level:

9-12

Product Description: One night Sophie and her parents are called to a hospital where Pedro, a six-year-old Mexican boy, is recovering from his trip across the border. Pedro comes to live with Sophie, her parents, and Sophie’s Aunt Dika, a refugee of the war in Bosnia. Sophie loves Pedro — her Principito, or Little Prince. But after a year, Pedro’s surviving family in Mexico makes contact, and Sophie must travel with Pedro to his hometown so that he can make a heartwrenching decision. An Américas Award Honor Book.

Red Glass

Laura Resau

Age Level:

9-12

“In pre-Castro Cuba, wealthy Don Rigol exerts almost total control over his rural town. However, when he lays claim to a mountain that the villagers consider theirs and starts clearing the jungle for his coffee plantation, he encounters unexpected opposition. Ernestina, a classmate of Rigol’s spoiled daughter, joins her friend Enriquito in efforts to save the wild horses on the mountain. They soon realize that Rigol’s real goal is to locate the gold mentioned in Taino legend. Inspired by visions and fueled by ingenuity and daring, the friends uncover the truth about the boy’s family history and Rigol’s deceptions.” — School Library Journal

Raining Sardines

Enrique Flores-Galbis

Age Level:

9-12

“In this sharply honed collection of stories, Mexican American children on the brink of adolescence are testing the waters, trying to find their place in a world ruled by gangs and “marked with graffiti, boom boxes, lean dogs behind fences” Some characters (La Güera, a shoplifter, and Mario, a scam artist) are already on their way to becoming juvenile delinquents. Others have chosen a straighter path. Most, however, are caught somewhere in the middleWith a rare mix of compassion and irony, Soto (Buried Onions) crystallizes moments signifying the loss of innocence.” — Publishers Weekly

Petty Crimes

Gary Soto

Age Level:

9-12

Product Description: In Japan for the summer to practice the martial art of kempo, Lincoln Mendoza sometimes feels like little more than a brown boy in a white gi. Yet with the help of his Japanese brother, Mitsuo, Lincoln sees that people everywhere, whether friend or kempo opponent, share passions much like his own — for baseball, family traditions, and new friendships.

Pacific Crossing

Gary Soto

Age Level:

9-12

“Lylice has skipped a year and is new to Susan B. Anthony Middle School in her hometown of Tucson. Worried about making friends, the sixth grader becomes the English Buddy to Mexico, a student from Nogales who lives with her aunt and is a talented artistWhen Mexico is hospitalized because her aunt is about to be unemployed and can’t afford her niece’s insulin, the girls finagle a job interview for her by forging a letter on stolen school stationery. Then, because of a boy on whom she has a crush, Lylice hurts her friend’s feelings. Spanish words and phrases are cleverly introduced and add authenticity to depictions of Spanish class.” — School Library Journal

Next to Mexico

Jennifer Nails

Age Level:

9-12

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Book Finder

Love, Amalia

Where the Flame Trees Bloom

How Tia Lola Ended Up Starting Over

All for the Better: A Story of El Barrio

The Day It Snowed Tortillas

Star in the Forest

My Land Sings: Stories from the Río Grande

The Circuit

Journey of the Sparrows

Tortilla Sun

The Red Umbrella

The Maldonado Miracle

The Lemon Tree Caper: A Mickey Rangel Mystery

The Jumping Tree

The Color of My Words

Taking Sides

Sylvia & Aki

Secret of the Andes

Red Midnight

Red Glass

Raining Sardines

Petty Crimes

Pacific Crossing

Next to Mexico

Book Finder

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