Reviewed by Brad Manker Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Sleeping with the Light On is a short chapter book recounting one family’s experience during the first days of the CIA-sponsored Guatemalan coup d’etat in 1954. The story is peppered with anecdotes about young protagonist Davico’s daily life in Guatemala City, such as his fascination […]
Wounded Falcons
Reviewed by Beverly Slapin Review Source: De Colores Book Author: “It was a bad day at school.” Young Adrián’s face is bloody and bruised, his shirt is torn, and his fists are clenched with rage. It’s always a bad day at school. Adrián gets into trouble with everyone — except his friend, Santiago, who never has […]
Caravan to the North: Misael’s Long Walk / Caravana al Norte: La larga caminata de Misael
Reviewed by Beverly Slapin Review Source: De Colores: The Raza Experience in Books for Children Book Author: On the mostly black-and-white line illustration that wraps around the jacket, an anonymous group of people gathers in the Plaza Divino Salvador del Mundo. Most wear caps and lug drawstring sacks or backpacks or duffel bags or rolled-up […]
The Secret Legacy
Reviewed by Beverly Slapin Review Source: De Colores: The Raza Experience in Books for Children Book Author: In The Secret Legacy, Seven-year-old Ixkem’s grandfather is 100 years old, and he is ready to pass on his legacy and knowledge. Of all the people in the village, Grandfather chooses his youngest granddaughter to be the new caretaker of […]
Salsa: Un Poema Para Cocinar / A Cooking Poem
Reviewed by Allie Jane Bruce Review Source: Reading While White Book Author: The first-person narrator (who does the cooking) has a child’s voice, and teaches readers about the history and culture embodied in red salsa. “[M]olcajetes were / our ancestors’ / blenders”, the narrator tells us, and later references Nahua, Aztec, and Mayan ancestors (who Tonatiuh […]
Broken Memory: A Novel of Rwanda
Reviewed by LaTissia Mitchell Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Without sacrificing the horrors of the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda, Broken Memory surprises by virtue of its affecting subtlety. It tells the story of the child survivor Emma who attempts to piece together her fragmentary memories about the death of her mother. […]