Working at a University has many rewards: working in your chosen field that is with other experts, working with undergraduate students, and being in an environment that has vibrant discussions about all sorts of topics. UNLV is one of the great Universities in the country. It is growing and has a diverse campus, in fact, it is one of the most diverse campuses in the United States. Another great pleasure of working at a University is interacting with graduate students. As I begin at UNLV, I am starting to work with super graduate student, Myra Infante-Sheridan. She comes to us with an assortment of accolades as a teacher and she is a published author. You should check out Combustible Saints and Other Stories. A couple of weeks ago we found ourselves talking about National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) and I realized we had switched places; she was the teacher and I was the student. Oh sure, I knew few authors who write about Hispanic adolescents--Matt de la Peña, Sandra Cisneros, Pamela Muñoz Ryan, Benjamin Alire Sánez and a few more, but those are just enough names to throw out in a conversation. Not nearly enough to consider myself really informed. I asked Myra if she would serve as a guest contributor and point us to a few writers and books that can help expand our horizons. Oh, and if some of you are in the right circles, there might be a few politicians that can be offered these books. Myra, it is your turn.
Even though I am a Latina, I didn’t read my first book by a Mexican American author until I was in college. Like many others in underrepresented populations, reading a book that was culturally relevant to me validated my place in the world of literature. But, why did I wait until I was in college? Simply put, I didn’t know books by Mexican Americans existed. My gifted and talented and Advanced Placement classes stuck to the canon, and my school library basically followed suit.
So let’s remedy this situation for today’s students.
So let’s remedy this situation for today’s students.
If you’re looking for some quality YA fiction by and about Mexican Americans, I highly recommend the following:
A Good Long Way by René Saldaña is set in South Texas along the Mexican border and shows us the lives of three teenagers: Beto, Roel, and Jessy. Beto runs away from home after a fight with his father about breaking his curfew, Roel is a smart kid caught between loyalty to his brother Beto and trying to be a good son and student, and Jessy wants to go to art school but first needs to survive day to day life with her parents whose toxic relationship should have ended years ago.
This book will appeal to reluctant readers because they will connect with the expertly crafted characters and situations. Saldaña does a great job of making us care about Beto, Roel, and Jessy. Teachers will love this book because it’s jam packed with all the literary elements they need to cover in class, and the book also provides plenty of opportunities to write about topics important to the reader. This book will not only appeal to reluctant readers because the beauty of the prose will also attract advanced students who will find find new layers of complexity with each new reading.
A Good Long Way by René Saldaña is set in South Texas along the Mexican border and shows us the lives of three teenagers: Beto, Roel, and Jessy. Beto runs away from home after a fight with his father about breaking his curfew, Roel is a smart kid caught between loyalty to his brother Beto and trying to be a good son and student, and Jessy wants to go to art school but first needs to survive day to day life with her parents whose toxic relationship should have ended years ago.
This book will appeal to reluctant readers because they will connect with the expertly crafted characters and situations. Saldaña does a great job of making us care about Beto, Roel, and Jessy. Teachers will love this book because it’s jam packed with all the literary elements they need to cover in class, and the book also provides plenty of opportunities to write about topics important to the reader. This book will not only appeal to reluctant readers because the beauty of the prose will also attract advanced students who will find find new layers of complexity with each new reading.
Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel by Diana Lopez tells the story of Erica “Chia” Montenegro who is trying to keep her family sane after her mother is diagnosed with cancer. Like Saldaña, Lopez is a talented writer that includes plenty of literary elements, making this novel ready to use for the middle school classroom. I love how we get glimpses of Mexican American culture in a modern world. In trying to negotiate the turmoil in her life, Erica gets involved in a charity event. This would be an excellent book to use for teachers interested in including service learning as part of their ELA classroom.
Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall is about five sisters who find the dead body of a man and embark on an adventure to first return the deceased to his family and then find their missing father. What I love about this book is that it’s a retelling of the Odyssey using Mexican mythology and folklore. The book is rich with cultural references that will appeal to all students. As a teacher herself, Garcia McCall has written a book jam packed with literary allusions and imagery.
As if this wasn’t all inspiring enough, Saldaña, Lopez and Garcia McCall all have been public school English teachers who saw the need for culturally relevant books. So, what did they do? They wrote them!
All three authors are dynamic speakers that love to visit schools. You can contact them via their websites which are linked to each of there photos below:
All three authors are dynamic speakers that love to visit schools. You can contact them via their websites which are linked to each of there photos below:
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