Rankin Multicultural Literature

  Bravo! is written by Cuban American Margarita Engle.  It celebrates the accomplishments and contributions of talented Latinos through a series of poems.  A musician, botanist, a baseball player, and a pilot are just some of the Latinos portrayed in this book.  Biographical poems include Felix Varela from Cuba, Juana Briones from Mexico, Paulina Pedros from Cuba, Jose Marti from Cuba, Ynes Mexia from Mexico, Louis Agassiz Fuertes from Puerto Rico, Aida de Acosta from Cuba, Fabiola Cabeza de Baca from Mexico, Arnold Rojas from Mexico, Pura Belpre from Puerto Rico, George Melendez Wright from El Salvador, Julia de Burgo from Peurto Rico, Baruj Benacerraf from Venezuela, Tito Puente from Puerto Rico, Cesar Chavez from Mexico, Roberto Clemente from Puerto Rico, and Tomas Rivera from Mexico.  Bravo! also includes magnificent illustrations by Rafael Lopez.  Through his simple outlines and vibrant colors, he captures the lively personalities for each person....

  Esperanza Rising  by Pam Munoz Ryan is an award winning historical fiction book based on the life of a Mexican migrant farmer in the 1930´s.  Esperanza is the daughter of a wealthy grape grower in Mexico.  Her life is good, until her father is killed by bandits.  Esperanza´s mother is convinced by her uncle to marry him, but after he burns down the ranch, Esperanza, her mother, and a family of former servants escape to California to become farmworkers.  Esperanza must learn to work hard.  When her mother falls ill, she joins the field workers through the crop seasons.  Other problems arise when farmers begin to strike and more migrant farmers arrive.  Esperanza must overcome struggles and keep her hope alive. Esperanza Rising will allow readers to learn a number of Spanish words about the lives of migrant farm workers during the 1930's as the character deals with strikes, discrimination, and harsh living conditions.  Readers can discus...

  Baseball in April is written by Mexican American author Gary Soto.  The book is a collection of short stories that describe the author's own experiences growing up in the central valley of California.  Each story is narrated by Latino teenagers who are in love,have dreams, make mistakes,and move through everyday life.  Even with the Latino influence, the conflicts and feelings expressed are universal.  Whether it is the joy of receiving a new doll, the anxiety of trying out for the Little League team, or the desire to stand above the crowd readers will be able to connect to the book.   In Baseball in Apri l, each short story has a strong theme, making this a great cultural resource for teaching theme.  Themes portrayed in the book include friendship,love, youth and growing up, and success versus failure, and standing out.  Baseball in April can be used for teaching both Hispanic/Latino culture and theme.   For example in the sho...

Yum! Mmmm! Que Rico! American Sproutings is written by Pat Mora and illustrated by Rafael Lopez.  The book is written in a collection of haikus that focuses on fourteen foods that are native to Central and Southern America.  Readers are able to learn about each food, how it grows, and what it is.  The foods include fruits and vegetables, including blueberries,chile peppers, chocolate, corn, cranberries, papaya, peanuts, pecans, pineapple, potatoes, prickly pear, pumpkin, tomatoes, and vanilla.  The readers will surely be thinking Mmmm and Yum Yum! Yum! Mmmm! Que Rico! American Sproutings allows for the reader to call forth their five senses as they read about each mouth-watering food.  Informational text is also provided with each haiku to offer etymology, history, geography, and interesting background for each food.  The haikus are also accompanied with humor and colorful illustrations to further engage the reader.  This book can be used to teach the...