Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts

Monday, October 1, 2012

New Books: Oct. 2012 (Part 2)

Scarlett Dedd by Cathy Brett
When misfit goth girl Scarlett accidentally kills herself and her family, she at first is amused by being a ghost, but then she begins to get lonely and bored.

 Fullmetal Alchemist: Vol. 6 by Hiromu Arakawa
Check the Catalog
The origin of the Elric Brothers!  Once, Edward and Alphonse Elric were willing to do anything to become alchemists.  But when they tried to use their newfound skills to resurrect their dead mother, they broke a taboo and encountered something more terrifying than death itself.  Now, hardened by years of military training, Edward and Alphonse have returned to the woman who first taught them alchemy...but can she help them, or even forgive them?

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
Rendered a subject of gossip after a traumatic night that left her with terrible scars on her arms, Echo is dumped by her boyfriend and bonds with bad-boy Noah, whose tough attitude hides an understanding nature and difficult secrets.

 From What I Remember by Stacy Kramer & Valerie Thomas
Just before her graduation from La Jolla's exclusive Freiburg Academy, valedictorian and scholarship student Kylie Flores inadvertently ends up in Ensenada, Mexico, with Max, one of the most popular boys in school, where, in twenty-four jam-packed hours, their lives dramatically change.

Flesh & Bone by Jonathan Maberry
Benny, Nix, Lou, and Lilah journey through a fierce wilderness that was once America searching for the jet they saw months ago, while evading fierce animals and a new kind of zombie.


Thursday, May 5, 2011

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  Today is a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride observed throughout the United States and to commemorate the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French soldiers at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.  The Mexicans were led by General Ignacio Zaragoza SeguĂ­n. Most people think that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day, but that is not true.  Grito de Dolores is the holiday that celebrates the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico, the begining of the Mexican War of Independence which occurs on September 16th.

Today I thought I would share with you the YA books we have that have some Mexican connections.

Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. She is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic. Under her wise wing, Tony will test the bonds that tie him to his people, and discover himself in the pagan past, in his father's wisdom, and in his mother's Catholicism. And at each life turn there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world-and will nurture the birth of his soul.

Thirteen-year-old Xio, a Mexican American girl, and Frederick, who has just moved to California from Wisconsin, quickly become close friends, but when Xio starts thinking of Frederick as her boyfriend, he must confront his feelings of confusion and face the fear that he might be gay.

When nineteen-year-old Eddie drops out of college, he struggles to find a place for himself as a Mexican American living in a violence-infested neighborhood of Fresno, California.

The House on Mango Street tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and harsh beauty. Esperanza doesn't want to belong--not to her rundown neighborhood, and not to the low expectations the world has for her. Esperanza's story is that of a young girl coming into her power, and inventing for herself what she will become.

So why not pick one of these up, whip up some nachos or burritos or tacos or quesodillas (I'm super hungry right now), and celebrate Cinco de Mayo.  =)