Yes! We Are Latinos: Poems and Prose About the Latino Experience - Hardcover

Ada, Alma Flor; Campoy, F. Isabel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 158089383X ISBN 13: 9781580893831

Publisher: Charlesbridge, 2013

Synopsis

Juanita lives in New York and is Mexican. Felipe lives in Chicago and is Panamanian, Venezuelan, and black. Michiko lives in Los Angeles and is Peruvian and Japanese. Each of them is Latino.

Thirteen young Latinos and Latinas living in America are introduced in this book celebrating the rich diversity of the Latino and Latina experience in the United States. Free-verse fictional narratives from the perspective of each youth provide specific stories and circumstances for the reader to better understand the Latino people’s quest for identity. Each profile is followed by nonfiction prose that further clarifies the character’s background and history, touching upon important events in the history of the Latino American people, such as the Spanish Civil War, immigration to the US, and the internment of Latinos with Japanese ancestry during World War II.

Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy’s informational yet heartwarming text provides a resource for young Latino readers to see themselves, while also encouraging non-Latino children to understand the breadth and depth of the contributions made by Latinos in the US.

Caldecott Medalist David Diaz’s hand-cut illustrations are bold and striking, perfectly complementing the vibrant stories in the book.

YES! WE ARE LATINOS stands alone in its presentation of the broad spectrum of Latino culture and will appeal to readers of fiction and nonfiction.

About this title

About the Author:

Alma Flor Ada is the celebrated author of hundreds of books for young readers and adults, including UNDER THE ROYAL PALMS (Atheneum, 1998) a Pura Belpré Award winner and TALES OUR ABUELITAS TOLD: A HISPANIC FOLKTALE COLLECTION with F. Isabel Campoy (Atheneum, 2006). She lives in the San Francisco Bay area in California.

F. Isabel Campoy is the author of more than one hundred books of poetry, art, biography, and folklore for children incluing ROSA RAPOSA and ¡PÍO PEEP!, co-authored by Alma Flor Ada. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

David Diaz is the acclaimed illustrator for dozens of books for young readers including his debut picture book Smoky Night, which was awarded the Caldecott Medal, and Martín de Porres: The Rose in the Desert, winner of the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award. He lives in Carlsbad, California.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

There are more than fifty million people in the United States who call themselves Latinos or Latinas—a population larger than that of many countries. Have you ever asked yourself what makes someone a Latino?
            Latinos and Latinas come from diverse backgrounds. Some are descendants of the first Europeans who settled in what is today the United States: Spaniards who created cities like Saint Augustine, Florida; Santa Fe, New Mexico; El Paso, Texas; and Los Angeles, California. Many descend from families that lived in Texas, Arizona, and Colorado when the United States took those territories from Mexico as a war prize. Others immigrated to the United States at different times from Spanish-speaking countries.
            Did you know that Latinos and Latinas live in every state? They do, in both urban and rural areas. Some Latinos are highly educated professionals, doctors, scientists, and artists. Some are entrepreneurs, starting and running their own businesses. Others work in farms or factories, doing hard manual labor.
            Most Latinos and Latinas have mixed origins: they are mestizos, whether by blood or by culture. Their heritage includes roots from indigenous, African, and Spanish people, as well as the many others who have settled in Latin America over centuries.
            This book offers only a sample of what Latinos and Latinas may look like. If you have Latino ancestry, it may raise questions about your own rich heritage. If you do not have Latino ancestry, we hope it will interest you to learn more about Latinas and Latinos. May you find wonderful friends among them!
            Whatever your background, this book is an invitation to look inside yourself. What would your story tell us about you?

About this edition

• Publisher: Charlesbridge
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 158089383X
• ISBN 13: 9781580893831
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 96
• Illustrator: Diaz David