November 2, 2020
NOIRYOCRICAN | Fiction
by Richie Narvaez (Down & Out Books)
A reluctant assassin is born. A con man tries to sell the Grand Central clock. A superhero is dying to lose her powers.
In thirteen fast-moving stories, the author of Hipster Death Rattle explores the tragic world of noir fiction with a wide range of Latinx characters. These stories define noir as tales of people who fall not from great heights but from the stoop and the sidewalk.
A follow-up to the author’s Roachkiller and Other Stories, which received the Spinetingler Award for Best Anthology/Short Story Collection, this contains a sequel to that anthology’s eponymous story.
November 3, 2020
APHASIA | Fiction
by Mauro Javier Cárdenas (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Antonio wants to avoid thinking about his sister―even though he knows he won’t be able to avoid thinking about his sister―because his sister is on the run after allegedly threatening to shoot her neighbors, and has been claiming that Antonio, Obama, the Pentagon, and their mother are all conspiring against her. Nevertheless, Antonio is going to try his best to be as avoidant as possible, because he worries that what’s been happening to his sister might somehow infect his relatively contented, ordered American life, and destabilize the precarious arrangement with his ex-wife that’s allowed him to stay close to his two daughters.
A GIRL NAMED ROSITA: THE STORY OF RITA MORENO | Picture Book
by Anika Aldamuy Denise; Illustrated by Leo Espinosa (Harper Collins Español)
When young Rosita moved from Puerto Rico to the mainland United States, she didn’t know what to expect—but she knew she loved to sing and dance. Working to overcome the language barrier and bullying she experienced in a strange new country, Rita eventually made her way to Hollywood with a dream to be a star. There, she fought to be seen and heard and eventually reached the pinnacle of success, landing her iconic role in West Side Story and, finally, winning her groundbreaking Oscar.
PARTICULATE MATTER | Memoir
by TFelicia Luna Lemus (Akashic Books)
Particulate Matter is the story of a year in Felicia Luna Lemus's marriage when the world turned upside down. It's set in Los Angeles, and it's about love and crisis, loss and grief, the city and the ocean, ancestral ghosts and history haunting. Nature herself seemed to howl. Fires raged and covered the house Lemus and her spouse shared in ash. Everything crystallized. It was the most challenging and terrifying time she had ever experienced, and yet it was also a time when the sublime beauty of the everyday shone through with particular power and presence.
November 10, 2020
13TH STREET #4: THE SCHOKING SHARK SHOWDOWN | Chapter Book
by David Bowles; Illus. by Shan Clester (HarperChapters)
Cousins Malia, Dante, and Ivan are looking for a portal to 13th Street. They need to help their new friend Mickey find his way home! But waiting for them are sharks that can shock them with an electric charge. Can the cousins reach Mickey before it's too late?
A CUBAN GIRL’S GUIDE TO TEA AND TOMORROW | Young Adult
by Laura Taylor Namey (Atheneum)
For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela’s role as head baker at their panadería, 2) move in with her best friend after graduation, and 3) live happily ever after with her boyfriend. But then the Trifecta happened, and everything—including Lila herself—fell apart.
Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make a new plan for her: Spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But with the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila…until she meets Orion Maxwell.
A teashop clerk with troubles of his own, Orion is determined to help Lila out of her funk, and appoints himself as her personal tour guide. From Winchester’s drama-filled music scene to the sweeping English countryside, it isn’t long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself. Soon a new future is beginning to form in Lila’s mind—one that would mean leaving everything she ever planned behind.
ME DICEN GÜERO | Middle Grade
by David Bowles (Vintage Español)
Güero tiene doce años y es mexicano y americano al mismo tiempo. Sabe sentirse en casa en ambos lados del rio, y en su vida hay tanto español como inglés. Güero ha comenzado el séptimo año en la escuela, y su profe de inglés hace que hasta los poemas suenen cool.
Güero es como llaman a los chicos como el: pálidos. Pero no te equivoques, nuestro héroe pelirrojo y con pecas es puro mexicano, como el Canelo Álvarez. Además, Güero es un nerd—lector, gamer, músico—que se junta con una banda de inadaptados como el: Los Bobbys. Como todos los chicos de su edad, Los Bobbys se meten en problemas y, ¡hasta les gustan las chicas! Pero bueno, ¡cuidado con Joanna! Es dura como ninguna.
De la mano de las tradiciones familiares, su acordeón y su escuadrón de nerds, Güero le hace frente al séptimo año escolar con inteligencia y un gran corazon.
November 17, 2020
EVERYDAY ADVOCACY: TEACHERS WHO CHANGE THE LITERACY NARRATIVE | Academic
by Cathy Fleischer & Antero Garcia (Norton Professional Books)
In this groundbreaking collection, literacy educators describe how they are redefining what it means to be a teaching professional. Teachers share how they are trying to change the conversation surrounding literacy and literacy instruction by explaining to colleagues, administrators, parents, and community members why they teach in particular research-based ways, so often contradicted by mandated curricula and standardized assessments. Teacher educators also share how they are introducing an advocacy approach to preservice and practicing teachers, helping prepare teachers for this new professionalism. Both groups practice what the authors call “everyday advocacy”: the day-to-day actions teachers are taking to change the public narrative surrounding schools, teachers, and learning.
