Gabriela Baeza Ventura
Flor enjoyed her two-week trip to Mexico, though she's glad to be back at school. But when she tries to pull her homework out of her backpack, she's shocked to feel a cold hand clutching hers. Thinking that the pesky boys in her class are playing a trick on her, she turns around to look into her pack. She's even more stunned when she sees two yellow eyes peeking out at her.
Flor and her best friend Lupita stare in astonishment as a cowboy hat,
...Joey is excited and nervous about the school dance because Marlen, the love of his life, has agreed to be his date. But Joey has heard rumors that she might be meeting someone else, and as he waits for her to show up he can't help but worry the gossip may be true. Sure enough, a suave, well-dressed stranger asks Marlen to dance before Joey can even get to her. And soon the handsome couple is burning up the dance floor—literally!
In this collection
...Cousins Maya and Vincent are thrilled to be ring side at a lucha libre match. Kid Cyclone, the wrestling world's favorite hero who also happens to be the kids' beloved uncle, is facing off against a devil-masked opponent, El Diablo. "No masked devil can beat my uncle. Not even the real devil himself," declares Maya. But the real devil doesn't take kindly to such disrespect, and soon Kid Cyclone finds himself fighting the most hellish challenger
...Meet the Silva kids, the Guerra boys, and the new Perez family who live on Ruiz Street. On a hot summer day, a new kid named David rides into the neighborhood. Gossip about the mysterious boy stretches longer than a wad of gum. The kids wonder why he rides a different bike every day. Is he stealing them? He gets rough at the swimming pool, he scares the younger kids, and he spies over the fence. Why is he always so mean? Is it true that he eats
..."My name is Ana. Every year, my family makes tamales for Christmas. This year, I am six, so I get to mix the dough, which is made of cornmeal. My sister Lidia is eight, so she gets to spread the dough on the corn husk leaves. I wish I was eight, so that my hands would be big enough to spread the dough just right—not too thick and not too thin."
And so the years pass, and Ana turns eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen. But every year, big
...While Benjamin waits for his father to pick him up from school, he doesn't hear the screams of the kids playing dodge ball on the playground. The only thing he hears is, "a word. The word." Earlier that day, Benjamin beat his friend James while playing handball, and James retaliated by calling Benjamin "the word."
With soft, watercolor illustrations that complement the text, Benjamin and the Word / Benjamín y la palabra is a compelling
...On the first day at my new school, my teacher, Miss Soria, gave me a sticker that said René Colato. The sticker was missing my second last name. Maybe Miss Soria's pen ran out of ink. I took my pencil and added it. Now it looked right: René Colato Laínez."
Young René is from El Salvador, and he doesn't understand why his name has to be different in the United States. When he writes Colato, he sees his paternal grandparents, René and Amelia.
...Baking is always a treat, particularly when you throw family and fun into the mix. In this whimsical look at the making of empanadas, popular children's author Gonzales Bertrand serves up the festive fun of a family's effort to concoct the delicious pastries. In the tradition of popular rhymes like "The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," the laughter and fun rise from page to page.
The Empanadas that Abuela Made/Las empanadas que hacía la abuela
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