(2) YA In dual timelines, Schaper presents a story of culture, love, and feminism that crosses generations. Pili is a Mexican American teen in 1970s Laredo, Texas. Pilar is her namesake and her sister's granddaughter, living in present-day Houston. Both young women are strong-willed and talented. Pilar hopes to audition for the school play but feels discouraged because of low self-esteem and constant bullying; she is tormented because of her weight and becomes the subject of an embarrassing social media post. Pili eschews the expectations of her male-centric community and is especially wary of those traditions in light of her sister's marriage to an aggressively macho man. The character development is layered, and the settings are fully realized. The conflict between family duty and individual hopes and dreams will resonate with young people. Questions of faith and religion are also woven throughout. Short chapters with alternating narrators balance the story's pace, and spare writing and the revelation of long-held secrets make for a compelling tale, with an ultimately rewarding conclusion. The familial bonds, the protagonists' lively personalities, the whip-smart humor, and the cultural touchstones should appeal to fans of Isabel Quintero's Gabi, a Girl in Pieces.

Reviewer: Shelley M. Diaz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(3) K-3 Translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura. Illustrated by Felipe Ugalde Alcántara. Poet Argueta has created a trilingual homage to the importance of water for life. His free verse poem highlights the water cycle from water's perspective beside Alcántara's verdant gouache paintings with fluid and rounded forms. Each spread includes a stanza in Spanish and English; a Nahuat translation (the language of Argueta's native Pipil-Nahua Indians of El Salvador) of the entire poem is appended.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(2) YA Victor Reyes shows a talent for art, which one of his teachers encourages, but when he fails to get accepted into art school near his girlfriend's intended college, Victor starts to slide into a gangbanging, drug-dealing lifestyle. Told in chunks spanning four years, this is a bildungsroman with a voice reminiscent of Walter Dean Myers, gritty with a sense of humor.

Reviewer: Sarah Hannah Gomez | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2017

(4) K-3 Translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura. Illustrated by Gabhor Utomo. Nuyorican poet and playwright Laviera leaves us with this posthumously published story in English and Spanish. Mayan prince Mayanito travels throughout the western hemisphere befriending the fauna, flora, and Indigenous children of the Americas. Or was it a dream? The fantastical narrative meanders but sends a clear message of unity and oneness--not just among people, but also with nature--a point underscored by the watercolor illustrations.

Reviewer: Yaisha Cordero-Rivera

(1) YA Seventeen-year-old Abram lives with his grandmother in Texas after his father's death and his mother's disappearance. As Abram's relationship with classmate Ophelia grows romantic, his uncle, Claudio, seizes upon Abram's fighting prowess and enrolls Abram in a shady, dangerous fight that has tragic consequences. With allusions and parallels to Hamlet, Jiménez's imagery-heavy YA debut conveys simultaneously a vivid sense of immediacy and reflective distance.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2016

(4) K-3 Translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura. Illustrated by Robert Trujillo. Darío is certain his little brother's birthday will be the worst: all Ariel wants is to eat tacos in the park with their parents. But Darío is pleasantly surprised to find that a low-key party has its own benefits. Despite its overt message, the story, in both English and Spanish, is satisfying. The awkwardly rendered illustrations give the book an amateurish look.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) K-3 Translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura. Illustrated by Gary Undercuffler. Francisco misses flying kites in his native El Salvador, so he builds one from found materials in his new Chicago neighborhood. The owner of a recycled goods store notices the kite and offers to pay Francisco to make twenty more. In both English and Spanish, the quiet text tells a gentle story. The illustrations are stiff but convey Francisco's pride in his creations.

Reviewer: Tim Wadham

(4) K-3 Translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura. Illustrated by Thelma Muraida. "This is the field where you play with your team, / and parents cheer and your friends scream..." This book takes readers on a tour of a brother and sister's friendly town. The English text's irregular rhymes and rhythms are ignored by the Spanish translation; there are occasionally stilted moments in both languages. Muraida's illustrations are stiff but warm.

Reviewer: Siena Leslie

(4) K-3 Translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura. Illustrated by Robert Casilla. In a pre-Mexico indigenous village, Mamá Alma talks to Bella about how she's growing old. They share memories and plan how Bella can remember the grandmother when she's gone. The book is text-heavy, a fault visually magnified by the accompanying Spanish translations; while stiff, the illustrations contribute setting details. A valuable author's note discusses the now-"misunderstood" tradition of the Day of the Dead.

Reviewer: Tim Wadham

(4) K-3 Translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura. Illustrated by Thelma Muraida. "Cecelia and Miguel are best friends." So begins every page of this sweet tale of lifelong friendship told in simple English and Spanish text. The kids grow up together and eventually marry and have twins. The amateurish illustrations are made to look like photos pasted in a scrapbook, lending the book a nostalgic feel that will appeal most to adult couples.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(4) K-3 Translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura. Illustrated by Oscar Ortiz. Juliana, an enthusiastic young artist, grows interested in her new upstairs neighbor, a well-regarded poet "who lived on an island" like Juliana's mami had. The two form a friendship, during which Juliana learns about the nature of creation and collaboration, and that "words can change the world." The Spanish translation of the prosaic English text is enlivened by the tropical-hued illustrations.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) K-3 Translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura. When Dalia wakes up, her hair has grown "tall and thick as a Cuban royal palm tree." She gathers leaves, mud, and other treasures and turns her hair into a tree. The next morning butterflies fly out; she's a "BUTTERFLY TREE!!" Enhanced by lush illustrations, the Spanish and English texts don't make much sense but are full of references to Cuba's natural world. Glos.

Reviewer: Tim Wadham

(4) K-3 Translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura. Illustrated by Oksana Kemarskaya. Inspired by her abuela's stories, Toña plants an urban vegetable garden in a small patch of earth. When others become interested in the project, she helps them transform all of the neighborhood's dirt patches into gardens. The story's appeal comes less from the stilted Spanish and English prose than from the high-interest premise. Kemarskaya's cheery art, though sloppy-looking, features vibrant characters.

Reviewer: Siena Leslie

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Thelma Muraida. Their parents are already at work, so Pablito's sister, Anita, wakes him and gets him ready for school; she's waiting for him when it's time to go home. She puts him to bed, and he's asleep when their parents finally come home. The bilingual text, accompanied by muddy illustrations, is unremarkable, but the affection between brother and sister comes through.

Reviewer: Tim Wadham

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Oscar Ortiz. Juliana, an enthusiastic young artist, grows interested in her new upstairs neighbor, a well-regarded poet "who lived on an island" like her mami had. The two form a friendship, during which Juliana learns about the nature of creation and collaboration, and that "words can change the world." The text is surprisingly prosaic given the subject; the tropical-hued illustrations enliven it.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(3) YA Published spring 1998. Composed of stories, poems, and reminiscences, this eloquent volume chiefly focuses on Puerto Rican girls growing up in a New Jersey barrio. As the teenagers become immersed in the counterculture movement of the 1960s, their traditional parents struggle to understand the changes of the modern world. The writing style is excellent, although its adult tone, sometimes tinged with nostalgia, limits the book's audience.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) K-3 Translated by Pat Mora. Illustrated by Francisco X. Mora. Young readers experience a noche de fiesta complete with mariachis, salsa, and delicious fruits, and attended by various nocturnal desert animals. The somewhat stilted poem, presented in both English and Spanish, rhymes in both languages. The simple geometric patterns and warm colors of the illustrations help convey the southwestern setting.

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