L.A. Libros Fest: Interesting People & Places

A captivating read, written in verse. This story is about loss, grief, shame, family secrets, resentments, regrets, but also about hope and love. This marvelous book masterfully moves between the stories of Yahaira, who lives in NYC, and Camino, who lives in the Dominican Republic, as they learn about the death of their father, about each other's existence, and how they come to trust  and love each other. A real-life tragic accident that devastated the Dominican community, both in the US and the island, is the backdrop of this story.

También disponible en versión electrónica (eBook).

El multi premiado libro de David Bowles ahora disponible en español. Güero tiene doce años y es mexicano y americano al mismo tiempo. Sabe sentirse en casa en ambos lados del río, 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 suenan cool.

Don’t let this slim volume in verse fool you. This intriguing, multi-voiced look at a violent chapter of Los Angeles history will catapult you back to 1943. The reader follows the Mexican American voices of the girls who work for the war effort while managing to find happiness in jazz, along with their brothers overseas and at home, and also documents the sailors who took part in the brutality of the Zoot Suit Riots.

Grade 1 and up

With great skill and striking pathos, Rosemary McCarney provides an age-appropriate glimpse into the refugee crises happening all over the globe, including Myanmar, Lebanon, and Kenya. Featuring dramatic color photos supplied by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), this book serves as an important starting point for a family conversation about world events.

Grades 1 -2: In this moving story, an abuelo answers his beloved granddaughter when she asks, "Where am I from?" His reply is lyrical and tender, drawing from the natural beauty of their homeland. Ultimately he tells her she is "from my love and the love of all those before us."

This is Gabi Hernandez's diary from her senior year of high school in a Southern California town close to the border. Gabi is smart, loyal, opinionated, self-deprecating, witty and observant. She's also overweight, loves to snack, write poetry, and dreams of (hopefully) getting into Berkeley and then also that her mother will actually allow her to go. Over the course of the year, she learns about the person she is and the woman she hopes to be while living in a traditional Catholic, Mexican-American community.

Gabi Hernández está en su último año de la preparatoria. Para entretenerse, escribe todo lo que le pasa en su diario: las solicitudes a las universidades, el embarazo de Cindy, cuando Sebastián salió del clóset, los chicos guapos de su clase, la adicción de su padre a la metanfetamina, y toda la comida que se le antoja. Pero lo mejor de todo lo que escribe es la poesía que la ayuda a ser quien es.

Isabel Quintero's graphic novel biography of Graciela Iturbide will appeal to all ages. Quintero interviewed the 76-year-old photographer whose pioneering work in photographing indigenous cultures is as remarkable as her own life. Other books by Iturbide can be found here.