Children/Young Adult Book Awards: 1996 & 1998

Dad believed people were like money. You could be a thousand-dollar person or a hundred-dollar person -- even a ten-, five-, or one-dollar person. Below that, everybody was just nickels and dimes. To my dad, we were pennies.
Fourteen-year-old Manny Hernandez wants to be more than just a penny. He wants to be a vato firme, the kind of guy people respect. But that′s not easy when your father is abusive, your brother can′t hold a job, and your mother scrubs the house as if she can wash her troubles away.
In Manny′s neighborhood, the way to get respect is to be in a gang. But Manny′s not sure that joining a gang is the solution. Because, after all, it′s his life -- and he wants to be the one to decide what happens to it.

Tomatoes laugh, chiles explode, and tortillas applaud the sun. With joy and tenderness, delight and sadness, Frances X. Alarcó n's poems honor life and nature: welcoming the morning sun, remembering his grandmother's songs, paying tribute to children working in the fields, and dreaming of a world filled with gardens. Artist Maya Christina Gonzalez invites readers to experience the poems with her lively cast of characters - including a spirited grandma, four vivacious children, and playful pets who tease and delight. Follow them from page to page as they bring each poem to colorful life. Laughing Tomatoes is a verbal and visual treat, giving readers eighteen opportunities to see everything for the first time.

In this moving coming-of-age novel set in rural New Mexico, the young protagonist, Flavio, is torn between the seductiveness of progress and new technology and his loyalty to village traditions so steadfastly preserved by his grandfather, El Grande.

"There's nothing like a wedding, and this book about a wedding is not quite like any other....Maya, the flower girl, is the lens through which the action is seen. All of the fun of a wedding is here: the altar boy with the dirty sneakers under his gown, Maya putting pitted black olives on each of her fingers, the kids whacking each other with balloons....The choice of three dimensional artwork was inspired." -- Booklist (starred review) "The text, sprinkled with Spanish words, is eloquent and funny -- and it deftly captures the flavor of a Latino wedding, compete with Mariachi band.

The author takes us again to her home town where she has fond memories of growing up in a traditional Mexican American community.

The syncopated prose of Nina Jaffe draws the reader to the island of Puerto Rico, back before the Spaniards arrived. The island was inhabited by the Tainos, and they called their beloved island Boriquen. This is their story of how Boriquen came to be. In the beginning, there is only a giant mountain above a dry plain without water or plants. When a child walks over the flat land below the mountain, he finds seeds dancing in the wind. When he plants the seeds on the top of the mountain, a forest grows on the crest and in that forest, a large golden flower appears. Soon, the boy and his community reap benefits that they had never before imagined. A joyful creation myth about the evolution of a beautiful island habitat, this picture book is also a celebration of the young boy's quest, which encourages young readers, ages 4-8, to respect the gifts of the winds and the cycle of nature that bears fruit for the whole community.

In simple words and sun-drenched paintings, Alma Flor Ada and Simón Silva take us into the fields and orchards, and into the lives of the people who work them. Simple poems in Spanish and English, one for each letter of the Spanish alphabet, describe the wonder of the vegetable and fruit farms. Together, the poems and the rich illustrations celebrate the glory of nature and the hearts of all who dedicate their lives to working the land.
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Twelve stories about young people caught between their Puerto Rican heritage and their American surroundings.

Érase una vez un gallito mandón que iba muy limpiecito a la boda de su tío Perico... Hasta que se ensució y quiso que todos lo ayudarán a volver a estar limpiecito. Un libro muy divertido en inglés y español que deleitará tanto a grandes como a chicos.

The Mexican American author Gary Soto draws on his own experience of growing up in California’s Central Valley in this finely crafted collection of eleven short stories that reveal big themes in the small events of daily life. Crooked teeth, ponytailed girls, embarrassing grandfathers, imposter Barbies, annoying brothers, Little League tryouts, and karate lessons weave the colorful fabric of Soto’s world. The smart, tough, vulnerable kids in these stories are Latino, but their dreams and desires belong to all of us. Glossary of Spanish terms included.

Chato is so happy to see that a family of mice has moved into the area, he decides to invite them over for dinner, but the mice know he has something else in mind and so bring one additional guest along. Reprint. AB. SLJ. PW. "

From October 31 to November 2, people in Mexico celebrate the festival of el Dia de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. This photodocumentary follows Pablo and his family as they prepare to honor the memory of Pablo's grandmother. Ancona's "photographs catch the affirmation of life that fills the Mexican festival arising from both Aztec and Christian customs honoring the dead....Joyful."--Chicago Tribune. "This intriguing book makes an excellent offering during the Halloween season."--School Library Journal. Also available in a Spanish Language edition, Pablo Recuerda.

Érase una vez un gallito mandón que iba muy limpiecito a la boda de su tío Perico... Hasta que se ensució y quiso que todos lo ayudarán a volver a estar limpiecito. Un libro muy divertido en inglés y español que deleitará tanto a grandes como a chicos.

Renowned artist Carmen Lomas Garza lovingly shares her memories of growing up in the town of Kingsville, Texas, and of her great dream of becoming an artist. Through warm, personal stories and vibrant paintings, young readers experience day-to-day life in a traditional Mexican-American community.