As a child what I desired most was to be rescued from the violence I experienced at home. I was undocumented and domestic violence was far too common. While I now know that these are real experiences for many Latino homes, these were secrets that I walked around with for fear that my family would … Continue reading “A poet, América knows, belongs everywhere”: Healing & Latina/o Children’s and Young Adult Literature

Rigoberto González’s[1] The Mariposa Club (2009) is the first novel in a three part series followed by Mariposa Gown (2012) and Mariposa U (forthcoming 2014). The series stands out as the first of its kind because it’s the first to center queer Latino youth characters. The series is a part of a growing genealogy of … Continue reading Resilient Butterflies: On Rigoberto Gonzalez’s The Mariposa Club

Isabel Quintero’s debut YA novel, Gabi: A Girl in Pieces, is witty, exciting, and heart-felt. Through a diary entry narrative, the novel follows Gabi Hernandez through her senior year in high school. Gabi is a self-identified light skinned fat Mexican with an insatiable appetite for hot wings, tacos, sopes, and poetry. The novel opens with … Continue reading Gabi: A Girl in Pieces Review