Presents the author's retellings of fifteen traditional tales heard during his childhood in southern Texas.

Nine-year-old Zulema, the meanest girl in school, decides to change her wicked ways after receiving a visit from the witch owl.

Margarito acts like any other eleven-year-old aficionado of lucha libre. He worships all the players. But in the summer just before sixth grade, he tumbles over the railing at a match in San Antonio and makes a connection to the world of Mexican wrestling that will ultimately connect him—maybe by blood!—to the greatest hero of all time: the Guardian Angel. A 2012 Pura Belpré Author Honor Award winner! Xavier Garza was born in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. An enthusiastic author, artist, teacher, and storyteller, his work is a lively documentation of the dreams, superstitions, and heroes in the bigger-than-life world of south Texas.

Julian Nava is one of the most renowned and distinguished elder statesmen in the Hispanic community of the United States. The child of poor Mexican immigrants, Nava rose through years of hardship and hard work to achieve what no other Latino in the United States had achieved before him: Nava became the first Mexican American to serve as ambassador to Mexico. This unforeseen but deserved appointment by President Jimmy Carter followed a life of commitment to his education and that of his community. Nava became the first Mexican American to serve on the Los Angeles school board when it was embattled, facing the challenges of school walkouts and boycotts, desegregation, bilingual education, and a series of issues brought on by the changes in education during the 1970s. The recipient of a Ph.D. in History from Harvard, Nava has been on the front-lines of urban education and politics, while simultaneously building a successful career as a university professor celebrated throughout the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Spain. Navas previously untold story is finally available to inspire people, young and old, toward study, commitment and perseverance, not only for ones self, but for the community and nation.

æHeartbeat Drumbeat is a coming-of-age story, set in the multi-cultural American Southwest. Morgana Cruz is the daughter of a Navajo mother and a Mexican-American father. In her search for identity, Morgana weaves her way through a series of personal and cultural conflicts, leading her to interact with a group of fascinating characters: Isadora, her Navajo mentor; Eagle Eyes, a young Indian lawyer seeking to establish his own identity; and MorganaÍs own parents„feisty Frank Cruz and elusive Marisol, whose secret holds the key to MorganaÍs future. Rich in descriptions of Native American and Mexican coming-of-age rituals, this novel will appeal to readers of all ages.

This three-volume encyclopedia describes and explains the variety and commonalities in Latina/o culture, providing comprehensive coverage of a variety of Latina/o cultural forms—popular culture, folk culture, rites of passages, and many other forms of shared expression. In the last decade, the Latina/o population has established itself as the fastest growing ethnic group within the United States, and constitutes one of the largest minority groups in the nation. While the different Latina/o groups do have cultural commonalities, there are also many differences among them. This important work examines the historical, regional, and ethnic/racial diversity within specific traditions in rich detail, providing an accurate and comprehensive treatment of what constitutes "the Latino experience" in America. The entries in this three-volume set provide accessible, in-depth information on a wide range of topics, covering cultural traditions including food; art, film, music, and literature; secular and religious celebrations; and religious beliefs and practices. Readers will gain an appreciation for the historical, regional, and ethnic/racial diversity within specific Latina/o traditions. Accompanying sidebars and "spotlight" biographies serve to highlight specific cultural differences and key individuals.

Raining Backwards is an entertaining satire of the Cuban community in Miami, filled with hilarious scenes and characters, including a lovesick girl determined to be a cheerleader for the Miami Dolphins, a poor Cuban American who becomes Pope, another Cuban American who begins a guerrilla war to separate Florida from the Union, and a ditsy plantain-chip magnate.