Download or read book Ordinary Girls written by Jaquira Díaz and published by Algonquin Books. This book was released on 2019-10-29 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the Must-Read Books of 2019 According to O: The Oprah Magazine * Time * Bustle * Electric Literature * Publishers Weekly * The Millions * The Week * Good Housekeeping “There is more life packed on each page of Ordinary Girls than some lives hold in a lifetime.” —Julia Alvarez In this searing memoir, Jaquira Díaz writes fiercely and eloquently of her challenging girlhood and triumphant coming of age. While growing up in housing projects in Puerto Rico and Miami Beach, Díaz found herself caught between extremes. As her family split apart and her mother battled schizophrenia, she was supported by the love of her friends. As she longed for a family and home, her life was upended by violence. As she celebrated her Puerto Rican culture, she couldn’t find support for her burgeoning sexual identity. From her own struggles with depression and sexual assault to Puerto Rico’s history of colonialism, every page of Ordinary Girls vibrates with music and lyricism. Díaz writes with raw and refreshing honesty, triumphantly mapping a way out of despair toward love and hope to become her version of the girl she always wanted to be. Reminiscent of Tara Westover’s Educated, Kiese Laymon’s Heavy, Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club, and Terese Marie Mailhot’s Heart Berries, Jaquira Díaz’s memoir provides a vivid portrait of a life lived in (and beyond) the borders of Puerto Rico and its complicated history—and reads as electrically as a novel.

Download or read book The Distance Between Us written by Reyna Grande and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-08-28 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this inspirational and unflinchingly honest memoir, acclaimed author Reyna Grande describes her childhood torn between the United States and Mexico, and shines a light on the experiences, fears, and hopes of those who choose to make the harrowing journey across the border. Reyna Grande vividly brings to life her tumultuous early years in this “compelling...unvarnished, resonant” (BookPage) story of a childhood spent torn between two parents and two countries. As her parents make the dangerous trek across the Mexican border to “El Otro Lado” (The Other Side) in pursuit of the American dream, Reyna and her siblings are forced into the already overburdened household of their stern grandmother. When their mother at last returns, Reyna prepares for her own journey to “El Otro Lado” to live with the man who has haunted her imagination for years, her long-absent father. Funny, heartbreaking, and lyrical, The Distance Between Us poignantly captures the confusion and contradictions of childhood, reminding us that the joys and sorrows we experience are imprinted on the heart forever, calling out to us of those places we first called home. Also available in Spanish as La distancia entre nosotros.

Download or read book What I Love about Nan written by Lotus Press and published by . This book was released on 2019-10-26 with total page 51 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This little book is a beautiful gift for Nan. It has fill in the blank lines to describe why your Nan is the greatest. Kids young and old can easily complete each line and produce this entirely unique gift that will Nan will treasure forever. With 25 prompts there are not too many to make it hard to fill out - just the right amount to show your love and appreciation, and maybe bring a tear to Nan's eye! This book is perfect as: Grandparents Day Gift Mother's Day Christmas or Birthday Gift This gift book will help your child express thankfulness and gratitude for Nan - a win for your child and an amazing gift for Nan that she will treasure forever.

Download or read book How to Babysit a Grandma Read Listen Edition written by Jean Reagan and published by Knopf Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2014-03-25 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When you babysit a grandma, if you're lucky . . . it's a sleepover at her house! And with the useful tips found in this book, you're guaranteed to become an expert grandma-sitter in no time. (Be sure to check out the sections on: How to keep a grandma busy; Things to do at the park; Possible places to sleep, and what to do once you're both snugly tucked in for the night.) From the author-illustrator team behind the bestselling How to Babysit a Grandpa comes a funny and heartwarming celebration of grandmas and grandchildren. This Read & Listen edition contains audio narration.

Download or read book Voices from the Ancestors written by Lara Medina and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2019-10-08 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Voices from the Ancestors brings together the reflective writings and spiritual practices of Xicanx, Latinx, and Afro-Latinx womxn and male allies in the United States who seek to heal from the historical traumas of colonization by returning to ancestral traditions and knowledge. This wisdom is based on the authors’ oral traditions, research, intuitions, and lived experiences—wisdom inspired by, and created from, personal trajectories on the path to spiritual conocimiento, or inner spiritual inquiry. This conocimiento has reemerged over the last fifty years as efforts to decolonize lives, minds, spirits, and bodies have advanced. Yet this knowledge goes back many generations to the time when the ancestors understood their interconnectedness with each other, with nature, and with the sacred cosmic forces—a time when the human body was a microcosm of the universe. Reclaiming and reconstructing spirituality based on non-Western epistemologies is central to the process of decolonization, particularly in these fraught times. The wisdom offered here appears in a variety of forms—in reflective essays, poetry, prayers, specific guidelines for healing practices, communal rituals, and visual art, all meant to address life transitions and how to live holistically and with a spiritual consciousness for the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Download or read book Santiago s Road Home written by Alexandra Diaz and published by Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Three starred reviews! “Harrowing but deeply illuminating.” —School Library Journal A young boy gets detained by ICE while crossing the border from Mexico to the United States in this timely and unflinching novel by award-winning author Alexandra Diaz. The bed creaks under Santiago’s shivering body. They say a person’s life flashes by before dying. But it’s not his whole life. Just the events that led to this. The important ones, and the ones Santiago would rather forget. The coins in Santiago’s hand are meant for the bus fare back to his abusive abuela’s house. Except he refuses to return; he won’t be missed. His future is uncertain until he meets the kind, maternal María Dolores and her young daughter, Alegría, who help Santiago decide what comes next: He will accompany them to el otro lado, the United States of America. They embark with little, just backpacks with water and a bit of food. To travel together will require trust from all parties, and Santiago is used to going it alone. None of the three travelers realizes that the journey through Mexico to the border is just the beginning of their story.

Download or read book Their Eyes Were Watching God written by Zora Neale Hurston and published by . This book was released on 1937 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book White Lines II Sunny written by Tracy Brown and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 2012-04-24 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In her most stunning, riveting, unstoppable novel yet, bestselling and critically acclaimed author, Tracy Brown delivers the not-to-be-missed sequel to WHITE LINES On the surface, it appears that Sunny has got it all–looks, money, a beautiful home, a healthy daughter, and friends who love her. But Sunny has a secret—something she hasn't even told her best friend. The truth is Sunny is unhappy. She still misses her beloved Dorian, and worries that no other man will ever captivate her the way he did. She dated some very powerful and successful men since Dorian's death. But will she ever find love again? It's not long before Sunny is chasing those white lines again. And, when the truth finally explodes, will Sunny abe able to put her life back together again? "Readers who like delving into complex relationships and characters creeping behind one another's back will be drawn in.'' - Library Journal

Download or read book Refugee written by Alan Gratz and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2017-07-25 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling novel from Alan Gratz tells the timely--and timeless--story of three different kids seeking refuge. A New York Times bestseller! JOSEF is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world... ISABEL is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety in America... MAHMOUD is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe... All three kids go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers -- from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, shocking connections will tie their stories together in the end. As powerful and poignant as it is action-packed and page-turning, this highly acclaimed novel has been on the New York Times bestseller list for more than four years and continues to change readers' lives with its meaningful takes on survival, courage, and the quest for home.

Download or read book Caminar written by Skila Brown and published by Candlewick Press (MA). This book was released on 2014 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Caminar is the story of a boy who joins a small band of guerilla fighters who must decide what being a man during a time of war really means.

Download or read book Enrique s Journey written by Sonia Nazario and published by Random House. This book was released on 2007-01-02 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An astonishing story that puts a human face on the ongoing debate about immigration reform in the United States, now updated with a new Epilogue and Afterword, photos of Enrique and his family, an author interview, and more—the definitive edition of a classic of contemporary America Based on the Los Angeles Times newspaper series that won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for feature writing and another for feature photography, this page-turner about the power of family is a popular text in classrooms and a touchstone for communities across the country to engage in meaningful discussions about this essential American subject. Enrique’s Journey recounts the unforgettable quest of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, eleven years after she is forced to leave her starving family to find work in the United States. Braving unimaginable peril, often clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains, Enrique travels through hostile worlds full of thugs, bandits, and corrupt cops. But he pushes forward, relying on his wit, courage, hope, and the kindness of strangers. As Isabel Allende writes: “This is a twenty-first-century Odyssey. If you are going to read only one nonfiction book this year, it has to be this one.” Praise for Enrique’s Journey “Magnificent . . . Enrique’s Journey is about love. It’s about family. It’s about home.”—The Washington Post Book World “[A] searing report from the immigration frontlines . . . as harrowing as it is heartbreaking.”—People (four stars) “Stunning . . . As an adventure narrative alone, Enrique’s Journey is a worthy read. . . . Nazario’s impressive piece of reporting [turns] the current immigration controversy from a political story into a personal one.”—Entertainment Weekly “Gripping and harrowing . . . a story begging to be told.”—The Christian Science Monitor “[A] prodigious feat of reporting . . . [Sonia Nazario is] amazingly thorough and intrepid.”—Newsday

Download or read book Bridges to Cuba written by Ruth Behar and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cuban and Cuban-American scholars, writers, and artists celebrate the possibility of overcoming divisions of politics and hate

Download or read book The Weight of Feathers written by Anna-Marie McLemore and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2015-09-15 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lace Paloma and Cluck Corbeau, from feuding families of traveling performers, fall in love.

Download or read book Leaving Glorytown written by Eduardo F. Calcines and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR). This book was released on 2009-03-31 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this absorbing memoir, by turns humorous and heartbreaking, Eduardo Calcines recounts his boyhood and chronicles the conditions that led him to wish above all else to leave behind his beloved extended family and his home for a chance at a better future. Eduardo F. Calcines was a child of Fidel Castro's Cuba; he was just three years old when Castro came to power in January 1959. After that, everything changed for his family and his country. When he was ten, his family applied for an exit visa to emigrate to America and he was ridiculed by his schoolmates and even his teachers for being a traitor to his country. But even worse, his father was sent to an agricultural reform camp to do hard labor as punishment for daring to want to leave Cuba. During the years to come, as he grew up in Glorytown, a neighborhood in the city of Cienfuegos, Eduardo hoped with all his might that their exit visa would be granted before he turned fifteen, the age at which he would be drafted into the army.

Download or read book The Bluest Sky written by Christina Diaz Gonzalez and published by Yearling. This book was released on 2024-02-13 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A boy and his family must decide whether to remain in Cuba under a repressive government or risk everything for the chance of a new beginning. "Heartbreaking yet hopeful" —Alan Gratz, bestselling author of Refugee There are two versions of Héctor: the public and the private. It’s the only way to survive in communist Cuba—especially when your father was exiled to the U.S. and labeled an enemy of the people. Héctor must always be seen as a fierce supporter of the regime, even if that means loudly rejecting the father he still loves. But in the summer of 1980, those two versions are hard to keep separate. No longer able to suppress a public uprising, the Cuban government says it will open the port of Mariel to all who wish to leave the country—if they can find a boat. But choosing to leave comes with a price. Those who want to flee are denounced as traitors by family and friends. There are violent acts of repudiation, and no one knows if they will truly be allowed to leave the country or not. So when Héctor’s mother announces that she wants the family to risk everything to go to the United States, he is torn. He misses his father, but Cuba is the only home he has ever known. All his dreams and plans require him to stay. Can he leave everything behind for an unknown future? In a summer of heat and upheaval, danger and deadly consequences, Héctor’s two worlds are on a collision course. Will the impact destroy him and everything he loves?

Download or read book If I Ever Get Out of Here written by Eric Gansworth and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2013-07-30 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A heart-healing, mocs-on-the-ground story of music, family and friendship." -- Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of Tantalize and Rain is Not My Indian Name. Lewis "Shoe" Blake is used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in 1975: the joking, the Fireball games, the snow blowing through his roof. What he's not used to is white kids being nice to him -- kids like George Haddonfield, whose family recently moved to town with the Air Force. As the boys connect through their mutual passion for music, especially the Beatles, Lewis has to lie more and more to hide the reality of his family's poverty from George. He also has to deal with the vicious Evan Reininger, who makes Lewis the special target of his wrath. But when everyone else is on Evan's side, how can he be defeated? And if George finds out the truth about Lewis's home -- will he still be his friend? Acclaimed adult author Eric Gansworth makes his YA debut with this wry and powerful novel about friendship, memory, and the joy of rock 'n' roll.

Download or read book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao written by Junot Diaz and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2008-09-04 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Things have never been easy for Oscar. A ghetto nerd living with his Dominican family in New Jersey, he's sweet but disastrously overweight. He dreams of becoming the next J.R.R. Tolkien and he keeps falling hopelessly in love. Poor Oscar may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fukú - the curse that has haunted his family for generations. With dazzling energy and insight Díaz immerses us in the tumultuous lives of Oscar; his runaway sister Lola; their beautiful mother Belicia; and in the family's uproarious journey from the Dominican Republic to the US and back. Rendered with uncommon warmth and humour, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a literary triumph, that confirms Junot Díaz as one of the most exciting writers of our time.