Hispanic Heritage Month 2012 Recommended Reading List
Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated nationwide and begins Sept. 15, 2011, the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries – Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico achieved independence on September 16th and Chile on September 18th. Hispanic Heritage Month has been celebrated in the United States since 1974, when President Gerald Ford issued a Presidential Proclamation extending Hispanic Heritage Week into a month-long observation.
This recommended reading list provides a variety of suggested books by grade level for children of all ages, as well as a selection of suggested books for adult reading. Just Read, Florida! makes reading a priority in Florida’s public schools and among the community groups and volunteer organizations that support them. This recommended reading list serves that goal while increasing students’ interest in the many aspects and contributions of Hispanic culture to the state of Florida.
Elementary (Pre K–2) ·
Elementary (3–5) ·
Middle School (6–8) ·
High School (9–12) ·
Adult Reading
|
Elementary (Pre K–2)
|
| Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale | Carmen Agra Deedy |
| Doña Flor | Pat Mora |
| Juan Bobo Goes to Work | Marisa Montes |
| From the Bellybutton of the Moon and Other Summer Poems | Francisco X. Alarcón |
| Pablo's Tree | Pat Mora |
| Chato and the Party Animals | Gary Soto |
| Mama & Papa Have a Store | Amelia Lau Carling |
| Snapshots from the Wedding | Gary Soto |
| In My Family | Lomas Garza, Carmen |
| Rainbow Tulip | Pat Mora |
| Xochtil and the Flowers | Jorge Argueta |
| The Spirit of Tío Fernando | Janice Levy |
Hispanic Scientists: Ellen Ochoa, Carlos A. Ramirez,
Eloy Rodriguez, Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Maria Elena Zavala | Jetty St. John |
| Angels Ride Bikes: And Other Fall Poems | Francisco X. Alarcon |
| Get Ready for Gabi: A Crazy Mixed Up Spanglish Day | Marisa Montes Illustrated by Joe Cepeda |
| Gracias Thanks | Pat Mora, Illustrated by, John Parra and written by Pat Mora |
| Nacho and Lolita | Pam Munoz Ryan |
| Gathering the Sun: An Alphabet in Spanish and English | Alma Flor Ada |
|
Elementary (3–5)
|
| Under the Royal Palms: a Childhood in Cuba | Alma Flor Ada |
| My Diary from Here to There | Amada Irma Pérez |
| Magic Windows | Carmen Lomas Garza |
| Hands-on Latin America: Art Activities For All Ages | Yvonne Y. Merrill |
| Where the Flame Trees Bloom | Alma Flor Ada |
| Amazing Hispanic American History | George Ochoa |
| Charro: The Mexican Cowboy | George Ancona |
| Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez | Kathleen Krull |
| Family Pictures | Carmen Lomas Garza |
| The Bossy Gallito | Lucia Gonzalez |
| Calling the Doves/El Encanto De Las Palomas | Juan Felipe Herrera |
| Under the Royal Palms: a Childhood in Cuba | Alma Flor Ada |
| Learning About Determination From the Life of Gloria Estefan | Meanne Stazzabosco |
| Ivan Rodriguez | Tony DeMarco |
| Alicia Alonso: First Lady of the Ballet | Sandra Martin Arnold |
| The Biographical Dictionary of Hispanic Americans | Nicholas E. Meyer |
| Famous Hispanic Americans | Janet Morey |
| Ellen Ochoa: The First Hispanic Woman Astronaut | Romero Maritza |
| Return to Sender | by Julia Alvarez |
Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day; Celebremos El
día de los niños/El día de los libros | illustrated by Rafael López, written by Pat Mora |
| The Day It Snowed Tortillas: A Classic from the American Southwest | Joe Hayes |
| How Tia Lola Came to Stay | Julia Alvarez |
|
Middle School (6–8)
|
| César Chávez : Crusader for Social Change | Brenda Haugen |
| When I was a Boy Neruda Called Me Policarpo | Poli Délano |
| Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States | Lori Carlson, Editor |
| Crossing the Wire | Will Hobbs |
| Breaking Through | Francisco Jiménez |
| Under the Same Sky | Cynthia DeFelico |
| Struggling to Become an American | Robin Santos Doak |
| The Color of My Words | Lynn Joseph |
| Wachale! Poetry and Prose about Growing Up Latino in America | Ilan Stavans, Editor |
| Extraordinary Hispanic Americans | Susan Sinnott |
| Baseball in April and Other Stories | Gary Soto |
| Call Me Maria: a Novel | Judith Ortiz Cofer |
| Hispanic, Female and Young: An Anthology | Edited by Phyllis Tashlik |
| My Daughter, My Son, the Eagle, the Dove: An Aztec Chant | Ana Castillo |
| Cuba 15 | Nancy Osa |
| Becoming Naomi León | Pam Muñoz Ryan |
| The Tree is Older than You Are | Edited by Naomi Shihab Nye |
| Facts of Life | Gary Soto |
| Flight to Freedom | Ana Veciana–Suarez |
| Among the Volcanoes | Omar S. Castañeda |
| The Smell of Old Lady Perfume | Claudia Guadalupe Martínez |
| Delores Huerta: Labor Leader and Civil Rights Activist | Robin S. Doak |
| Esperanza Rising | Pam Munoz Ryan |
| The Circuit: Stories From the Life of a Migrant Child | Francisco Jimenez |
| Journey of Dreams | Marge Pellegrino |
| Tropical secrets : Holocaust refugees in Cuba | Margarita Engle |
| The Dreamer | Pam Munoz Ryan |
| The Firefly Letters | Margarita Engle |
| César Chávez: A Photographic Essay | Ilan Stavans |
|
High School (9–12)
|
| Journey of the Sparrows | Fran Leeper Buss |
| Jesse | Gary Soto |
| Yo! | Julia Alvarez |
| El Bronx Remembered | Nicholasa Mohr |
| Famous Hispanic Americans | Wendy Dunn, Janet Nomura Morey, and Carlos E. Cortes |
| Laughing Out Loud, I Fly: Poems in English and Spanish | Juan Felipe Herrera |
| How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents | Julia Alvarez |
| Bless Me, Ultima | Rudolfo Anaya |
| When I Was Puerto Rican | Esmeralda Santiago |
Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young
and Latino in the United States | Lori Marie Carlson |
| The Shadow of the Wind: A Novel | Carlos Ruiz Zafón translated by Lucia Graves |
| One Hundred Years of Solitude | Gabriel García Márquez |
| American Chica | Maria Arana |
| Taking Sides | Gary Soto |
| Before We Were Free | Julia Alvarez |
| Riding Low on the Streets of Gold: Latino Literature for Young Adults | edited, with an introduction Judith Ortiz Cofer |
| Growing Up Inside the Sanctuary of My Imagination | Nicholasa Mohr |
| Curse of the Chupa Cabra | Rudolfo Anaya |
| Accidental Love | Gary Soto |
| The Importance of a Piece of Paper: Stories | Jimmy Santiago Baca |
| Crazy Loco | David Talbot Rice |
| Reaching Out | Francisco Jiménez |
| Voices in First Person: Reflections on Latino Identity | edited by Lori Marie Carlson |
| I, Juan De Pareja | Elizabeth Borton de Trevino |
| The Emerald Lizard: Fifteen Latin American Tales to Tell | Pleasant DeSpain |
| Kids Like Me | Judith M. Blohm, Terri Lapinsky Powells |
| Hispanic Surnames and Family History | Lyman DePlatt |
| The Hispanic America, Texas and the Mexican War, 1835 - 1850 | Christopher Collier |
| The Last Summer of the Death Warriors | Francisco X. Stork |
|
Adult Reading
|
| Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez | Richard Rodriguez |
| The Line of the Sun | Judith Ortiz Cofer |
| Empress of the Splendid Season | Ơscar Hijuelos |
| In the Time of the Butterflies: A Novel | Julia Alvarez |
| Never Through Miami | Robert Quesada |
| Down These Mean Streets | Piri Thomas |
| Our House in the Last World | Ơscar Hijuelos |
| The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love | Ơscar Hijuelos |
| Collected Fictions | Jorge Luis Borges, translated by Andrew Hurley |
| Shadow without a Name | Ignacio Padilla, translated by Peter R. Bush & Anne McCleane |
| By the Lake of Sleeping Children: The Secret Life of the Mexican Border | Luis Alberto Urrea |
| The Latino Holiday Book: From Cinco de Mayo to Dia de los Muertos--the Celebrations and Traditions of Hispanic-Americans | Valerie Menard |
| Latino Literacy: The Complete Guide to Our Hispanic History and Culture | Frank De Varona |
| Chronology of Hispanic-American History: From Pre-Columbian Times to the Present | Nicolas Kanellos |
| Everything you need to know about Latino History | Himilce Novas |
| Thirty Million Strong: Reclaiming the Hispanic Image in American Culture | Nicolas Kanellos |
| Strangers Among Us: How Latino Immigration is Transforming America | Roberto Suro |
Students now have an additional reading resource to help them find these exciting books on the Hispanic Heritage Month reading list. The free online search tool dubbed “Find a Book, Florida” allows users to build custom reading lists based on each student’s individual interests from a growing database of fiction and nonfiction titles. The database also allows students to locate books that best complement their reading ability. Using Lexile® measures, the standard for matching readers with books, “Find a Book, Florida” aims to make it easier for students and families to select the right books and then locate these selections at their local public library.
To use this resource today, visit www.fldoe.org or http://florida.lexile.com.
|
Printer Friendly
Custom Search