U.S. Latino literature : a critical guide for students and teachers /

Augenbraum (Mercantile Library of New York) and Fernandez Olmos (Brooklyn College, CUNY) have edited a fine collection of 18 well-written, concise, informative essays by critics including Gustavo Perez Firmat, Chon Noriega, Genaro Padilla, and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert. The authors studied represent various Spanish-speaking countries and different regions of the US; although they are primarily modern, they range from Alvar Nu~nez Cabeza de Vaca and Amparo Ruiz de Burton through Piri Thomas and Richard Rodriguez to Julia Alvarez, Oscar Hijuelos, Sandra Cisneros, Rudolfo Anaya, Tomas Rivera, Esmeralda Santiago, Cristina Garcia, and Gloria Anzaldua. Each essay includes a biography, analysis of themes and forms, and teaching/reading suggestions for the author examined. The works analyzed are mainly narratives, with some poetry and films; the contributors reveal common interests in autobiography, the search for diversity, multicultural diversity, and gender issues. Four appendixes provide topics for further study. This volume joins the editors' companion anthology, The Latino Reader: An American Literary Tradition from 1542 to the Present (1997). Highly recommended for all students and scholars in Latino studies. M. V. Ekstrom; St. John Fisher College

Teachers are the primary audience for this in-depth guide, but it's also a fine library resource for collection building and readers' advisory in middle-and high-school libraries. There are full chapters by various critics on each of the leading Latino authors and their best-known works, from Piri Thomas' Down These Mean Streets and Sandra Cisneros' House on Mango Street to Julia Alvarez's How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and Richard Rodriguez's Hunger of Memory. The discussion is both literary and social, showing how the stories express the writers' diverse immigrant backgrounds, the struggle to be American and also to stay true to ethnic roots, "adapting, not assimilating." The style and design are open and accessible, with extensive, up-to-date bibliographies--for each chapter and for general works--including an appendix of Latino gay and lesbian authors and an annotated list of Latino literary resources on the Web. --Hazel Rochman

The body of this text encompasses the analysis of one work by each of 18 U.S. Latino authors. The selections were chosen by 15 high school teachers as "those most relevant to the lives, reading levels, and school curricula of their students." Piri Thomas, Rudolfo Anaya, Sandra Cisneros, Julia Alvarez, and Esmeralda Santiago are among the featured writers. Each critical essay examines the themes and forms of the work in question and then outlines suggested ways to teach it. The appendixes include a "Sample Course Outline of U.S. Latino Literature," "Latino Gay and Lesbian Authors and Their Works," "Latino Literary Resources on the World Wide Web," "Other Areas of Independent Study," and notes about the editors and contributors. This book is an essential reference tool for high schools and public libraries. It will be particularly germane in high schools with the International Baccalaureate Degree or in areas with concentrations of Hispanic peoples.-Sylvia V. Meisner, Greensboro Montessori School, NC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.