Celebrating Cultures: Hispanic Heritage Month

Welcome back Falcons! We’ve been settled into school for about a month now, it’s the first day of Fall, and I’m only now getting around to writing a blog post for Falcon’s Fables. Not that this is extraordinarily unusual as you can see by my posting history. I’m really not that great and keeping the blog updated. Yet every school year, I vow to write more. So here goes…

This year in the LC and PLC we are celebrating the heritage months. I’m very excited for this because there are a lot of books that focus on various cultures, backgrounds and experiences. I think it’s always good to learn about where people come from and discover just how much we all have in common. First up is Hispanic Heritage Month,  from September 15 to October 15 we celebrate the “histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens who’s ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.” 

Here at SPAS we have a lot of books that do just that. Come check out our board in the LC to discover just a few of these wonderful books.

We will also be introducing books at the start of classes each week, presenting book talks, and have a running book trailer display on the LC TV during recess and lunch.

Or, take a look through Destiny for all these books offered in the LC:

Easy Readers and Elementary Novels:

• All the Way to Havana by Margarita Engle
• Any Small Goodness by Tony Johnston
• Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan
• Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
• Gabby Garcia’s Ultimate Playbook by Iva-Marie Palmer
• Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
• I lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosin
• Island Born by Junot Diaz
• Juana & Lucas by Juana Median
• Long Shot by Mike Lupica
• Love Amalia by Alma Flor Ada
• Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar
• Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Medina
• Mountain Dog by Margarita Engle
• Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez
• Star in the Forest by Laura Resau
• The Day You Begin by Jacqueling Woodson
• The Gecko and Sticky by Wendelin Van Draanen
• The Red Umbrella by Christan Diaz Gonzalez
• Under the Mambo Moon by Julia Durango
• Us, in Progress by Lulu Delacre

YA Novels: 

• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Senz
• Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
• Evangelina Take Flight by Diana J. Noble
• Caminar by Skila Brown
• Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs
• My Brigadista Year by Katherine Person
• Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal by Margarita Engle
• The First Rule of Punk by Celia Perez
• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
• The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz
• The Poet X by Elixabeth Acevedo
• The Radius of Us by Marie Marquardt
• The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez by Alan Lawrence Sitomer
• The Smoking Mirror by David Bowles
• The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales
• They Call Me Guero by David Bowles

Non-Fiction and Biographies

• 100 Great Hispanic Americans Who Changed History
• Cesar Millan by Gail B. Stewart
• Ellen Ochoa by Joy Paige
• Enchanted Air, Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir by Margarita Engle
• Enrique’s Journey: The Trued Story of a Boy Determined to Reunited with his Mother (adapted for young people) by Sonia Nazario
• Frida: Viva la vida by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
• Great Hispanic Americans
• Guatemala ABCs: A book about the people and places of Guatemala by Marcie Aboff
• In My Family/Family Pictures by Carmen Lomas Garza
• Julia by Georgina Lazaro 
• Julian Nava: My Mexican-American Journey by Julian Nava
• Latin American Folktales: Stories from Hispanic and Indian Traditions edited by John Bierhorst
• Leaving Glorytown: One Boy’s Struggle Under Castro by Eduardo F. Calcines
• Roberto Clemente by Heron Marquea
• Sonia Sotomayor: First Hispanic U.S. Supreme Court Justice by Lisa Tucker McElroy
• Spanish Americans by Vicky Franchino
• Strike! The Farmworkers Fight For Their Rights by Larry Dane Brimmer
• The New York Public Library Amazing Hispanic Americans 
• The Upside Down Boy: El Nino de Cabeza by Juan Filipe Herrera
• They Call me a Hero: a memoir of my youth by Daniel Hernandez
• When Angeles Sing: The story of Rock Legend Carlos Santana by Michael Mahin