Too Many Tamales 2007

If you love the book, you will enjoy the play. Angelinos and visitors, don't miss the opportunity to watch this incredible play.

Children's Bilingual Reading With René Colato Laínez
at Aztlan Books Y Mas

But if you are in Las Vegas or plan to go this weekend please come and join me at Aztlan Books and Mas on Saturday December 22nd at 2 p.m.

1014 E Charleston Blvd
Suite 102
Las Vegas, NV 89104

for more information visit www.aztlanbookslv.com

Chocolate: A Bittersweet Story of Dark and Light

In this scintillating narrative, acclaimed foodie Mort Rosenblum delves into the complex world of chocolate. From mole poblano — chili-laced gift of the gods, to the contemporary French chocolatiers who produce the palets d'or, bite-sized, gold-flecked bricks of dark chocolate — to the vast empires of Hershey, Godiva, and Valrhona, Rosenblum follows the chocolate trail the world over. He visits cacao plantations, meets with growers, buyers, makers, and tasters, and investigates the dark side of the chocolate trade as well as the enduring appeal of its product.

Yes, our kind is everywhere... I'm a foodie, too. I watch the Food Network like it's porn. Seriously, have you seen Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver, watched their nimble fingers, their deft touch as they make the stuff that dreams are made of? Delicious food, subtly prepared, engages all the senses, just like good sex. And like sex, most of us have a particular twist, a certain something that sets us over the edge. My particular kink is chocolate.... smooth, silky, sweet, or slightly bitter. I can take a nibble and slowly let it dissolve on my tongue, and the rush of flavor — flower petal/sugar/dark woods/midnight — overwhelms me.

And I'm not alone either; check out Milt Rosenblum's odyssey with my beloved. But before you do, I want to let you in on the fact that Chocolate is no mere confection. Rosenblum does offer an engaging travelogue featuring the voluptuous substance as the centerpiece.

But it's also a character study of of the people who absolutely live for the perfect cacao high. There's Chloe Doutre-Roussel, the chocolate doyenne, who by force of will, expert knowledge, and her own Gallic brand of sexiness, was able to convince the Brits to augment that waxy brick of theirs with glorious French confiserie. They couldn't resist her blandishments, despite years of proffering that insult as a treat to an unknowing populace.

Then there's Claudio da Principe, whose obsession with growing the best bean and to create a fair trade chocolate finca led him to a South American pilgrimage; an odyssey of intrigue, duplicity and greed worthy of Herzog and Aguirre the Wrath of God. Shot through this confection of a book is also a fascinating micro history of how the Old World "conquered" the "New" World.

Early in the book, which is for me one of the most potent descriptions, Rosenblum pays homage in Oaxaca at the altar of Estela Luna. He lovingly describes her comida casera and her personal domain where she holds court as chef, priestess, and historian, conjuring up mole exquisito and making the point that Mexico was not conquered after all.

And there is the redoubtable Mr. Rosenblum himself, intrepid explorer, traveling the globe for that ultimate high. Ah, such sacrifice in the pursuit of knowledge...

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News You Can Use

La Tremenda herself, Michele Serros, will be reading from her newest novel, Scandalosa.

Sunday, December, 8th 3pm
Borders 8861 Washington Boulevard, Pico Rivera, CA


Gente, get out there and get the book!

Lisa Alvarado

Spoken Word, Borders and Juan Felipe Herrera

187 Reasons Mexicanos Can’t Cross the Border:
Undocuments 1971-2007
by Juan Felipe Herrera
November 15, 2007
ISBN:
978-0-87286-462-7 $16.95












Congress debates immigration legislation, Americans grow more polarized in their opinions, and Juan Felipe Herrera provides a fresh and accessible perspective on this crucial human rights issue through this collection of his poetry, prose, and performance.

Catch the 187 Express!
Addressing immigration issues with dynamic innovation, the 187 Express tour launched on Nov. 15, 2007 at City Lights Books in San Francisco.

Herrera, frequently accompanied by guest artists, will present a mix of spoken word performances, music, and poetry throughout the Border States and up and down California.

Herrera has spent the last three and half decades assembling the collection found in 187 Reasons – at rallies, walkouts, under fire and on the run, in cafés, under helicopters and in the midst of thousands of marchers for civil rights and new immigration policies.

Raised in the fields of California in a family of migrant workers, Herrera has blended art and activism for over 30 years as a pioneer of the Chicano spoken word movement. Juan Felipe Herrera is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside. Author of 23 books, he is a community arts leader and a dynamic performer and actor.

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Before you read the first piece in this collection, let me say a few words. This is badder and bolder than any of the Beats. (Yes, I even mean Howl by Ginsburg, Fast Speaking Woman by Waldman.....)

Herrera's work is part grito, part incantation. As a matter of fact, it is closer to the writing of María Sabina, la curandera. A legendary healer, she was the wellspring for a generation of Beat poets, who used her chants as inspiration and struggled to imitate their power.

It's lean, sinewy writing, without a wasted syllable. It lays bare the wounds of race and culture clash, sutures them back into wholeness with resolve, with defiance. It's an unblinking eye cast on where we triumph, where we stumble and fall. And make no mistake, those who make decisions, make policy, and sit in judgment have been served.

We're coming, we're here, and we won't be silent.

187 Reasons Mexicanos Can’t Cross The Border (Remix)

--Abutebaris modo subjunctivo denuo

Because Lou Dobbs has been misusing the subjunctive again

Because our suitcases are made with biodegradable maguey fibers

Because we still resemble La Malinche

Because multiplication is our favorite sport

Because we’ll dig a tunnel to Seattle

Because Mexico needs us to keep the peso from sinking

Because the Berlin Wall is on the way through Veracruz

Because we just learned we are Huichol

Because someone made our ID’s out of corn

Because our border thirst is insatiable

Because we’re on peyote & Coca-Cola & Banamex

Because it’s Indian land stolen from our mothers

Because we’re too emotional when it comes to our mothers

Because we’ve been doing it for over five hundred years already

Because it’s too easy to say “I am from here”

Because Latin American petrochemical juice flows first

Because what would we do in El Norte

Because Nahuatl, Mayan & Chicano will spread to Canada

Because Zedillo & Salinas & Fox are still on vacation

Because the World Bank needs our abuelita’s account

Because the CIA trains better with brown targets

Because our accent is unable to hide U.S. colonialism

Because what will the Hispanik MBAs do

Because our voice resembles La Llorona’s

Because we are still voting

Because the North is really South

Because we can read about it in an ethnic prison

Because Frida beat us to it

Because US & European Corporations would rather visit us first

Because environmental US industrial pollution suits our color

Because of a new form of Overnight Mayan Anarchy

Because there are enough farmworkers in California already

Because we’re meant to usher a post-modern gloom into Mexico

Because Nabisco, Exxon, & Union Carbide gave us Mal de Ojo

Because every nacho chip can morph into a Mexican Wrestler

Because it’s better to be rootless, unconscious, & rapeable

Because we’re destined to have the “Go Back to Mexico” Blues

Because of Pancho Villa’s hidden treasure in Chihuahua

Because of Bogart’s hidden treasure in the Sierra Madre

Because we need more murals honoring our Indian Past

Because we are really dark French Creoles in a Cantínflas costume

Because of this Aztec reflex to sacrifice ourselves

Because we couldn’t clean up hurricane Katrina

Because of this Spanish penchant to be polite and aggressive

Because we had a vision of Sor Juana in drag

Because we smell of Tamales soaked in Tequila

Because we got hooked listening to Indian Jazz in Chiapas

Because we’re still waiting to be cosmic

Because our passport says we’re out of date

Because our organ donor got lost in a Bingo game

Because we got to learn English first & get in line & pay a little fee

Because we’re understanding & appreciative of our Capitalist neighbors

Because our 500 year penance was not severe enough

Because we’re still running from La Migra

Because we’re still kissing the Pope’s hand

Because we’re still practicing to be Franciscan priests

Because they told us to sit & meditate & chant Nosotros Los Pobres

Because of the word “Revolución” & the words “Viva Zapata”

Because we rely more on brujas than lawyers

Because we never finished our Ph.D. in Total United Service

Because our identity got mixed up with passion

Because we have visions instead of televisions

Because our huaraches are made with Goodyear & Uniroyal

Because the pesticides on our skin are still glowing

Because it’s too easy to say “American Citizen” in cholo

Because you can’t shrink-wrap enchiladas

Because a Spy in Spanish sounds too much like “Es Pie” in English

Because our comadres are an International Political Party

Because we believe in The Big Chingazo Theory of the Universe

Because we’re still holding our breath in the Presidential Palace in Mexico City

Because every Mexican is a Living Theatre of Rebellion

Because Hollywood needs its subject matter in proper folkloric costume

Because the Grammys, Emmies, MTV & I-Tunes are finally out in Spanish

Because the Right is writing an epic poem of apology for our proper edification

Because the Alamo really is pronounced “Alamadre”

Because the Mayan concept of zero means “U.S. Out of Mexico”

Because the oldest Ceiba in Yucatán is prophetic

Because England is making plans

Because we can have Nicaragua, Honduras, & Panama anyway

Because 125 million Mexicans can be wrong

Because we’ll smuggle an earthquake into New York

Because we’ll organize like the Vietnamese in San José

Because we’ll organize like the Mixtecos in Fresno

Because East L.A. is sinking

Because the Christian Coalition doesn’t cater at César Chávez Parque

Because you can’t make mace out of beans

Because the computers can’t pronounce our names

Because the National Border Police are addicted to us

Because Africa will follow

Because we’re still dressed in black rebozos

Because we might sing a corrido at any moment

Because our land grants are still up for grabs

Because our tattoos are indecipherable

Because people are hanging milagros on the 2000 miles of border wire

Because we’re locked into Magical Realism

Because Mexican dependence is a form of higher learning

Because making chilaquiles leads to plastic explosives

Because a simple Spanish Fly can mutate into a raging Bird Flu

Because we eat too many carbohydrates

Because we gave enough blood at the Smithfield, Inc., slaughterhouse in Tar Heel, NC

Because a quinceañera will ruin the concept of American virginity

Because huevos rancheros are now being served at Taco Bell as Wavoritos

Because every Mexican grito undermines English intonation

Because the President has a Mexican maid

Because the Vice President has a Mexican maid

Because it’s Rosa López’s fault O.J. Simpson was guilty

Because Banda music will take over the White House

Because Aztec sexual aberrations are still in practice

Because our starvation & squalor isn’t as glamorous as Somalia’s

Because agribusiness will whack us anyway

Because the information superhighway is not for Chevy’s & Impalas

Because white men are paranoid of Frida’s mustache

Because the term “mariachi” comes from the word “cucarachi”

Because picking grapes is not a British tradition

Because they are still showing Zoot Suit in prisons

Because Richie Valens is alive in West Liberty, Iowa

Because ?[is this supposed to be a ?, or are we waiting for a name? I think I know, but thought I ought to ask, in case…] & the Mysterians cried 97 tears not 96

Because Hoosgow, Riata, Rodeo are Juzgado, Riata and Rodeo

Because Jackson Hole, Wyoming will blow as soon as we hit Oceanside

Because U.S. narco-business needs us in Nogales

Because the term “Mexican” comes from “Mexicanto”

Because Mexican queers [do you want to use this word? How about queers, a little more politically correct, though still problematic.] crossed already

Because Mexican lesbians wear Ben Davis pants & sombreros de palma to work

Because VFW halls aren’t built to serve cabeza con tripas

Because the National Guard are going international

Because we still bury our feria in the backyard

Because we don’t have international broncas for profit

Because we are in love with our sister Rigoberta Menchú

Because California is on the verge of becoming California

Because the PRI is a family affair

Because we may start a television series called No Chingues Conmigo

Because we are too sweet & obedient & confused & (still) [what about the brackets here? Should it be parenthesis?] full of rage

Because the CIA needs us in a Third World State of mind

Because brown is the color of the future

Because we turned Welfare into El Huero Felix

Because we know what the Jews have been through

Because we know what the Blacks have been through

Because the Irish became the San Patricio Corps at the Battle of Churubusco

Because of our taste for Yiddish gospel raps & tardeadas & salsa limericks

Because El Sistema Nos La Pela

Because you can take the boy outta Mexico but not outta the Boycott

Because the Truckers, Arkies and Okies enjoy our telenovelas

Because we’d rather shop at the flea market than Macy’s

Because pan dulce feels sexual, especially conchas & the elotes

Because we’ll Xerox tamales in order to survive

Because we’ll export salsa to Russia & call it “Pikushki”

Because cilantro aromas follow us wherever we go

Because we’ll unionize & sing De Colores

Because A Day Without a Mexican is a day away

Because we’re in touch with our Boriqua camaradas

Because we are the continental majority

Because we’ll build a sweat lodge in front of Bank of America

Because we should wait for further instructions from Televisa

Because 125 million Mexicanos are potential Chicanos

Because we’ll take over the Organic Foods Whole Foods’ business with a molcajete

Because 2000 miles of maquiladoras want to promote us

Because the next Olympics will commemorate the Mexico City massacre of 1968

Because there is an Aztec temple beneath our Nopales

Because we know how to pronounce all the Japanese corporations

Because the Comadre network is more accurate than CNN

Because the Death Squads are having a hard time with Caló

Because the mayor of San Diego likes salsa medium-picante

Because the Navy, Army, Marines like us topless in Tijuana

Because when we see red, white & blue we just see red

Because when we see the numbers 187 we still see red

Because we need to pay a little extra fee to the Border

Because Mexican Human Rights sounds too Mexican

Because Chrysler is putting out a lowrider

Because they found a lost Chicano tribe in Utah

Because harina white flour bag suits don’t cut it at graduation

Because we’ll switch from AT&T & MCI to Y-que, y-que

Because our hand signs aren’t registered

Because Freddy Fender wasn’t Baldomar Huerta’s real name

Because “lotto” is another Chicano word for “pronto”

Because we won’t nationalize a State of Immigrant Paranoia

Because the depression of the 30s was our fault

Because “xenophobia” is a politically correct term

Because we shoulda learned from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

Because we shoulda listened to the Federal Immigration Laws of 1917, ’21, ’24 & ‘30

Because we lack a Nordic/ Teutonic approach

Because Executive Order 9066 of 1942 shudda had us too

Because Operation Wetback took care of us in the 50’s

Because Operation Clean Sweep picked up the loose ends in the 70s

Because one more operation will finish us off anyway

Because you can’t deport 12 million migrantes in a Greyhound bus

Because we got this thing about walking out of everything

Because we have a heart that sings rancheras and feet that polka

Gente: go to his website where there's more info and audio clips! And don't forget to BUY THE BOOK!

http://187express.com

Lisa Alvarado

An Interview With Children's Book Author Monica Brown

René Colato Lainez


I love My Name is Celia and My Name is Gabriela. You are doing an incredible contribution to children’s literature with your Latino biographies picture books. What is your research process for writing these biographies?

I try to be a meticulous researcher and honor the historical record, if there is one and it is accurate. As Latino/as, we are sometimes absent from this record and that is partly why I write. Since I was a scholar before I was a children’s writer, research comes naturally, but this is only the beginning of the process. I try to let my subject inspire my writing. Though I wrote a picture-book biography of Celia Cruz, her music--its rhythm, its joyful energy, the lyricism—is present on every page. In my forthcoming biography Pelé, King of Soccer (HarperCollins RAYO, 2009), I tried to capture the physical genius, the grace, and the spirit of his gift, on the page. My collaborator, illustrator Rudy Gutierrez, has done an amazing job!

How do you select your Latino heroes for the book biographies? Who is the next one?


Well, my new biography is on the incredible Gabriel García Márquez (Luna Rising, 2007), a fellow South American. I chose him because he was one of my earliest literary inspirations and because I wanted to introduce children to the concept of magical realism (though I expect they “get it” more easily than most adults!). My Name is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez, is not only a biography, but a book about imagination, observation, and unending possibilities of our own creativity.


Let’s talk about your new published bilingual picture book Butterflies on Carmen Street/Mariposas en la calle Carmen. What is this book about?



Butterflies on Carmen Street/Mariposa en la Calle Carmen (Piñata Books, 2007) is my first fictional picture-book for children. In Juliana, I created a confident Mexican American protagonist who lives in a community where all sorts of migrations are part of life’s realities, and where complex identities and multiple communities are celebrated, not denigrated. Juliana is a lively grade schooler who lives is a bustling neighborhood on Carmen Street, where her parents own La Esquina market, a place which sells everything from mango-chile lollipops and pan dulce to Spanish videos. For Juliana, life on Carmen Street is nurturing: her parents and grandfather love her, their store sells what everyone wants and needs, she has a great teacher, and a lively best friend, Isabel. Carmen Street is her community and she knows her place in it. She’s inquisitive and excited about a class butterfly project in which her teacher, Ms. Rodriguez, is going to give every student in the class their own monarch caterpillar. Juliana’s abuelo inspires her further by telling her stories about Agangueo in Michoacán, Mexico, the place of his birth and the monarch capital of the world. Through her grandfather’s story, Juliana learns from Ms. Rodriguez and her grandfather that migration is a natural cycle; the butterflies migrate to survive.


What was your inspiration to write this book?

Frankly, I was disturbed by the anti-immigration rhetoric in my home state of Arizona. As the daughter of a South American mother and a North American father, I suppose I think a little differently about borders. I was raised to consider myself a citizen of the world and I believe that my own daughters, though U.S. citizens, are children of the Americas. The monarch’s migration, with its cyclical pattern between Mexico, Canada, and the United States inspired me to tell a story about migration in a new way.


Have you raised caterpillars?

No, but my children have!

How do you pick up the names for your characters?

For Butterflies on Carmen Street, it was easy—I named the main character, Juliana, after my daughter! Her best friend is Isabel is named after my other daughter. Sometimes, however, I just choose a name because I like the sound and feel of the words on my tongue.

What was the process from manuscript to publish book for this story?

Well, ever since I read Denise Chavez’s Last of the Menu Girls in college, I’ve been interested in Arté Publico Press. When I started writing for children, one of my dreams was to be published by their Piñata children’s imprint. So, when my agent Stefanie Von Borstel brought me the offer for Butterflies on Carmen Street, I jumped at the chance to work with Gabriela Ventura and the folks at Arté Publico!

Are there any secrets during the book making of this book that you would like to share with us?

No secrets, but there was a delightful surprise. While making the final edits to this manuscript, I was invited to do a school visit in Tuscon, Arizona. The librarian and students surprised me with Painted Lady butterflies they had raised from caterpillars. They wanted me to do the honor of setting them free, so I had the pleasure of standing in a garden and watching a butterfly take is first flight from my finger!

What is your next book about?

I several books forthcoming, some fiction and some biography. I am especially excited about my forthcoming book Side by Side: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez, (HarperCollins Rayo, 2010), to be illustrated by Joe Cepeda, which explores a friendship that changed our nation.

Visit Monica at www.monicabrown.net



Monica Brown, Ph.D. is the author of award-winning bilingual books for children, including My Name Is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz/Me llamo Celia: La vida de Celia Cruz (Luna Rising), which was awarded the Américas Award for Children's Literature and a Pura Belpré Honor. Her second picture book, My Name Is Gabriela: The Life of Gabriela Mistral/Me llamo Gabriela: La vida de Gabriela Mistral (Luna Rising) shares the story of the first Latina to win a Nobel Prize. Her other books include the newly released Butterflies on Carmen Street (Arté Publico Press) and My Name Is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez/Me llamo Gabito: La vida de Gabriel García Márquez, a Junior Library Guild Premier Selection. Chavela and the Magic Rainforest Chicle (Luna Rising), Pelé, King of Soccer (HarperCollins Rayo), and Side By Side: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez (HarperCollins Rayo) are forthcoming. Monica's books are inspired by her Peruvian-American heritage and passion to share Latino/a stories with children.


Monica Brown is an Associate Professor of English at Northern Arizona University, specializing in U.S. Latino Literature and Multicultural Literature. She also writes and publishes scholarly work with a Latino focus, including Gang Nation: Delinquent Citizenship in Puerto Rican and Chicano and Chicana Literature; and numerous scholarly articles/chapters on Latino/a literature and cultural studies. She regularly speaks at conferences and book festivals across the country including the Northern Arizona Book Festival, The Texas Book Festival, The Miami Book Festival and the National and California Associations of Bilingual Educators.

She is a recipient of the prestigious Rockefeller Fellowship on Chicano Cultural Literacies from the Center for Chicano Studies at the University of California. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Interview With Author Amy Costales About Her Picture Book Abuelita Full of Life/ Abuelita llena de vida

René Colato Laínez



Thank you Amy for this interview. You are a prolific writer and I admire your work. How did you come with the idea for this book?

An editor once asked me to write a story about Day of the Dead, which indirectly led to Abuelita Full of Life (Luna Rising). My own personal experiences with death did not lead me to a picture book. As for Day of the Dead, my kids and I do make an altar every year. We do invite some friends over to add to our altar and make tamales. For me it is a reassuring way of accepting death, and it is a day to remember our dead. But our traditions are kind of our own. They aren’t something I grew up with. None the less, I played with the suggestion in the back of my head.

Great the editor gave you an idea, the seed. When did you start watering and taking care of it?

One morning I saw my daughter wrapped up in an afghan my mom made and a possible story came to me. It struck me that one day my mother will not be with us and we will be left with these pieces of her, the afghan she made and the recipes she shared. I decided to write about a grandma who teaches her granddaughter some Mexican traditions, like keeping an altar. The grandma dies, and the little girl makes her an altar. Then she wraps herself up in her grandma’s blanket and sits in front of the altar. Eventually the blanket feels like a hug from her grandma, and the girl senses that her grandmother will always be with her, even in death.

Except that I never wrote that story. I wasn’t moved to write about death. Not now. And trying to create feelings I didn’t have wasn’t working for me. But the grandma topic stayed in my head.

Many times authors write “in their heads” instead of paper or computer, until the ah ah! moment. When did the seed bloom into a flower?

It was watching two grandmas with their grandkids that gave me the idea of writing about a lively grandma. Two summers ago I was visiting a friend. His mom had just arrived from Mexico. I was amazed at how well she could keep up with her grandkids and by the long walks she took with them. She was about the liveliest woman I had ever seen. I knew right then that I was going to write about a lively grandma. A couple of weeks later another grandmother told me about moving from Mexico to Oregon and sharing a bedroom with her little granddaughter and telling her stories at night. I thought about the lively grandmothers I know, including my own mother. And I thought about my daughter’s grandmother in Mexico, who has helped rear twenty-some grandchildren. I started writing ideas. This was a story I could relate to.

Do you have a family full of Life?

Writing about extended family appeals to me. When my daughter was little and I was in college we always lived with my sister or my parents. They helped with babysitting and money. My daughter and I lived with family until she was in second grade and I had my first teaching position. My sister was a second mother. My father was a father figure.¡ Pero mi mamá! She cooked, sewed, played, helped with homework, sang and baked. When it came to my daughter, my mom had a special touch. She was an Abuelita who was very full of life. I had a story.

What was the process from manuscript to publication for ABUELITA FULL OF LIFE?

I struggled to get my manuscript into a structure I liked. I had chunks of writing but they were not tied together. My neighbor, Ginger, helped with the idea of repetition. I repeated the line “Abuelita was already old when she came to love with José and his family” and added a detail that stressed her old appearance with each repetition. I wanted her appearance to contrast with her liveliness. Finally, I sent a manuscript called Abuelita Was Old to Luna Rising.
Luna Rising accepted the manuscript, but Theresa Howell had hesitations about the implication of death being near. She wanted me to stress the lively qualities of the grandmother as much as I had stressed her age. That led to repetitive lines about the grandmother being lively, having power when she speaks, and arms that hug tightly. In addition, Theresa suggested putting the story in present tense and changing the title. Abuelita Was Old became Abuelita Full of Life. In this edited version, life is stressed.

The Abuelita in the story is a treasure, un tesoro. How do you feel now that this great book is published?

I feel deeply satisfied whenever I read Abuelita Full of Life. It is a story that evokes something familiar to me and I love the illustrations. Martha Avilés tenderly captured a wrinkled woman with swollen hands but a spry cumbia step. I hope to be that kind of Abuelita one day.

How are your readers reacting with the book?

I think this book appeals to many readers because I see people’s eyes light up when they see it, and then they stop and tell me about their Abuelitas.


Amy Costales has lived in Spain, Mexico, Thailand, and India, but recently returned to the United States with her family, where she is a Spanish teacher. As a little girl she shared her adventures with her super best friend, Clara. They inspected tadpoles, looked for counterfeit money, planned pet parades, and climbed Clara’s oak tree. One day they had a fight over magic potion and Amy Costales had to learn how to apologize to her super best friend. Nowadays she shares her adventures with a dog named Gracie, a kitten named Lola, and her children, Kelsey and Samuel.

RENÉ IS BACK

Piñata Books will publish my sequel for I AM RENÉ, THE BOY/ SOY RENÉ, EL NIÑO. Now René is back and will work to have his two last names, just like in El Salvador. At school, they call him René Colato. But what happened to his Mamás beautiful last name? René is not a complete boy by being only René Colato. In RENÉ HAS TWO LAST NAMES/ RENÉ TIENE DOS APELLIDOS, René will show his teacher and classmates the beauty of having two last names and two lovely families.

Author Amy Costales Presents Her First Picture Book LUPE VARGAS AND HER SUPER BEST FRIEND

René Colato Laínez



La Bloga interviewed author Amy Costales about her first picture book. Where did she get the idea? What was the process from manuscript to published book? This is what Amy shared with us.

I started the book Lupe Vargas and Her Super Best Friend after giving my students a writing assignment. It was 2000, and I was teaching Spanish in Thailand. I told my students to write about a childhood friend. They were supposed to practice preterit and imperfect verbs. I modeled for them, talking about my own childhood friend. That got me thinking, and while my students were writing, I picked up a pen and wrote right along with them.

I wrote about the funny things I used to do with my friend Clara, and how we used to annoy our neighbors, and how we got in a pretty bad fight one day. I was trying to focus on the essence of childhood. For me that is having enough free time that is not controlled or planned by an adult. I had a lot of time like that when I was a child. In the story, Lupe and Maritza enjoy their free time, making up games and having adventures. Every thing that occurs in the story, even the fight, is something that Clara and I did as children.

After getting all those memories down I decided to shape them into a story. I looked for a structure, and suddenly got the idea of using a week in the life of the two girls. I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. I tried to imagine the reaction of an editor and I wondered if the structure would seem interesting or unsophisticated. I went ahead and tried it. I wanted to show that day after day these two girls play together, just being kids. When one is gone, the other one misses her. At the end of the week, however, they have a fight. That fight, like I said, is one I had with Clara. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the feeling of shame that came over me, nor how I felt the next day when I knew I was not going to play with my super best friend. I also remember the feeling of relief after apologizing, and being forgiven. I included that fight because it is part of childhood, and because I wanted the story to have a conflict that needed resolved.

I finished the story, but lacking confidence, I put it in my filing cabinet, where it rested for a couple of years. I moved to India, where I also taught Spanish. My son was born. I guess I was busy teaching, raising my children, and exploring Delhi. But one day I visited a friend in California. She had stayed home for fifteen years, raising her kids and baby-sitting to supplement their income. She secretly saved half of her babysitting money all those years and one day surprised her family with the down payment for a home. I was so amazed that I immediately wrote This House is Ours (Luna Rising 2008). Determined to submit it, I went to our school library in Delhi and looked at bilingual picture books. I decided that Luna Rising was the publisher for me. Well, they rejected that story at first, but did ask me for more work. I pulled Lupe Vargas and Her Super Best Friend out of my filing cabinet and sent it. I was scared. I felt like this was my big chance and I was worried they wouldn’t like the story.

A couple of months later I got a message from my mom to call Theresa Howell at Luna Rising. When Theresa told me they wanted to publish the Lupe story I was so quiet that she asked me if I was excited. Of course I was. I was so excited that I could barely talk! And it was, after all, the middle of the night in Delhi.

At first I was worried about the whole editing and illustration process. I thought I might feel like I had lost control of my story. But I never did. Theresa asked for three big changes. Señor Ramírez became Señora Ramírez. Lupe now has adult supervision while preparing food. Lastly, the way in which Lupe apologizes changed. I originally had Lupe make a quesadilla. Theresa suggested that the apology should reflect the fight, so now Lupe makes a magic potion, because the fight occurred when Lupe refused to share their magic potions. As for the illustrating, Theresa asked me for my opinion during the process, which I appreciated. I love the playful style Alejandra Artigas used, and she added details that strengthen the story. It was really cool to see the images the words created in her mind. To me it felt like some intimate form of communication with a person whom I have never met. I loved the editing process.

Lupe Vargas and Her Super Best Friend is very different than the six other stories that I have now had accepted. It’s the only one that comes from my childhood. All my other stories come from people who are currently in my life and have touched me deep inside; my son, my daughter and her cousins, friends and their children. Those stories move me, perhaps because most of them focus on a deeper message. However, there is validity in a story about two Chicana girls, who could really be any two little girls, who play, and fight, and make up. All human beings have that experience, thus, the story celebrates childhood, and that part of a child’s life that adults barely penetrate. Most importantly, the book teaches kids to say, “I’m sorry.”



Amy Costales has lived in Spain, Mexico, Thailand, and India, but recently returned to the United States with her family, where she is a Spanish teacher. As a little girl she shared her adventures with her super best friend, Clara. They inspected tadpoles, looked for counterfeit money, planned pet parades, and climbed Clara’s oak tree. One day they had a fight over magic potion and Amy Costales had to learn how to apologize to her super best friend. Nowadays she shares her adventures with a dog named Gracie, a kitten named Lola, and her children, Kelsey and Samuel.