This collection of stories about life in the United States for young Latinos covers a wide range of cultural backgrounds and experiences. Stories include references to policies and laws affecting students’ lives. Includes Translations, Notes on the Stories.

I really like the art, and I think this would pair beautifully with [b: In The Country We Love: My Family Divided|25666051|In the Country We Love My Family Divided|Diane Guerrero|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1461758898s/25666051.jpg|45489189] as a non-fiction comparison. My favorite story was Burrito Man; reader, I cried. I also really liked the glossary at the end, though all the italics reminded me about something I read [a: Junot Diaz] said in an interview or something that I can't quite remember. In my Googling, I found this article by another writer which feels like a solid companion read if you're curious about italicizing words that aren't in English. ( )

This title contains 12 short stories about Latino children in a variety of situations. Some are the children of immigrants whereas others were smuggled across the border; some fear deportation while others are concerned about bullying older siblings; some worry about physical violence whereas others are concerned about parents arguing; and so forth. The author sets out and clearly displays how Latinos are not one big bloc but individuals with different goals, lifestyles, etc. (This seems like a self-evident point, but given the too-large number of grown adults who don't seem to understand this, it is fair to want to show that to children.) My concern is that only Latino children might pick up this book; while that would not be a bad thing by itself, children from other racial backgrounds who would benefit from reading this book might think it's not "for them" and miss its lessons entirely.

Back to the stories themselves, they are all fictional but based on some kernel of truth, whether that was a personal story told to the author or an article she read in the news. Each story is illustrated with a pencil sketch by the author (although they are more involved than that; read her introduction for the meaning behind her process), all of which are stunning. My particular favorite stories were "Güera," "Firstborn," "Peacemaker," and "The Secret," although there isn't a bad story in the bunch. Occasionally, it felt like some bits of narrative were a little jumpy or too quickly resolved, but that is often true in short stories. In fact, I liked this book much more than I thought I would considering how I'm not usually the hugest fan of short story collections. I'd recommend it for those readers who enjoy character portraits and "slice of life" stories. ( )