“I am so rich—with family, friends and story ideas.” Author Diana López has turned that richness of story ideas into an impressive career centered around creative writing. The director of undergraduate creative writing, as well as an associate professor of creative writing, at the University of Houston-Victoria, López has written short stories, essays, articles and novels, including “Confetti Girl,” which won Latinidad’s “Top Latino Book of the Year” for the middle grade category. One of her latest projects is the novelization of the Disney-Pixar’s Oscar-winning film “Coco” where she delves deeper into the backstory of several of the movie’s characters. And so it is our pleasure to feature the works of Diana López in this month’s School Library. Information and discussion guides are all courtesy of www.dianalopezbooks.com
K-12
“COCO: A STORY ABOUT MUSIC, SHOES, AND FAMILY”
Amazon Recommended Grade Level: 3 – 7
Publisher: Disney Press
ISBN-13: 978-1484787458
Discussion Guide: http://www.dianalopezbooks.com/pdfs/coco-teachers-guide.pdf
Sometimes Miguel thinks he’s cursed. For generations, the Riveras have banned music from their home because of a terrible betrayal, focusing instead on their successful shoemaking shop. And yet Miguel has a secret dream—he longs to play guitar, just like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz. But when a mysterious chain of events leads him to the Land of the Dead, Miguel finds there may be a way to become a musician and get his family’s blessing. Soon he meets a charming trickster named Hector, and together they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel’s family history.
“NOTHING UP MY SLEEVE”
Amazon Recommended Grade Level: 3 - 7
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 978-0316340878
Discussion Guide: http://www.dianalopezbooks.com/pdfs/nothing-up-my-sleeve-discussion-guide.pdf
Sixth graders Dominic, Loop, and Z stumble upon a new magic shop in town and can’t wait to spend their summer mastering cool tricks to gain access to the Vault, a key holders-only back room bound to hold all kinds of secrets. And once they get in, they set their sights even higher: a huge competition at the end of the summer. Problem is the trip is expensive, and it’s money that each guy’s family doesn’t have. To make things worse, the shop owners’ daughter, Ariel (who is last year's competition winner), will do anything to make sure the boys don’t come out on top.
“ASK MY MOOD RING HOW I FEEL”
Amazon Recommended Grade Level: 3 - 7
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 978-0316209946
Discussion Guide: http://www.dianalopezbooks.com/pdfs/ask-my-mood-ring-edu-guide.pdf
Erica is feeling so many things that she needs a mood ring to keep track of her emotions. She’s HAPPY when she hangs out with her best friends. She’s JEALOUS her little sister skipped a grade. She’s PASSIONATE about her crushes. And when her mom learns she has breast cancer, Erica feels WORRIED. Then one day, Erica’s family visits a famous church where she makes a promesa to God in exchange for her mom’s health. Erica quickly learns that juggling family, friends and school while fulfilling a promesa is STRESSFUL, but with HOPE and LOVE, she just might be able to figure it out.
“CONFETTI GIRL”
Amazon Recommended Grade Level: 3 - 7
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 978-0316029568
Discussion Guide: http://www.dianalopezbooks.com/pdfs/confetti-girl-edu-guide.pdf
Apolonia “Lina” Flores is a best friend (even though Vanessa’s now gone completely boy crazy), a science lover (although her dad thinks that she likes English just because he likes English), a pobrecita (“poor baby,” what Vanessa’s mom has called her ever since Lina’s mom passed away), a sock enthusiast (would that be a sockiophile?) and in love with Luis (Shh, don’t tell him!). Like cascarones, hollowed eggshells filled with a bright rainbow of confetti, Lina is many different colors all in one. She’s a daughter to her book-obsessed dad, a plain-Jane best friend to beautiful Vanessa and a girl with a major crush.
Higher Education
“TECHNOLOGY AND ENGAGEMENT: MAKING TECHNOLOGY WORK FOR FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS”
by Heather T. Rowan-Kenyon, Ana M. Martínez Alemán, Mandy Savitz-Romer
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN-13: 978-0813594194
“Technology and Engagement” is based on a four-year study of how first-generation college students use social media, aimed at improving their transition to and engagement with their university. Through web technology, including social media sites, students were better able to maintain close ties with family and friends from home, as well as engage more with social and academic programs at their university. By showing the gains in campus capital these first-generation college students obtained through social media, the authors offer concrete suggestions for how other universities and college-retention programs can utilize the findings to increase their own retention of first-generation college students.
“LEADERSHIP FROM THE MARGINS: WOMEN AND CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN ARGENTINA, CHILE, AND EL SALVADOR”
by Serena Cosgrove
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN-13: 978-0813548005
Women have experienced decades of economic and political repression across Latin America where many nations are built upon patriarchal systems of power. However, a recent confluence of political, economic and historical factors has allowed for the emergence of civil society organizations (CSOs) that afford women a voice throughout the region. “Leadership from the Margins” describes and analyzes the unique leadership styles and challenges facing the women leaders of CSOs in Argentina, Chile and El Salvador. Based on ethnographic research, its analysis offers an account of the struggles facing women, and how differences of class, political ideology and ethnicity have informed their outlook and organizing strategies.
“SOVEREIGN ACTS: PERFORMING RACE, SPACE, AND BELONGING IN PANAMA AND THE CANAL ZONE”
by Katherine A. Zien
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN-13: 978-0813584102
“Sovereign Acts” explores how artists, activists and audiences performed and interpreted sovereignty struggles in the Panama Canal Zone, from the Canal Zone’s inception in 1903 to its dissolution in 1999. In popular entertainments and patriotic pageants, opera concerts and national theatre, white U.S. citizens, West Indian laborers, and Panamanian artists and activists used performance as a way to assert their right to the Canal Zone and challenge the Zone’s sovereignty. By demonstrating the place of performance in the U.S. Empire’s legal landscape, Katherine A. Zien transforms our understanding of U.S. imperialism and its aftermath in the Panama Canal Zone and the larger U.S.-Caribbean world.
“YOUTH IN POSTWAR GUATEMALA: EDUCATION AND CIVIC IDENTITY IN TRANSITION”
by Michelle J. Bellino
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN-13: 978-0813587998
Michelle J. Bellino describes how, following Guatemala’s civil war, adolescents at four schools in urban and rural communities learn about their country’s history of authoritarianism and develop civic identities within a fragile postwar democracy. Through rich ethnographic accounts, “Youth in Postwar Guatemala” traces youth experiences in schools, homes and communities to examine how knowledge and attitudes toward historical injustice traverse public and private spaces, as well as generations. In a country that is still marked by the legacies of war and division, young people navigate between the perilous work of critiquing the flawed democracy they inherited while also safely waiting for the one they were promised.
