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April is National Poetry Month! All month long we’ll be celebrating by posting some of our favorite poems for Poetry Friday. For today’s Poetry Friday, we chose a poem from Under the Mesquite, written by Guadalupe Garcia McCall.

a mesquite in the rose garden

In the squint of the morning,

before anyone else is awake,

when the roaring sounds

of unbridled verses

rush furiously through my head,

the mesquite is my confidant.

I lean my back against its sturdy trunk

and read aloud every word

imprinted en mi corazón.

The mesquite listens quietly–

as if the poems budding in my heart,

then blossoming in my notebook,

are Scripture–and never tells a soul

the things I write.

Purchase a copy of Under the Mesquite here.

What are you reading for National Poetry Month? Let us know in the comments!

We are always excited to hear about unique ways in which our books are being used, and were thrilled to come across this review of Under the Mesquite that outlines how to use the book in a very special way: to help medical students gain cultural awareness and insight into the experiences of patients from different backgrounds. Author Mark Kuczewski kindly gave us permission to cross-post this review from the Reflective MedEd blog.

Helping medical students to gain cultural awareness and insight into the experience of patients and families from backgrounds different than their own is no small task.  And the search for poignant materials that are easily fit within the demanding environment of a medical school curriculum is never-ending. The good news is that I can unequivocally recommend Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall (Lee & Low Books, 2011). This narrative will help students to gain insight into the meaning of illness within families, especially within the context of a particular contemporary newly-arrived Mexican-American family…

The author, known as “Lupita” within the story, recounts experiences from her high school years when her mother suffered from cancer and underwent extensive treatment, sometimes for long periods at a medical center far from home. Because the author’s father accompanies his wife on these journeys, Lupita, the oldest daughter, takes on responsibility for the family. We are treated to her perspective in coping with her mother’s illness from spy work to find out the secreto that the adults guard in their hushed whispers to the difficulties that come when her parents are away such as being unable to keep order among her siblings. Lupita paints a portrait of a prudent family that begins a savings account with the birth of each child but whose resources are exhausted by the medical bills leaving her struggling each day to procure food to put on the table. And we come to know the importance of the arts, acting in school plays and writing in journals, as means to channel her anxieties and craft something beautiful.

Of course, the particular flavor of the narrative comes from the perspective of one who has significant roots on both sides of the border. She simultaneously gives us a window into the challenges of growing up bicultural and navigating the conflicting demands of loyalty to la familia that nurtured her and pursuing the dream of achieving a different kind of life that is available in the new world. The author lets us taste the bittersweet nature of this ambivalence both in her day-to-day growth as she is accused by her adolescent peers of trying to be something she is not as she loses her accent and in the more profound and cyclical heartbreak of separation. She relates her grief at abandoning her precious sunflowers when her father uproots her from her familiar home in Mexico and she in turn must break his heart as she heads off to college to pursue her dreams.

In sum, this book is among the most usable I’ve found with medical students for two reasons. First, it meets the main requirement of being an enjoyable and quick read. This autobiographical account is most likely to be devoured within a single day.  The author is a superb writer and some of our medical students repeatedly commented that they wish she said more in most passages. Second, she enables us to easily identify with her struggles. Because all adults were once adolescents, we have a framework regarding the struggle for self-discovery and identity into which her cultural context is infused. She enables us to access the different through the familiar. Guadalupe Garcia McCall is a first-rate guide and mentor to those of us who seek insight into the Mexican-American experience and the particular strengths and means of coping that a family steeped in this hybrid culture might possess.

Mark G. Kuczewski, PhD, is the Chair of the Department of Medical Education and the Director of the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics at the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

Purchase Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall here.

The Texas Library Association Annual Conference is next week! Will you be there? If so, we’d love to meet you. Here is our exciting signing schedule below:

Wednesday, April 15

• 10:15 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: Pat Mora, Authors Area (Water Rolls, Water Rises)
• 2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.: Don Tate, LEE & LOW Booth (It Jes’ Happened)

Thursday, April 16

• 10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.: Guadalupe Garcia McCall (Summer of the Mariposas)
• 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.: Valynne Maetani, Authors Area (Ink and Ashes)
• 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.: Pat Mora, LEE & LOW Booth (Water Rolls, Water Rises)
• 2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.: Valynne Maetani, LEE & LOW Booth (Ink and Ashes)
• 3:15 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.: Andrea Cheng, LEE & LOW Booth (Etched in Clay)

We’ll be at Booth 2051 and look forward to meeting you!

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15, a period chosen because it bookends the independence days of five Central American nations (Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Costa Rica, Sept. 15), Mexico (Sept. 16) and Chile (Sept. 18), as well as Columbus Day/Dia de la Raza (Oct. 14 this year in the United States). In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’ve rounded up five great books that celebrate Latino culture and history.

1. Gracias~Thanks by Pat Mora, illustrated by John Parra

In a series of poetic sentences, a young boy tells about some of the everyday things for which he is thankful in both English and Spanish.

2. Marisol McDonald Doesnt’ Match/Marisol McDonald no combina by Monica Brown, illustrated by Sara Palacios

A young Peruvian-Scottish-American girl tries to match but finds it’s much more fun to live outside the box.

3. The Storyteller’s Candle/La velita de los cuentos by Lucía González, illustrated by Lulu Delacre

Award-winners Lucía González and Lulu Delacre celebrate the magic of the public library and the remarkable efforts of New York City’s first Latina librarian, Pura Belpré.

4. Poems to Dream Together/Poemas para soñar juntos by Francisco X. Alarcón, illustrated by Paula S. Barragán

A bilingual collection of poetry that celebrates family, community, nature, and the positive power of dreams to shape our future.

5. Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Fifteen-year-old Odilia and her younger sisters embark on a journey to return a dead man to his family in Mexico, and must outwit monsters and witches to make it back home again in this YA fantasy that retells Homer’s The Odyssey.

 Our guest blogger today is author/poet Guadalupe Garcia McCall, whose book “Summer of the Mariposas”, from Lee & Low Books, is part of First Book’s Stories For All Project.

“First Book’s mission to make books accessible to low-income families is very close to my heart. It fills me with joy to hear that such an organization exists. Books are more than important, they fill a basic need in low-income communities—the need to connect to the world. Books for children of poverty represent hope.

As a young girl, I loved books. Books were my friends. They took me places I knew I would never be able to visit because we were poor. After my mother passed away, my father couldn’t leave town to work anymore, so he had to settle for working in Eagle Pass. He did odd jobs, put in a toilet for a friend and got a few bucks. Sometimes he got lucky and someone needed him to take out the flooring on their mobile home and put in a new one; then he had enough money to pay the bills for the month and buy a few groceries. We didn’t have money for anything other than food and bills.

The library at school fed my mind. I was able to borrow as many books as I could ever read, and I read a lot. I wanted to own books too; I wanted to hold them in my hand and never let them go. But books were luxuries we couldn’t afford. Even though there was a Waldenbooks in the mall, I couldn’t buy a book even if I wanted to. I used to watch other people pull out money and pay for books that I could only touch and admire when I was brave enough to walk into the bookstore, take in the scent of new books, and run my fingers over them, longing to take them home.

There was only one way I could own a book as a child. Once a month, the public library would have a books sale. Old, tattered paperbacks were a quarter, and if you bought four, you got one free. It used to pain me to ask my father for money for books; there was so little of it to go around. But my father always found a way to get a few dollars into my hands so I could have my books and travel the world in my mind. I learned so much from those books. They shaped me, molded me, made me strong.

As an author, I try to pay it forward by writing stories that feed young people’s minds and strengthen their spirits. I wrote Summer of the Mariposas to fill a gap. I wanted my Hispanic female students to see themselves as wise, courageous, and strong enough to go on a quest of their own; I wanted them to be brave and become the heroes of their own lives. I wanted to empower them, to give them hope for a better future, to open up the world to them. I am so glad First Book is here to distribute books like Summer of the Mariposas to young women who wouldn’t otherwise have access to them.

As an English teacher, I know how important reading is to a child’s development, how directly connected reading is to their success in school. If they can’t read, they won’t be able to have success in any other class or understand any other subject. Reading can either break them or make them. Putting books in the hands of children of low-income families, helping them find that one book that will make them fall in love with reading, will open doors for them. Books will help needy children reach their fullest potential. Books can provide the hope they have been looking for—the gift that will never be forgotten.”

Love the Stories For All Project? Want more?

Latina Author Pat Mora, “I wish you could see the smiles of Spanish-speaking children when, in reading one of my books to them, I say a word in Spanish.”

African American Author Tony Medina, “This boy exclaimed about me, the author, ‘How does he know about my life?’”

Native American Author Jim Bruchac, “Is having a book of one’s very own meaningful to a child in the 21st century when mobile devices make it possible to connect with the world in ways unimaginable in my childhood? I firmly believe the answer is yes.”

To learn more about our awesome Stories For All Project partner, Lee & Low Books, check out their blog.

The post The Stories for All Project: Latina Author Guadalupe Garcia McCall on Books as Luxury appeared first on First Book Blog.

The nominees for this year’s Nebula Awards have been revealed, and we’ve collected free samples of all the nominees below–the best science fiction books of 2012.

Many of these stories are available to read for free online. These are marked “COMPLETE” among the links.  Here’s more about the awards:

The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Founded as the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1965 by Damon Knight, the organization began with a charter membership of 78 writers; it now has over 1,500 members, among them many of the leading writers of science fiction and fantasy.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Jaclyn DeForge, our Resident Literacy Expert, began her career teaching first and second grade in the South Bronx, and went on to become a literacy coach and earn her Masters of Science in Teaching. In her column she offers teaching and literacy tips for educators.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve been modeling how to do a close reading at several different grade levels. To close out the series: Close Reading in Fifth Grade using the X level text Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall.

One way to structure close reading questioning is to use the format laid out by the Institute for Learning of the University of Pittsburgh. Under their framework, students read the text selection four times: first, to get the gist; second, to find significant moments or ideas; third, to interpret the ideas in the text; and finally, to analyze the author’s methods (craft). Here’s an example of how to plan out your questions for close reading of the first poem of Under the Mesquite, entitled ”the story of us.”

1st reading (read to get the gist):

• Who is the narrator? What have we learned about her? What can we infer about her so far? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.
• What is Mami like?  What have we learned about her?  What can we infer about her so far?  Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.
• What happened in the first poem?  What was Lupita doing?  What was she looking for? What does she find?  How does Mami react?  What can you infer about their relationship?   Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.

2nd reading (read to find significant moments or ideas):

• What is the most important thing you learned or that happened in this section of the text? Why is it significant?  What was the purpose of this poem?  Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.

3rd reading (read to interpret ideas):

• “No, today I am Eve in the garden, / stealing secretos, / mining for knowledge, / hoping for a taste / of the forbidden fruit.”  What is this section of the poem an allusion to?  What does this reference reveal about Lupita and her background?  Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.
• Why does Mami keep Lupita’s umbilical cord?  What does it mean to her? What is the cord a symbol of?   What does that tell you about their relationship? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.

4th reading (read to analyze the author’s methods/craft):

• How is this text organized? How is it different from other novels you’ve read? How is it similar? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.
• What is the tone of the piece?  Formal?  Informal?  Serious?  Light? etc.  What effect does the tone have on the way the audience reads the piece?  Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.
• What are some of the strongest images Garcia McCall has created so far? How do these images set the mood for the piece?  Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.

By asking students to ground their responses in the text by citing text-based support for their answers, the following Common Core Standard is addressed:

Reading Literature, Grade 5, Key Ideas and Details, Strand 1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

How does close reading look in your classroom? Any tricks and tips to share?

Further reading:

• What is close reading?
• What does close reading look like in Kindergarten?
• What does close reading look like in First Grade?
• What does close reading look like in Second Grade?
• What does close reading look like in Third Grade?
• What does close reading look like in Fourth Grade?

A guest post by Summer of the Mariposas author Guadalupe Garcia McCall.

I’ve been travelling to the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas a lot these days, visiting with some wonderful librarians, sharing my story with some amazing students, and just enjoying the adventures this burgeoning writing life is affording me.

Road trips have always been a meditative time for me, a time to be thankful for the blessings in my life and ponder the rest. I listen to the silence of the road, look at the scenery, and engage in prayer. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about being an author and wondering if this is going to be my next career, if I will be fortunate enough to have more books published. Not that I am doubting myself, no, it is more that I am feeling so privileged I don’t want to lose myself in the awesomeness of it all. I don’t want to let it go to my head. I want to always remain true to myself, my culture, and my faith.

Last week, as we were en route to Edinburg, I was looking out of my car window, asking for a sign, when quite literally there it was, a sign—a small billboard on the side of the road indicating the location of The Shrine of Don Pedrito Jaramillo, a Texas historical landmark.

Don Pedrito was a curandero, a healer, who was buried on the outskirts of Falfurrias, Texas in 1907. He came from Jalisco, Mexico, and got so sick he couldn’t sleep for days. He cured himself by applying mud to his injured nose and was finally able to get some much needed rest. It was while he slept that God spoke to him and told him he had to help heal the sick. Tales of his miraculous healings abound within the Hispanic community, and so I told my husband we absolutely had to stop.

So we visited the shrine and a sweet lady helped me pick the perfect candle, la vela de Santa Lucia—for personal elucidation. I lit my candle, gave thanks for this wonderful new writing career, and prayed for guidance and clarity as I embark on this path. That’s when it happened: I received a visit from a most unexpected guest.

It occurred just as I was about to get back in my car, when my husband stopped me and said, “Be careful, you almost closed the door on that butterfly.” I looked at the door’s edge, and there she was, a lovely mariposa. Not just any mariposa, but a brown winged, dark-speckled, many-eyed mariposa. A visitor with a message to deliver.

The Aztecs believed that mariposas were the souls of their loved ones come back to visit them, to bring tidings of hope, and to reassure them that life, however brief, is beautiful. I firmly believe that mariposa was the spirit of my mother who came to remind me that she is with me on this journey, that her loving eyes are always upon me. That I have nothing to worry about because I am being taken care of—that she along with many others are “looking out” for me.

My lovely visitor crawled onto my hand, walked up my sleeve, and just sat there, splaying and displaying her brown, many-eyed wings, as I spoke to her. Some minutes later, she sat politely by while I pulled out my phone and took four close-ups of her. Then, when I thanked her for her unexpected, but much welcomed visit, she let go of the fabric of my jacket and just flew away—reminding me that life is an adventure and I should spread my wings and brave the wind with courage and conviction as I rejoice in the abundance of my blessings.

Happy 10th Birthday PaperTigers!

I’ve been blessed to be a part of the PaperTigers’ team since December 2006 when I took on the role of Eventful World Coordinator just prior to the launch of the PaperTigers blog. As the years passed and PaperTigers continued to grow, evolve and expand (most noticeably with the launch of our Spirit of PaperTigers Book Sets and Outreach Program) my role within the  organization changed too. In 2010 I was offered the job of Associate Editor and since then have worked closely alongside our wonderful and very talented editor Marjorie Coughlan to produce PaperTigers’ three components: the website, the blog and the Outreach site .

I consider myself so lucky to be doing a job that I love in a field that I love! Children’s literature has always been my passion and during my years with PaperTigers I’ve not been the only one in my family to benefit from the pile of  books that just have to be read for work. (Insert a big smiley face here because really…how wonderful is it to have to read books!) When I started working at PaperTigers my children were in elementary school so naturally we focused a  lot of our reading time at home on children’s and junior books. However as PaperTigers and my kids grew I found myself developing more and more interest in Young Adult books. Now I have to say that although children’s picture books will always hold a very special place in my heart , Young Adult books tug strongly at my heart too!  So when it came time to do a Top 10 list for PaperTigers’ anniversary celebration, it only made sense for me to select my favorite Young Adult books. Drum roll please….in random order I present:

1.  Secret Keeper  by Mitali Perkins (Delacorte Press, 2009)

When her unemployed father leaves India to look for work in America, Asha, her mother and sister move in with family in Calcutta. When news comes that her father is accidentally killed in America and her family’s financial difficulties intensify, Asha makes a heartwrenching, secret decision that solves many problems and creates others.

2.  Borderline by Allan Stratton (Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2010)

When Sami catches his father in a lie, he gets suspicious as does the FBI who descend on his home, and Sami’s family (the only Muslims in the neighbourhood) becomes the center of an international terrorist investigation.

3. Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth (Hyperion Books for Children , 2008)

12-year-old Leela’s husband unexpectedly dies and custom requires her confinement at home for a year, “keeping corner.” Prohibited from ever remarrying, Leela faces a barren future: however, her brother has the courage to buck tradition and hire a tutor to educate her. This powerful and enchanting novel juxtaposes Leela’s journey to self-determination with the parallel struggle of her family and community to follow Gandhi on the road to independence from British rule.

4. I am a Taxi by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books, 2006)

12-year-old Diego is deep in the Bolivian jungle, working as a virtual slave in an illegal cocaine operation. As his situation becomes more and more dangerous, he knows he must take a terrible risk if he ever wants to see his family again. As well as being a great read, I am a Taxi  packs in a store of information about Bolivia and the exploitation of children in the drug-trade, and raises polemics about the growth of the coca plant.

5. Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai (Harper Collins, 2011)

During the Vietnam War  Hà and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, Hà discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family.

6. Karma by Cathy Ostlere

On October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi is gunned down by two Sikh bodyguards. The murder sparks riots in Delhi and for three days Sikh families are targeted and killed in retribution for the Prime Minister’s death. It is into this chaos that fifteen-year-old Maya and her Sikh father, Amar, arrive from their home in Canada. India’s political instability is the backdrop and catalyst for Maya’s awakening to the world. Karma is the story of how a young woman, straddling two cultures and enduring personal loss, learns forgiveness, acceptance and love.

7. Orchards by Holly Thompson

After a bullied classmate commits suicide, Kana Goldberg – a half-Japanese, half-Jewish American- is sent to her family’s home in Japan for the summer. Kana wasn’t the bully, not exactly, but she didn’t do anything to stop what happened, either. As Kana begins to process the pain and guilt she feels, news from home sends her world spinning out of orbit all over again.

8. Tall Story by Candy Gourlay (David Fickling Books, 2010)

Andi hasn’t seen her brother  for eight years and when he steps off the plane from the Philippines, she cannot believe her eyes. He’s tall. EIGHT FOOT TALL. But Bernardo is not what he seems. Bernardo is a hero, Bernardo works miracles, and Bernardo has an amazing story to tell. In a novel packed with quirkiness and humor, Gourlay explores a touching sibling relationship and the clash of two very different cultures.

9. Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall (Lee and Low Books, 2011)

As the oldest of eight siblings, Lupita is used to taking the lead—and staying busy behind the scenes to help keep everyone together. But when she discovers Mami has been diagnosed with cancer, Lupita is terrified by the possibility of losing her mother, the anchor of her close-knit Mexican American family. Suddenly Lupita must face a whole new set of challenges, with new roles to play, and no one is handing her the script.

10. Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan (Groundwood Books, 2009)

Set in war-torn Afghanistan, post-Taliban and just after the American invasion in 2001, Wanting Mor brings a ravaged landscape to life and portrays the effects of war on civilians caught up in conflict, especially on children. Based on a true story about a girl who ended up in one of the orphanages Rukhsana sponsors in Afghanistan through the royalties of her book The Roses in My Carpets.

Will you be at ALA in Anaheim? So will Guadalupe Garcia McCall, author of Summer of the Mariposas! Guadalupe will be there to celebrate her first book, Under the Mesquite, and its win of the Pura Belpre Author Award, but she’ll also be signing ARCs of Mariposas, so be sure to come by the booth. You can find the schedule on the Lee & Low blog.

Several of the contributors to Diverse Energies will also be at ALA, and though they don’t have a specific signing time, they will be dropping in to sign select copies of the book. Perhaps you might be the lucky one to win a copy in a drawing. And if you just want to read some awesome stories, signed or not, from Ursula K. Le Guin, Paolo Bacigalupi, Daniel H. Wilson, Cindy Pon, Malinda Lo, Greg van Eekhout, and more, make sure to stop by and take a look.

And whether or not you’re off to California this weekend, if you’re a reviewer or a librarian and on NetGalley (and if you’re one of those and NOT on NetGalley, check it out) our fall books are now available for you to request for review. Take a look!

Originally published at Stacy Whitman's Grimoire. You can comment here or there.

Long weekend ahead! I’m really looking forward to enjoying the freedom that I’ve inherited (remembering those who died in the Armed Services) by putting some final touches on my not-so-new-anymore apartment, like hanging pictures on the walls and getting that last set of curtains up. I should probably put the AC in as well. And finally see all those movies I’ve been meaning to see, like Avengers and Hunger Games. And all those manuscripts I’ve been meaning to read but haven’t gotten to yet. Not to mention published books.

I’m starting to exhaust myself just planning the weekend.

I also need to give the house a thorough spring cleaning because I’ve been fostering a kitten.Not that he’s gone yet—he still needs to find a home—but having three cats in this house is making the place stink, even when I’m vigilant. I’m sure there are things I can do to streamline the cleaning process while he’s here, but it’s going to mean some organizing over the long weekend.

At any rate, it occurred to me that I haven’t posted anything about this here, and that I should, just in case anyone is out there ready to give this little guy a forever home (and I’ll probably do the adoption through a local pet rescue just to be sure, perhaps Kitty Kind, to be sure the home he goes to is committed to him). Three cats is okay for temporary measures, but it’s just too much for this little apartment long term. Cute as the little guy is, I can’t commit to him  long-term—it’s not fair to the two I already have, and he needs someone who can.

Here’s the info I’m giving to the rescues as I try to figure out how to list him so that potential owners can find him (Petfinder doesn’t do classifieds anymore and Craigslist feels kind of sketchy for pets, but I could be wrong):

Name: Harlem (because that’s where he was found)

Age: 10-12 weeks

Found: at 7 or 8 weeks in a laundromat at 149th and Broadway in Harlem, where he was dirty and starving, probably abandoned by a human because he didn’t have fleas or other signs of having been on the streets all his life, though he did have a distended belly; he hadn’t eaten for long enough that it took him 3 days to poop after being given appropriate food and water. He is now healthy and happy after a vet visit in which he was tested and came out FeLV/FIV/Heartworm negative, and after antibiotics for his cold and some deworming.

Personality: Lively and hilarious, kind of mischievous! He loves to cuddle–though not when romping about the house, of course. He loves to dash from hiding place to hiding place so you can’t catch him, but he’ll come out for his favorite toy, the ball that runs around in a track. He’s just at that kitten age where he’s discovering all th

Check it out at The Open Book!

Originally published at Stacy Whitman's Grimoire. You can comment here or there.

Like dating, designing the right cover for a book can be a long, arduous process. Sometimes a cover gives off the wrong impression. Sometimes it’s too showy, sometimes it’s too dull. Sometimes a cover says all the right things, but lacks sincerity.

But sometimes, you find The One. And you just know.

That was the case with the cover of Summer of the Mariposas, coming this fall from our Tu Books imprint. Summer of the Mariposas, by Guadalupe Garcia McCall, is a YA retelling of The Odyssey set in Mexico. It follows Odilia and her sisters on their quest to return a dead man to his family (you can read an excerpt of the book here).

Because Guadalupe Garcia McCall is such a gorgeous writer (her first novel, Under the Mesquite, won the Pura Belpré Award and was a Morris Award Finalist) we wanted to find a gorgeous cover that would do justice to her work. Based on suggestions from the editor, Stacy Whitman, and Guadalupe herself, the designer came back with seven or eight different covers to start with. But when we saw this one, we knew it was perfect:

This cover is filled with small details that really capture the feeling of the story – the symbol in the sky, five stars for five sisters, the fantasy elements grounded by a very real-looking road. And yesterday the first ARCs came in, so now we can see what they look like in real life:

What do you think?

(Note: if you’ll be at ALA, we’ll be doing an ARC signing with Guadalupe Garcia McCall herself on Sunday morning at 10AM in booth #2436!)

4 Comments on Cover Reveal: Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall, last added: 5/27/2012

Under the Mesquite Guadalupe Garcia McCall

señorita

Mami said life would change
after I turned fifteen
when I became a señorita.
But señorita means different things
to different people.

For my friends Mireya and Sarita,
who turned fifteen last summer,
señorita means wearing lipstick,
which when I put it on
is sticky and messy,
like strawberry jam on my lips.

For Mami señorita means
making me try on high-heeled shoes
two inches high
and meant to break my neck.

For Mami's sisters, my tías
Maritza and Belén, who live in Mexico,
señorita means measuring me,
turning me this way and that
as they fit me for the floral dresses
they cheerfully stitch together
on their sewing machines.
For the aunts, señorita also means
insisting I wear pantyhose,
the cruel invention that makes
my thick, trunklike thighs
into bulging sausages.

When my tías are done dressing me up
like a big Mexican Barbie doll,
I look at myself in the mirror.
Mami stands behind me
as I pull at the starched
flowered fabric and argue
with Mami's reflection.

"Why do I have to wear this stuff/
This is your style, not mine!
I like jeans and tennis shoes.
Why can't I just dress
like a normal teenager?
En los Estados Unidos girls
don't dress up like muñecas."

Señoritas don't talk back
to their mothers," Mami warns.
When my aunts aren't looking,
she gives me a tiny pinch,
like a bee sting on the inside
of my upper arm. "Señoritas know
when to be quiet and let their
elders make the decisions."

For my father, señorita means
he has to be a guard dog
when boys are around.
According to my parents,
I won't be allowed to date
until I graduate from high school.

That's fine with me.
I have better things to do
than think about boys--
like prepare for my future.
I want to be the first one in our family
to earn a college degree.

For my sisters, señorita means
having someone to worship:
it is the wonder of
seeing their oldest sister
looking like Cinderella
on her way to the ball.

But for me, señorita means
melancolía: settling into sadness.
It is the end of wild laughter.
The end of chewing bubble gum
and giggling over nothing
with my friends at the movies, our feet up
on the backs of the theater seats.

Señorita is very boring
when we go to a fancy restaurant
decorated with Christmas lights
for the upcoming Posadas.
We sit properly, Papi, Mami,
and I, quietly celebrating
my fifteenth birthday
with due etiquette because
I'm trying my best
to be a good daughter and accept
the clipping of my wings,
the taming of my heart.

Being a señorita
is not as much fun
as I'd expected it to be.