Cool Salsa : Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States
Author(s):
Growing up Latino in America means speaking two languages, living two lives, learning the rules of two cultures. Cool Salsa celebrates the tones, rhythms, sounds, and experiences of that double life. Here are poems about families and parties, insults and sad memories, hot dogs and mangos, the sweet syllables of Spanish and the snag-toothed traps of English. Here is the glory—and pain—of being Latino American.
Latino Americans hail from Cuba and California, Mexico and Michigan, Nicaragua and New York, and editor Lori M. Carlson has made sure to capture all of those accents. With poets such as Sandra Cisneros, Martín Espada, Gary Soto, and Ed Vega, and a very personal introduction by Oscar Hijuelos, this collection encompasses the voices of Latino America. By selecting poems about the experiences of teenagers, Carlson has given a focus to that rich diversity; by presenting the poems both in their original language and in translation, she has made them available to us all.
As you move from memories of red wagons to dreams of orange trees to fights with street gangs, you feel Cool Salsa's musical and emotional cross rhythms. Here is a world of exciting poetry for you, y tú también.
Review(s):
“This spirited, significant collection of poetry for young adults by poets of Latin American heritage is enlivened both by the considerable energy of the poems and by the juxtaposition--and sometimes intermingling--of English and Spanish. ... The collection is eminently successful in celebrating the particular experience of growing up Latino in the United States.” —The Horn Book, starred review
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, Long-listed School Library Best Books of the Year, American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Award, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Award (1994), Long-listed ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Commended Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, Commended (1994), Long-listed ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adults, Horn Book Magazine Fanfare List, Winner BCCB Blue Ribbon Award (1994), Long-listed Horn Book Magazine Fanfare List (1995), NCSS-CBC Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, American Library Association Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adults, American Library Association Quick Picks for Young Adults, Winner NCSS-CBC NotableTrade-Soc.Stdy
ISBN: 9781250016782