New Releases by Monica Brown

Seven-year-old Lola Levine is fierce on the soccer field. She can do a slide tackle (although she''s not supposed to) and even likes gooey worms. Nothing scares Lola! That is, until she is auditioning in front of EVERYONE for her class play. After Lola is overcome with stage fright, she''s cast as Squirrel #2, a non-speaking part! Lola is more than a little disappointed, and she looks to her bubbe for advice and comfort. But on opening night, the curtain rises, and she finds herself smack in the middle of an exasperating turn of events. In this fun and heartfelt chapter book, can Lola give Squirrel #2 her own special stamp and make it a play to remember?

Lola Levine likes writing in her diario, sipping her mom''s cafe con leche, eating her dad''s matzo ball soup, and playing soccer with her team, the Orange Smoothies. So what if she doesn''t always fit in? Lola is fierce on the field, but when a soccer game during recess gets too competitive, she accidentally hurts her classmate Juan Gomez. Now everyone is calling her Mean Lola Levine! Lola feels terrible, but with the help of her family, her super best friend, Josh Blot, and a little "pencil power," she just might be able to turn it all around. In this first book in a series, young readers will be inspired by Lola''s big heart and creative spirit as she learns to navigate the second grade in true Lola style!

A Gabriel García Márquez lo conocen y lo admiran en todos los rincones del planeta. Ha escrito más de treinta libros que se han traducido a muchos idiomas. Sus maravillosas historias, que están llenas de personajes y lugares mágicos, le hicieron merecedor del Premio Nobel de Literatura en 1982. ''Gabo'', como lo llaman cariñosamente, nació en Colombia y creció rodeado de historias. Algunas las contaban sus abuelos. Otras, las escuchaba en el pueblo. Y su loro, Lorenzo el Magnífico, le contó otras tantas...

Ana loves stories. She often makes them up to help her little brother fall asleep. But in her small village there are only a few books and she has read them all. One morning, Ana wakes up to the clip-clop of hooves, and there before her, is the most wonderful sight: a traveling library resting on the backs of two burros‑all the books a little girl could dream of, with enough stories to encourage her to create one of her own. Inspired by the heroic efforts of real-life librarian Luis Soriano, award-winning picture book creators Monica Brown and John Parra introduce readers to the mobile library that journeys over mountains and through valleys to bring literacy and culture to rural Colombia, and to the children who wait for the BiblioBurro. A portion of the proceeds from sales of this book was donated to Luis Soriano''s BiblioBurro program.

In this vibrant bilingual picture book biography of musician Tito Puente, readers will dance along to the beat of this mambo king''s life. Tito Puente loved banging pots and pans as a child, but what he really dreamed of was having his own band one day. From Spanish Harlem to the Grammy Awards—and all the beats in between—this is the true life story of a boy whose passion for music turned him into the "King of Mambo." Award-winning author-illustrator duo Monica Brown and Rafael López bring the remarkable story of this talented legend to life in this Pura Belpré Honor Book. Supports the Common Core State Standards.

Marisol is turning eight, and it''s time to plan a birthday party that will be fabulous, marvelous, and divine. She also hopes that Abuelita, who lives far away in Peru, will be able to come to the celebration. At the party store, Marisol can''t decide what kind of party to have. Nothing seems right for soccer, pirate, princess, unicorn-loving Marisol. Finally she comes up with just the right idea, and when her friends arrive for her Clash Bash birthday, a big surprise awaits. But in a heartwarming turn of events, Marisol gets the biggest surprise of all--a visit from Abuelita via computer. In this delightful story told in English and Spanish, author Monica Brown and illustrator Sara Palacios once again bring the irrepressible Marisol McDonald to life. With her bright red hair, golden brown skin, mismatched outfits, and endearing individuality, this free-spirited Peruvian-Scottish-American girl is headed straight into the hearts of young readers everywhere.

Una artista peruana, escocesa-estadounidense-jugadora de fútbol creativa, única y bilingüe celebra su singularidad.

La 4ème de couv. indique : "Un conte émouvant hommage à Luis Soriano Bohorquez, bibliothécaire bénévole qui, depuis plus de vingt ans, arpente les montagnes de Colombie pour partager ses livres avec les enfants !"

Every day, thousands of farmworkers harvested the food that ended up on kitchen tables all over the country. But at the end of the day, when the workers sat down to eat, there were only beans on their own tables. Then Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez teamed up. Together they motivated the workers to fight for their rights and, in the process, changed history. Award-winning author Monica Brown and acclaimed illustrator Joe Cepeda join together to create this stunning tribute to two of the most influential people of the twentieth century. Todos los dÍas, miles de campesinos cosechaban los alimentos que se servÍan en los hogares de todo el paÍs. Pero al terminar la jornada, cuando los campesinos se sentaban a comer, lo Único que habÍa en sus propias mesas era frijoles. Entonces, Dolores Huerta y CÉsar ChÁvez se unieron para motivar a los trabajadores a luchar por sus derechos y en el proceso, cambiaron el curso de la historia. La premiada autora Monica Brown y el aclamado ilustrador Joe Cepeda se unen para crear Éste impresionante tributo a dos de las personas mÁs influentes del siglo veinte.

When Chavela blows a bubble with a strange new gum, she floats away to Mexico, where her great-grandfather once worked harvesting the tree sap that makes gum chewy.

While she and her classmates wait for the caterpillars they are raising to be transformed into Monarch butterflies, Julianita''s grandfather tells her about the annual migration of these butterflies to his hometown in Mexico.

This bilingual book allows young readers to enter Celia Cruz''s life as she becomes a well-known singer in her homeland of Cuba, then moves to New York City and Miami where she and others create a new type of music called salsa. School Library Journal has named My Name is Celia “[a]n exuberant picture-book biography . . . a brilliant introduction to a significant woman and her music.”

Explores how Latino gang culture mirrors the most destructive aspects of the American Dream through a look at novels and memoirs "There''s a place for us / Somewhere a place for us." With the emergence of a rich body of literature chronicling the experiences of Latino and Latina gang members, popular understanding of this outlaw culture has advanced far beyond West Side Story. However, the diverse works discussed in this important book--ranging from the breakthrough 1967 memoir Down These Mean Streets and the crime novel Carlito''s Way to the play Zoot Suit and the World War II-era historical novel Don''t Spit on My Corner, to more recent works such as Always Running/La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. and Chicana gang narratives like Locas and Two Badges--all share with the award-winning musical a crucial discourse on nationality, citizenship, and belonging. In Gang Nation, Monica Brown offers a sophisticated analysis of these narratives produced by former gang members and by "outside" observers writing within the Latino community. She examines the ubiquity of language and behavior within this literature that reveal the frustrated longings within gangs for greater participation in America''s national culture and the desire of members to craft an alternative environment in which they are welcome. Through literature and memoirs written from within the culture, Brown illustrates how these youth mimic the rhetoric and rituals of American nationalism''s most destructive aspects--intense territoriality, justification of violence, and cultural chauvinism--to assert their citizenship in an alternative nation. Before now, studies of gang culture have centered on either the choices of individual members or the social forces that inspire their unfocused rage. But through Latino and Chicano gang literature, Brown provides a more nuanced portrait of that culture, one that raises broader concerns about dominant nationalism, civil rights, the criminalization of urban youth of color, and the often unfulfilled sense of communal identity and acceptance among American youth.

A bilingual portrait of the Queen of Salsa describes her childhood in Cuba, her musical career, and her move to the United States, and explains how her music brought her native Cuba to the world.

Describes how Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez worked together to motivate migrant farm workers to fight for their rights.