Tag Archive | Mexico

BIG DIGS: Amazing Underground Constructions, by Kiko Sanchez (kids nonfiction picturebook)

Book cover of Big Digs: Amazing Underground Constructions, by Kiko Sanchez, translated by Marc Correa shows the White House at top, with tunnels, elevators, and several rooms in the earth beneath it.

Secret rooms,
tunnels, aqueducts –
deep below the surface!

The “Tunnel of Contents” shows a wide range of underground projects, each commanding a double-page spread in this oversized book.

From the ancient Gadara Aqueduct carrying water underground for 60 miles in 2nd century Jordan to 3D-printed habitats in caverns under the surface of Mars in the future, each project has a specific purpose.

Both the 3rd century Temple of the Feathered Serpent in Mexico and Quinta da Regaieira in early 1900s Portugal held secret ceremonial sites far below the surface.

The Seoul Subway system is the world’s largest, carrying 7 million people yearly on its 200 miles of underground tracks.

The Delaware Aqueduct carries water to New York City, while the Eastern Discharge Tunnel carries flooding rainwater away from Mexico City.

Some diagrams are so large that you need to turn the book sideways to see them, like the White House Bunker, and the Drummen Spiral where the road to a mountaintop spirals inside the mountain, leaving its trees and animals undisturbed.

By the way – did you know that the Chunnel carrying trains under the English Channel is actually 3 tunnels?

Look for this fascinating array of meticulously hand-drawn scenes with lots of facts and history at your local library https://search.worldcat.org/libraries or independent bookstore https://bookshop.org/ .

How far underground have you gone?
**kmm

Book info: Big Digs: Amazing Underground Constructions / Kiko Sanchez; translated by Marc Correa. Helvetiq, 2026. [author/illustrator https://www.tormentalibros.com/en/illustrators/kiko-sanchez] [publisher site https://helvetiq.com/us/big-digs] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher, via Publisher Spotlight.

Bedtime reading, if you dare… NIGHT STORIES: FOLKTALES FROM LATIN AMERICA, by Liniers (Graphic Novel)

Book cover of Night Stories: Folktales from Latin America, shows a brother and sister in their bunk bed flying across the night sky above roads, trees, and hills, with author name Liniers and introduction by David Bowles below them.

Danger on the river,
in the town,
on the pampas!

One night in their bunk beds, a brother and sister are telling each other scary stories from folktales they’ve heard.

There’s the one about the mermaid and the pink dolphin in the Amazon River – that’s Iara, Mother of the water.

And beware the Witch-Owl of the Mexico borderlands – when this bruja calls your name, you know that your death is near!

On the pampas grasslands of South America, the Evil Light threatens to steal travelers’ souls – is it the gates of Hell opening a crack?

“As you read these stories, you will get at thrill from them. You might feel scared. But I hope you will keep in mind all the layers of meaning they contain,” says writer David Bowles in the heavily researched introduction “Why We Tell Tales” (pg. 6).

More about each folktale is found in the notes at the end of this entertaining and chilling graphic novel. Available in Spanish as Cuentos de noche: Relatos de Latinoamérica.

What’s your favorite folktale from the Western Hemisphere?
**kmm

Book info: Night Stories: Folktales from Latin America / Liniers; introduction by David Bowles. Toon Graphic, 2024. [about the author/artist https://www.lambiek.net/artists/l/liniers.htm] [publisher site https://www.toon-books.com/store/p330/Night_Stories%3A_Folktales_from_Latin_America_by_Liniers.html ] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher, via Publisher Spotlight.

T is THE TRAVELING TACO & origins of our favorite foods! by Mia Wenjen & Kimberlie Clinthorne-Wong (kids nonfiction) #A2Z

Clockwise around title of book The Traveling Taco: the Amazing & Surprising Journey of Many of Your Favorite Foods, by Mia Wenjen: a  huge ice cream cone, shaped pasta, French fries, juice, onion, spaghetti twirled on a fork, fish, pomegranate half, taco, olives, ginger, and shrimp.

We love it!
Let’s eat it!
It came from where?

Did you know that French fries didn’t originate in France, and cheesecake began in ancient Greece?

Find out about the roots of a dozen favorite foods and how cooks adapted them to new places using the ingredients and methods available there.

Learn the fascinating histories of fish and chips, jerk chicken, pizza, pasta, and more.

Each favorite food’s double-page spread includes what it is, where it came from, a “did you know?” fact, a rhyme, and how it changed in its new place.

“Recipes are crafted to delight and to nourish.
When a recipe travels, new minds help it flourish.
Popular foods can evolve over time.
Cooks add small changes that make them sublime.” (preface)

Kids of all ages will learn something new about a popular food in this yummy book (I did)!

What’s your favorite food?
**kmm

Book info: The Traveling Taco: the Amazing & Surprising Journey of Many of Your Favorite Foods / Mia Wenjen; illustrated by Kimberlie Clinthorpe-Wong. Red Comet Press, 2025. [author site https://miawenjen.com/the-traveling-taco/] [illustrator site https://www.kimberliewong.com/] [publisher site https://www.redcometpress.com/nonfiction/taco] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher, via Publisher Spotlight.

B is for BORN READING: 20 Stories of Women Reading Their Way Into History, by Kathleen Krull & Virginia Loh-Hagan (MG book review) #A2Z

book cover of Born Reading: 20 Stories of Women Reading Their Way Into History, byKathleen Krull & Virginia Loh-Hagan; illustrated by Aura Lewis. Paula Wiseman Books | recommended on BooksYALove.com

The skill of reading hasn’t always been taught to girls or encouraged for women, but that didn’t stop those determined to learn!

Meet Wu Zeitan, the first and only woman emperor of China, who promoted reading and education, published books on farming and government, wrote poetry, and created new Chinese written characters.

Get to know E. Pauline Johnson, an Indigenous Canadian poet and performer who was able to lecture and write about her Mohawk and White heritage in the late 1800s when few Indigenous or native voices reached such wide audiences.

Patsy Takemoto Mink didn’t let prejudice against Japanese Americans after World War II stop her from continuing her education, becoming a lawyer, then going into politics to change policies that discriminated against women and people of color. In Congress, she championed Title IX to end gender discrimination in higher education.

You’ll discover more about the reading lives of historical figures Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth I, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Phillis Wheatley Pierce, Chien-Shiung Wu, Indira Gandhi, Shirley Chisholm, and Audre Lorde in this book.

Contemporary women readers chronicled include Temple Grandin, Sally Ride, Oprah Winfrey, Sonia Sotomayor, Serena Williams, Taylor Swift, Mala Yousafzai, Amanda Gorman, and Marley Diaz.

The 20 profiles are followed by sections on Feminist Fun Facts, more Girls with Books, activities to keep you reading, how to access free books, organizations that help girls and children read, and an extensive resource list.

Prolific author Kathleen Krull died in 2021, leaving behind a handful of profiles in the manuscript for this book which was further researched and completed by author and long-time friend Dr. Virginia Loh-Hagan.

Kathleen said “Once books change their brains, girls change history.” (page 1)
How will you read your way into history?
**kmm

Book info: Born Reading: 20 Stories of Women Reading Their Way Into History / written by Kathleen Krull & Virginia Loh-Hagan; illustrated by Aura Lewis. Paula Wiseman Books/ Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2023. [Loh-Hagan interview] [illustrator site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

CODEX BLACK: A FIRE AMONG CLOUDS – adventure, danger, evil arising! by Camilo Moncada Lozano (Graphic novel review)

book cover of Codex Black: A Fire Among Clouds, by Camilo Moncada Lozano; colored by Michi Desantiago. IDW Publishing| recommended on BooksYALove.com

Now he can use his crow powers!
Now she can search for her father!
Now they are hunted by thieves and gods!

A new alliance of three city-states seeks to conquer all of Mesoamerica in the 1400s, as does an evil being conjured from the depths of darkness!

At age 15, stubborn Donaji leaves their Zapotec village to find her father who vanished on a trading journey years ago. Her poncho is the earthly abode of Chicahualizteotl, god of Fortitude, adding to her bravery.

Rookie warrior from Mexica, 17-year-old Itzcacalotl is separated from the Alliance expedition, follows crows to a high place, falls into a pit, and emerges days later wearing crows’ wings!

When their paths cross, the teens decide to travel together to the city where her father was last seen, before trying to reconnect with Itzcacalotl’s expedition.

Attacked by vicious gods on the trail! Few clues about her father in the city. A thief steals Donaji’s poncho!

But daring Citlamina wants more than some textiles – the 19-year-old seeks the Mexica caravan’s riches and a dark, dark secret place.

Can Donaji and Itzcacalotl continue searching for her father?
Are the gods on their side?
Will Citlamina truly unleash a great evil to break the world?

This graphic novel is an exciting journey with humans and gods trying to keep the young people from their goal!

What do you know of Mesoamerican legend and history?
**kmm

Book info: Codex Black: A Fire Among Clouds / Camilo Moncada Lozano; colored by Michi Desantiago. IDW Publishing, 2023. [author interview] [distributing publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

J is Jade and growing up and WHAT THE JAGUAR TOLD HER, by Alexandra V. Mendez (MG book review) #A2Z

book cover of What the Jaguar Told Her, by Alexandra V. Mendez. Published by Levine Querido | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Jade didn’t want to leave Chicago and her friends and her abuela, but Mom’s new job with TV news in Atlanta is a big deal.

Thankfully, the first person she meets at private school is Chloe who explains things and introduces her to other 8th graders.

Little sister Katerina favors their Mexican-American mom, while Jade got her blonde hair and freckles from Dad, the professional gardener.

Walking the woodland path home from school, Jade meets an old man who tells stories like Abuela, about the early people of Mexico. Itztli’s tales fuel Jade’s drawings, moving her beyond pencil and notebook paper to vivid colors and deepest shadows that reflect their history and drama.

Chloe encourages her to practice with the cross-country runners, and Jade is thrilled to qualify for the team! If only the young woman could be confident about flirting and wearing makeup like her friends…

When Abuela must come stay with them, Jade learns more of their family history, painting the stories like Itztli does. Did her grandmother see animals in the obsidian mirror like Mom did? What will Jade glimpse there now?

Did Itztli look like a jaguar when she first saw him?
Will she see Chloe’s cute big brother at the high school during cross-country practice?
Wait, Mom is on TV reporting from New York City, where planes just flew into the Twin Towers…

This novel of magical realism starts in 2001, yet goes far back into ancient history with Itztli’s vivid stories as strong as oak trees, as nourishing as corn.

What story from your family starts furthest from where you are now?
**kmm

Book info: What the Jaguar Told Her / Alexandra V. Mendez. Levine Querido, 2022. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Real life stories to read with your ears – free audiobooks!

Have you registered for your free Sora shelf here yet? That’s where the free AudioSYNC audiobooks will reside when you download them during their Thursday-Wednesday access weeks so you can listen anytime.

Did you know that these professionally produced audiobooks are checked out to your Sora shelf online for 99 years?!

I’ll highlight each new audiobook pair on Thursdays so you’ll have time to download them. If you miss any, check your local public library or independent bookstore.

Let’s hear real life stories this week:

CD cover of The Real Herge: The Inspiration Behind Tintin, by Sian Lye | Read by Simon Vance.  Published by Oasis Audio | recommended on BooksYALove.com

The Real Herge: The Inspiration Behind Tintin (free Sora download 5/26-6/1/22)
by Sian Lye | Read by Simon Vance
Published by Oasis Audio

Tintin and his faithful canine companion traveled the world in search of news and adventure in a long-running graphic novel series that has myriad fans today.

Intrepid boy reporter Tintin reflected some of his Belgian creator’s personal dreams and characteristics, as this well-narrated biography of Herge reveals.

https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/191573/the-real-herge-by-sian-lye-read-by-simon-vance/

divider clipart http://www.clipartpanda.com/clipart_images/mondays-throughout-the-day-17164159
CD cover of Someone Like Me: How One Undocumented Girl Fought for Her American Dream, by Julissa Arce | Read by Julissa Arce. Published by Hachette Audio | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Someone Like Me: How One Undocumented Girl Fought for Her American Dream (free Sora download 5/26-6/1/22)
by Julissa Arce | Read by Julissa Arce
Published by Hachette Audio

After spending her childhood in Mexico, Julissa joins her working parents in the US as a young teen. When her tourist visa expires, she remains to complete her education, ever fearful of deportation.

Stellar grades, great SAT scores – still so many barriers between her and university!

https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/186636/someone-like-me-by-julissa-arce-read-by-julissa-arce/

Whose life story do you want to listen to next?
**kmm

divider clipart http://www.clipartpanda.com/clipart_images/mondays-throughout-the-day-17164159

When home’s safety is an illusion, what next? Read tales of escape & danger … with your ears!

From home, they cross desert lands,
from desert to home,
siblings travel in fear and hope.

The destination and the journey may both prove dangerous for teens in this week’s free audiobooks from the summer AudioSYNC program.

Download by evening of 27 May 2020 via the links below, and you can read with your ears as long as you keep the files on your phone or tablet’s Sora app shelf.

CD oover of Sisters Matsumoto, by Philip Kan Gotanda. Read by Keiko Agena, June Angela, Ron Bottitta, Kurt Kanazawa, Suzy Nakamura, Greg Watanabe, Ryun Yu. Published by L.A. Theatre Works | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Sisters Matsumoto (download 21-27 May 2020)

by Philip Kan Gotanda. Read by Keiko Agena, June Angela, Ron Bottitta, Kurt Kanazawa, Suzy Nakamura, Greg Watanabe, Ryun Yu. Published by L.A. Theatre Works

Leaving prison camp in 1945, three Japanese-American sisters return to their California family farm, but find that everything has changed.

The young women are determined to realize their late parents’ dreams, even if the land is out of their hands.

This full-cast live performance is followed by an excellent discussion with former internee George Takei about US citizens “relocated” during World War II.

CD cover of Disappeared,  by Francisco X. Stork | Read by Roxana Ortega, Christian Barillas
Published by Scholastic Audio | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Disappeared (download 21-27 May 2020)

by Francisco X. Stork. Read by Roxana Ortega, Christian Barillas. Published by Scholastic Audio

Las Desaparecidas, the disappeared girls, now include Sara’s friend Linda so the young journalist writes and worries, knowing that powerful forces in Juarez are behind the kidnappings.

Sara’s brother Emiliano hopes that building a small business will impress the wealthy classmate he adores.

Soon, the criminals threaten Sara and Emiliano’s lives – is it time for them to brave the desert crossing to safety?

What difficult journeys in life have you traversed with the help of your family?
**kmm

X marks pivotal 1968: TODAY’S AUTHORS EXPLORE A YEAR OF REBELLION, REVOLUTION & CHANGE, edited by Marc Aronson & Susan Campbell Bartoletti (YA book review)

book cover of 1968: Today's Authors Explore a Year of Rebellion, Revolution & Change / edited by Marc Aronson & Susan Campbell Bartoletti. Candlewick Press | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Assassinations – dreams denied.
Protests and retaliation – hope swings forward, then back.
War in our living rooms – who can look away?

This collection of non-fiction essays and memoirs by stellar YA and middle grade authors does go chronologically through 1968, but is vivid and nuanced and anguished – no dry parade of factoids on a timeline!

In “The Death of the Dream,” Kekla Magoon recounts the assasinations of Dr. King and RFK, while Laban Carrick Hill remembers those same days as a young child in a very racist Southern family “On the Wrong Side of History.”

What do you know about the 1968 student riots in Paris and Mexico City?
– the small freedoms gained in Czechoslovakia during “Prague Spring” before the USSR Communist leaders cracked down?
– the protests against Columbia University’s attempt to build a gym by razing a black neighborhood?
– the Red Guard in China during the Cultural Revolution?

Police brutality against protesters in Chicago was viewed by 90 million people on live television in 1968, research on genetics and computing raced forward in laboratories, while the Olympics and Presidential election and space race dominated the headlines.

The authors relay their personal connection or outlook to the event they chronicle, with each quarter of the year headed by Elizabeth Partridge’s recap of the Nightly News including Vietnam war fatalities – military and civilian – night after night after night.

Be sure to read the contributors’ biographies at the end: Jennifer Anthony, Marc Aronson, Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Loree Griffin Burns, Omar Figueroas, Paul Fleischman, Laban Carrick Hill, Mark Kurlansky, Lenore Look, David Lubar, Kate MacMillan, Kekla Magoon, Jim Murphy, Elizabeth Partridge.

Get it today at your favorite indie bookstore for Independent Bookstore Day!

What historic moment during your lifetime would you write about?
**kmm

Book info: 1968: Today’s Authors Explore a Year of Rebellion, Revolution & Change / edited by Marc Aronson & Susan Campbell Bartoletti. Candlewick Press, 2018. [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico, by David Bowles (book review)

book cover of Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico, by David Bowles. Published by Cinco Puntos Press | recommended on BooksYALove.comGods walk the earth,
demigods arise, humans also,
in the lands we now call Mexico.

As a single narrative, this recounting of the traditional tales of creation and learning, good and evil, progress and conquest runs from the pre-dawn of the First Age through the rise of civilization with the Toltecs, Maya, and Aztecs to the coming of the Spanish whose swords and diseases killed so many and whose religion silenced these stories.

Encounter Aztec and Maya names that you might recognize, like Kukulkan and the ancient city of Chichen Itza, and many more whom you need to meet (some from as far away as possible, like god of war Huitzilopochtli).

Other mythic traditions we should pay more attention to?
**kmm

Book info: Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico / David Bowles. Cinco Puntos Press, 2018. [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: The myths threading through the ancestral memories of Mexico’s native peoples are brought together here in an entrancing narrative that spans the five ages.

World-shaking jealousy between bright-burning Heart of Sky and knowledge-bringing Feathered Serpent raged over millenia, the Hero Twins journeyed down into the lands of Death, the gods toyed with human kingdoms throughout time to turn peaceful allies into feuding neighbors – so many stories of loyalty and betrayal wind through the history of the place now called Mexico.

Discover the origin of the mosquito and spider monkey, learn how the Mixteca-Cloud People were born of river trees and challenged Lord Sun himself, wonder as eagle, wolf, and jaguar journey with Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl as willing sacrifices to the temple where his bloodthirsty uncles await.

Weaving together separate Toltec, Maya, and Aztec traditional tales with accents from Purepecha, Zapotec, and many more kingdoms, this deeply researched story-stream begins before humankind existed and ends with the near-erasure of the peoples of Mesoamerica by Spanish conquistadors.