Reading in Spanglish

Weekend Roundup!

I have another article in the works, and a book or two I’m reading. In the meantime, I’m sitting here eating huevos con chorizo, tortillas de maiz, and my Nescafe (yay weekend!). Here’s some weekend reading to go with your breakfast:

Five Reasons to Stop Relaxing Your Daughter’s Hair :: via Latina magazine – My daughter has super curly (3c) hair, and it takes a lot of work to maintain those curls (maybe I’ll post a how-to?). At 3 years old she has already looked at her friends, and her dolls, and asked for “flat” hair. But she left that idea behind after we pointed out that her curly hair is sooo beautiful, people stop us everywhere to tell us how gorgeous it is and also to ask if it’s real. (What’s with the fake hair, people?)

Oscar Hijuelos novel to be published posthumously :: via Houston Chronicle – this will be published in fall 2015.

Lack of Latin@ characters addressed by San Diego author :: via KPBS San Diego – This story reports that less than 5 percent of children’s books feature African Americans, and EVEN LESS Latinos or other cultures. Check out this interview of Kevin Gerard, who self-published Diego’s Dragon, a fantasy featuring a Latino main character, and professor Phillip Serrato, regarding this lack of diversity. Sadly, the chart at the bottom shows that the number of diverse characters has only decreased in 2013.

Watch the trailer for Harvest of Empire: 

If you are interested in the history of the U.S. meddling in Latin America, read Empire’s Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism by Greg Grandin.