Books of the Month

Growing Up with Tamales/Los tamales de Ana by Gwendolyn Zepeda
As the younger sister, Ana is impatient to be able to do all the things that her big sister Lidia, who is two years older, can do, like mixing the cornmeal to make Christmas tamales at age six, spreading the dough on the corn husk leaves at age eight, filling and rolling the tamales at age ten, all the way to what she can do when she is eighteen and Lidia is twenty. Ana resolves that when she is 18, she will own her own tamale factory and big sister Lidia can come and work for her in the factory. This is a bilingual, multicultural family story about a young girl with big dreams.
Suggested age level: 4-8

Lay-Ups and Long Shots: An Anthology of Short Stories by Joseph Bruchac, et al
Purely fiction, these stories tell the tales of athletes in a variety of sports, including track, football, martial arts, Ping Pong, and dirt bike riding. The characters face obstacles to overcome such things as being overweight, being over-confident, and being impatient. Reluctant readers will enjoy these short pieces, each with a memorable character and a relatable problem.
Suggested age level: 9-13