Benjamin Alire Sáenz

"Summer arrived gently, carrying a blue and cloudless sky, making it a perfect season for dreaming." So begins the story of Octavio Rivera's strange dreams of falling guitars and turtles that he shares only with his granddaughter. The compelling paintings of Esau Andrade Valencia, said to follow in Diego Rivera's footsteps, capture the fantastic nature of the dreams. Bilingual text.

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship — one through which they will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

Aristotle and Dante must discover what it means to stay in love and build a relationship in a world that seems to challenge their very existence. Ari has spent all of high school burying who he really is, staying silent and invisible. He expected his senior year to be the same. But something in him cracked open when he fell in love with Dante, and he can’t go back. Suddenly he finds himself reaching out to new friends, standing up to bullies of all kinds, and making his voice heard.

Product Description: On the surface, Ramiro Lopez and Jake Upthegrove couldn't live more different lives. Ram is Mexican-American, lives in the poor section of town, and is doing his best to keep his mother sane while his brother fights off a drug-induced coma. Jake is a WASP who drives a nice car, lives in a mansion, and has a mother who drinks a bit too much and a step-father who cheats on her. But there is one point, one issue, where their lives are exactly the same; their fathers walked out on them when they were just young boys.

This Hollywood is a barrio in 1968 New Mexico, where the students at Las Cruces High School struggle through heartbreak, loss, and an entrenched racial divide to find their place in the world.

When Gabriela and Diego ask for a dog, their parents tell them that they will have to share, which the siblings reluctantly accept…While teaching her a trick, the children discover the pup loves tortillas; soon she is known to the entire neighborhood for her gentleness, sweetness, and as the dog who loves tortillas. When Sofie gets sick, the children finally learn to share her. Full-page innovative and colorful clay illustrations will hold the attention of young readers. — School Library Journal