Villasenor, Victor. Walking stars.Arte Publico Press Arte Público Press, in Houston, Texas, is the largest US publisher of contemporary and recovered literature by US Hispanic authors. It publishes approximately 30 titles per year. Arte Público Press was founded in 1979 by its current director, Nicolás Kanellos, Ph.D. Dr. , Univ. of Houston. 202p. c1994. 1-55885-394-4. $10.95. JS The author, a novelist and lecturer, recounts family legends with which he grew from childhood to maturity within a Mexican immigrant family. Some of these stories are brief, based on his own memory of events, while others are longer and/or find their basis in stories handed down to him by one or the other of his parents. Topics addressed include how his dog foretold fore·told v. Past tense and past participle of foretell. the death of his brother; his mother's childhood witnessing of a neighbor giving birth; his father meeting up with La Bruja (the iconographic i·co·nog·ra·phy n. pl. i·co·nog·ra·phies 1. a. Pictorial illustration of a subject. b. The collected representations illustrating a subject. 2. witch of Latin American storytelling); and the family connection to Pancho Villa's revolutionary army. Villasenor's narrative style is colloquial col·lo·qui·al adj. 1. Characteristic of or appropriate to the spoken language or to writing that seeks the effect of speech; informal. 2. Relating to conversation; conversational. and engaging, giving the reader the sense of hearing these tales firsthand first·hand adj. Received from the original source: firsthand information. first . His characterizations of girls, indigenous peoples The term indigenous peoples has no universal, standard or fixed definition, but can be used about any ethnic group who inhabit the geographic region with which they have the earliest historical connection. , and soldiers are remarkably even-handed and sensitive. In addition to offering insights on border life during the span of the 20th century, the tales offer models for young writers who want to shape family stories of their own into written prose. This book also serves as an introduction to a Chicano author whose body of work includes novels (Macho!) and nonfiction (Jury: The People vs. Juan Corona). Francisca Goldsmith, Teen Svcs., Berkeley P.L., Berkeley, CA J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers. S--Recommended for senior high school students. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion