Last week I joined Melissa’s (Book Nut) new reading challenge focusing on multicultural reading, Expanding Horizons. The category I’ve chosen is books by Hispanic/Latin American authors, and I’ve finalized my pool of books. Because of my passion for children’s literature, I’ve included books for young people as well as for adults in my list of want-to-reads. The challenge commitment is to read 4 books from this category, but I may end up reading more than that, as you can see by the list of books I’m interested in! This challenge runs from January through April, 2008, and I can’t wait for it to start!
- 100 Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia)
- The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros (Dominican Republic/USA)
- My Invented Country, by Isabel Allende (Chile)
- The Gaucho Martin Fierro, by Jose Hernandez (Argentina)
- Where the Flame Trees Bloom, and Under the Royal Palms: A Childhood in Cuba, by Alma Flor Ada (Cuba)
- Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan (USA)
- Far Away and Long Ago: A Childhood in Argentina, by W. H. Hudson (Argentina)
- Tales Our Abuelitas Told: A Hispanic Folktale Collection, by F. Isabel Campoy and Alma Flor Ada
- Short Stories by Latin American Women: The Magic and the Real, edited by Celia Correas Zapata
A Fondness For Reading 
I love you list for this challenge! The only book I’ve actually read is 100 Years of Solitude (which I LOVED), but the others sound so wonderful too! The House on Mango Street was recommended to me before, and I just love the sound of that Hispanic Folktales collection. I really look forward to your reviews!
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Nymeth, I’ve gone ahead and ordered the Hispanic Folktales Collection because it looked so good. I thought of you and wondered if you had run into it in your reading. I’ll definitely let you know how I like it. I’m excited for this challenge to start!
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House on Mango Street is so good. I hope you enjoy that one. I want to join this challenge too but just not sure what to select yet. I think I may do all Hispanic authors too though.
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Great list, Robin! I’ve read a couple on you list and liked them… I can’t wait for the challenge to start, either. Less than a month… 🙂
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Bookgirl, I’m really excited about this challenge. These are almost all books or authors I’ve been interested for quite awhile, so it’s nice to be able to put together my own challenge for this challenge.
Hi Melissa, I really like the way you structured this challenge. It’s going to be great to see what categories people focus on and then read all the reviews. Looking forward to it!
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Hi Robin!
Seems like we all can’t wait for this challenge to start. I’m now waiting for the parcel of books to arrive, but apart from that I don’t know how to restrain myself from reading them 🙂
I’ve chosen the other version of the challenge, but your list is sooo tempting! Just like Nymeth, the only one I’ve read is 100 Years of Solitude, and it’s great… and Marquez is great.
(Too bad that Marcela Serrano hasn’t been translated into English yet, because her “So Long, Little Women” would be the book to suggest to anyone who is looking for an Hispanic novel/author…)
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Hi Francesca. I had never heard of Marcela Serrano, but after reading your note, I looked her up on my library’s web site. They have one of her books in English translation — Antigua and My Life Before– so I ordered it! She sounds like someone I would very much like to read! Thanks so much for the suggestion.
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I’ve noticed several of your recommendations are for Alma Flor Ada books. Alma Flor is my aunt, and I help sell her children’s books via http://www.delsolbooks.com if you like her writing.
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Hi Ray, How nice of you to visit my blog. Thanks for including the link–I’ll look closely at your Del Sol Books site and will also share it with my school librarian. I’ve been reading a number of different books by your aunt, and am soon going to write reviews of her lovely memoirs (Where the Flame Trees Bloom, and Under the Royal Palms). She’s a wonderful writer, and I’m so happy to discover her! Please give her my best regards, and tell her she has a new devoted reader!
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