Cuando era Puertorriqueña (When I was Puerto Rican) by Esmeralda

Recommended by: Wilma Feliciano, Professor of Spanish
Call Number: F128.9.P85 S2718 1994 (Spanish)

Call Number: F128.9.P85 S27 1994 (English)

The bittersweet coming-of age story of a girl trapped in a conflicted cultural identity: Is she black or white, rural or urban, Puerto Rican or American? The story begins on the island with family turmoil and tenderness in an idyllic setting dotted by economic distress, then moves to New York where the protagonist suffers a bewildering transition to American culture and loss of innocence.

El llano en llamas (The Burning Plain and Other Stories) by Juan Rulfo

Recommended by Wilma Feliciano, Professor of Spanish

Call Number:
In English: PQ7297.R89 L2613 1982

El llano en llamas (The Burning Plain and Other Stories) by Juan Rulfo, debunks the myth that the Mexican Revolution resulted in significant benefits for the lower classes. Rulfo lost his parents and family hacienda to wars in early 20th c Mexico, leaving him as orphaned and anguished as his characters. His work counterposes the promises of the Revolution to the doleful reality of peasant life in Mexico. A master of concise and lyrical expression, Rulfo’s characters define themselves by their painful prose in a style that infuses nature ( moon, wind, murmurs, land) with violence and poetry.

Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate)

Recommended by Wilma Feliciano, Professor of Spanish
Call Number: PQ7298.15.S638 C66 1993


Set during the Mexican Revolution, Tita, the protagonist, starts a revolution for women's rights from the kitchen, heart and soul of the family. Her culinary wizardry unleashes uncontrollable forces with a mix of magical realism and quixotic characters. Intoxicating flavors of fantastic lust, grief, jealousy and passion permeate this sensual fanciful, earthy and sublime story that decries the limited options open to Mexican women. Poignant conclusion: Tita breaks tradition for herself and future generations with an ironic weapon: dishes that are sensual, ancestral and explosive.

Bless Me Ultima / Bendíceme, última

Recommended by: Heather Whalen Smith, Librarian
Call Number: Stacks: PS3551.N27 B58 1972
Audio Book: Media/Audio: PS3551.N27 B58 2004c

In Spanish
Bendíceme, última
Call Number: Stacks: PS3551.N27 B5818 1994

Bless Me Ultima is the coming of age story of a six year old Chicano boy, Antonio Luna y Marez, growing up in New Mexico during and directly after World War II. The story starts with the arrival of Ultima, a curandera, to the Luna Marez household. Throughout the book, Antonio is faced with a number of tragedies, experiences the conflicting hopes of his parents and wrestles with issues of faith and doubt.