LibGuides: Américas Award: Home

Américas Award

2020-2029

WINNERS

Beast Rider by Tony Johnston; María Elena Fontanot de Rhoads
Call Number: YA F JOH-T (Young adult fiction)
ISBN: 9781419733635
Publication Date: 2019-03-19
Between Us and Abuela : a family story from the border by Mitali Perkins; Sara Palacios (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy PER (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9780374303730
Publication Date: 2019-09-10
It's nearly Christmas in California. María and her little brother, Juan, are headed south to the border with Mexico to visit their grandmother. They are excited to celebrate Las Posadas with her, honoring Mary and Joseph's journey to the inn at Bethlehem. María has knitted Abuela a scarf, and Juan has drawn her a picture. But when Juan's gift won't fit through the tiny spaces in the border fence - barely big enough for little fingers to touch - María launches a cunning plan, using creativity and hope. Mitali Perkins's debut picture book offers the best kind of Christmas story - one of love, family, travel, and miracles - with simple language and abundant feeling, Pura Belpré Honor illustrator Sara Palacios illuminates the heart of this story with her sun-soaked vistas and warm, smiling faces of excited families. Here is the perfect tribute to how little gifts of love can span great distances.

FINALISTS (HONORABLE MENTION)

The Moon Within by Aida Salazar
Call Number: Juv F SAL (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9781338283372
Publication Date: 2019-02-26
Eleven-year-old (nearly twelve) Celi Rivera, who is a mix of Black-Puerto Rican-Mexican Indian is uncomfortable about her approaching period, and the changes that are happening to her body; she is horrified that her mother wants to hold a traditional public moon ceremony to celebrate the occasion--until she finds out that her best friend Magda is contemplating an even more profound change of life.

WINNERS

Digging for Words : José Alberto Gutiérrez and the library he built by Angela Burke Kunkel; Paola Escobar (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy B KUN (Easy biography)
ISBN: 9781984892638
Publication Date: 2020-09-08
In Bogotá, Columbia, young José eagerly anticipates Saturday, when he can visit the library started by José Alberto Gutiérrez, a garbage collector, and take a book home to enjoy all week. Includes note about Gutiérrez's life and Bogotá.
Rescatando Palabras (Digging for Words Spanish Edition) : José Gutiérrez y la biblioteca que creó by Kunkel, Angela Burke ; Paola Escobar (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy KUN (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780593181713
Publication Date: 2020-09-08
In Bogotá, Colombia, young José eagerly anticipates Saturday, when he can visit the library started by José Alberto Gutiérrez, a garbage collector, and take a book home to enjoy all week. Includes note about Gutiérrez's life and Bogotá.

Land of the Cranes by Aida Salazar
Call Number: Juv F SAL (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9781338343809
Publication Date: 2020-09-15
Nine-year-old Betita and her parents fled Mexico after her uncle was killed by the cartels, and settled in Los Angeles seeking political asylum and safety in what her father calls Aztlan, the land of the cranes; but now they have been swept up by the government's Immigration Customs Enforcement, her father deported back to Mexico, and Betita and her mother confined in a family detention camp--Betita finds heart in her imagination and the picture poems her father taught her, but each day threatens to further tear her family apart.

FINALISTS (HONORABLE MENTION)

If Dominican Were a Color by Sili Recio; Brianna McCarthy (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy REC (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9781534461796
Publication Date: 2020-09-22
Illustrations and easy-to-read text portray the Dominican Republic in all of its hues, from the cinnamon in cocoa to the blue black seen only in dreams.

WINNERS

Child of the Flower-Song People by Gloria Amescua; illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh
My Two Border Towns by David Bowles, illustrated by Erika Meza

Child of the Flower-Song People : Luz Jiménez, daughter of the Nahua by Gloria Amescua; Duncan Tonatiuh (Illustrator)
Call Number: Juv B JIM (Juvenile biography)
ISBN: 9781419740206
Publication Date: 2021-08-17
A fictionalized account of a Nahua woman who grew up in Mexico during the early 1900s, became a model for artists, worked with scholars to preserve Nahuatl language and stories, and was known as the "soul of Mexico.

HONORABLE MENTION TITLES

Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna by Alda P. Dobbs
Niños: poems for the lost children of Chile by María José Ferrada; illustrated by María Elena Valdez
The Last Cuentista by Donna Barbara Higuera

Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna by Alda Dobbs
Call Number: Juv F DOB (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9781728234656
Publication Date: 2021-09-14
Based on a true story, the tale of one girl's perilous journey to cross the U.S. border and lead her family to safety during the Mexican Revolution.
Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna [E-Book] by Alda P. Dobbs
Call Number: Juv F DOB Ebook (OverDrive)
ISBN: 9781728234663
Publication Date: 2021

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The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
Call Number: Juv F HIG (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9781646140893
Publication Date: 2021-10-12
A girl named Petra Pena, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra's world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children - among them Petra and her family - have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet - and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity's past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard - or purged them altogether. Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again?

WINNERS

Growing an Artist : the story of a landscaper and his son by John Parra

Isla to Island by Alexis Castellanos

Growing an Artist : the story of a landscaper and his son by John Parra (Illustrator)
Call Number: EASY PAR
ISBN: 9781534469273
Publication Date: 2022-05-10
Today Juanito is accompanying his father who is in the landscaping business, and he takes his sketchbook along to draw anything that catches his eye, and gets to help his father plan an entire garden--and then help plant it. Includes an autobiographical note.

HONORABLE MENTION

¡Ándale, Prieta! by Yasmín Ramírez
Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo
Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore

Miss Quinces: a Graphic Novel by Kat Fajardo (Illustrator)
Call Number: JUV G FAJ (Juvenile graphic books)
ISBN: 9781338535587
Publication Date: 2022-05-03
Sue just wants to spend the summer reading and making comics at sleepaway camp with her friends, but instead she gets stuck going to Honduras to visit relatives with her parents and two sisters. They live way out in the country, which means no texting, no cable, and no Internet! The trip takes a turn for the worse when Sue's mother announces that they'll be having a surprise quinceañera for Sue, which is the last thing she wants. She can't imagine wearing a big, floofy, colorful dress! What is Sue going to do? And how will she survive all this "quality" time with her rambunctious family?

COMMENDED TITLES OWNED BY THE LIBRARY

Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega
Roberto Clemente by Claudia Romo Edelman and Sara E. Echenique
Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzalez
Still Dreaming = Seguimos soñando by Glaudia Guadalupe Martinez; translated by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite
Tumble by Celia C. Pérez
Where Wonder Grows by Xelena González

Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega; Rose Bousamra (Illustrator)
Call Number: JUV G ORT (Juvenile graphic books)
ISBN: 9781250259622
Publication Date: 2022-10-18
Marlene loves three things: books, Her cool Tía Ruby and hanging out with her best friend Camila. But according to her mother, Paola, the only thing she needs to focus on is school and "growing up." That means straightening her hair every weekend so she could have "presentable good hair." But Marlene hates being in the salon and doesn't understand why her curls are not considered pretty by those around her. With a few hiccups, a dash of embarrassment, and the much-needed help of Camila and Tía Ruby--she slowly starts a journey to learn to appreciate and proudly wear her curly hair.
Roberto Clemente (Hispanic star #1) by Claudia Romo Edelman; Sara E. Echenique; Manuel Gutierrez (Illustrator)
Call Number: JUV B CLE (Juvenile biography)
ISBN: 9781250828088
Publication Date: 2022-09-06
Meet Puerto Rican Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente-once just a kid from Carolina, Puerto Rico, who loved to play baseball on the streets of his hometown with friends and family. As a right fielder, Roberto played eighteen seasons with Major League Baseball, but his life was tragically cut short when a plane he chartered to bring earthquake relief supplies to Nicaragua crashed. The first Latin American player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Clemente paved the way for generations of Latinx athletes.
Invisible: a Graphic Novel (In English, Spanish) by Christina Diaz Gonzalez; Gabriela Epstein (Illustrator)
Call Number: JUV G GON (Juvenile graphic books)
ISBN: 9781338194555
Publication Date: 2022-08-02
Can five overlooked kids make one big difference? There's George: the brain, Sara: the loner, Dayara: the tough kid, Nico: the rich kid, and Miguel: the athlete. And they're stuck together when they're forced to complete their school's community service hours. Although they're sure they have nothing in common with one another, some people see them as all the same... just five Spanish-speaking kids. Then they meet someone who truly needs their help, and they must decide whether they are each willing to expose their own secrets to help... or if remaining invisible is the only way to survive middle school.
Still Dreaming = Seguimos Soñando (Spanish & English) by Claudia Guadalupe Martínez; Magdalena Mora (Illustrator)
Call Number: EASY MAR (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9780892394340
Publication Date: 2022-10-11
A child dreams of a life without borders after he and and his parents are forced to leave their home during the Mexican Repatriation.
Tumble by Celia C. Pérez
Call Number: JUV F PER (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9780593325179
Publication Date: 2022-08-16
Before she decides whether to accept her stepfather's proposal of adoption, twelve-year-old Adela Ramírez reaches out to her estranged biological father--who is in the midst of a career comeback as a luchador--and the eccentric extended family of wrestlers she has never met, bringing Adela closer to understanding the expansive definition of family.
Where Wonder Grows by Adriana M. Garcia (Illustrator); Xelena González
Call Number: EASY GON (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9781947627468
Publication Date: 2022-01-11
Three girls follow their grandmother into her garden, where they examine her collection of rocks, crystals, shells, and meteorites and learn about the marvels they reveal.

WINNERS

Mexikid written & illustrated by Pedro Martin
Saints of the Household by Ari Tison

Mexikid by Pedro. Martín (Illustrator)
Call Number: JUV B MAR (Juvenile biography)
ISBN: 9780593462287
Publication Date: 2023-08-01
Pedro Martin's grown up in the U.S. hearing stories about his legendary abuelito, but during a family road trip to Mexico, he connects with his grandfather and learns more about his own Mexican identity in this moving and hilarious graphic memoir.
Saints of the Household by Ari Tison
Call Number: YA F TIS-A (Young adult fiction)
ISBN: 9780374389499
Publication Date: 2023-03-28
When brothers Max and Jay help a classmate in trouble, they struggle with the consequences of their violent actions and worry they may be more like their abusive father than they thought, so the brothers turn to their Bribri roots to find their way forward.

FINALISTS

9 Kilometers = 9 Kilómetros by Claudio Aguilera
Brighter than the Sun by Daniel Aleman
Hispanic Star : Sylvia Rivera = Hispanic Star en español : Sylvia Rivera by Claudia Romo Edelman & J. Gia Loving ; illustrated by Cheyne Gallarde
Spanish is the Language of My Family = El español es la lengua de mi familia by Micahel Genhart ; illustrated by John Para

WINNERS

FINALISTS

9 Kilometers (Stories from Latin America (SLA)) by Claudio Aguilera; Gabriela Lyon (Illustrator); Lawrence Schimel (Translator)
Call Number: EASY AGU
ISBN: 9780802856005
Publication Date: 2023-02-28
As a young boy walks nine kilometers to school, he travels through the mountain and rain forest landscapes of southern Chile.
¡Ándale, Prieta! : a love letter to my family by Yasmín Ramírez
Call Number: JUV B RAM Y
ISBN: 9781947627550
Publication Date: 2022-04-19
A memoir by a Mexican American woman that doubles as a love letter to the tough grandmother who raised her.

WINNERS

FINALISTS

WINNERS

FINALISTS

WINNERS

FINALISTS

WINNERS

FINALISTS

2010-2019

WINNERS

Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez
Call Number: Juv F ALV (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9780606149549
Publication Date: 2010-09-14
After his family hires migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure, eleven-year-old Tyler befriends the oldest daughter, but when he discovers they may not be in the country legally, he realizes that real friendship knows no borders.
Return to sender [Streaming audiobook] by Julia Alvarez
Call Number: Juv F ALV Audiobk (OverDrive)
ISBN: 9780307707659
Publication Date: 2010
What can you do with a paleta? = ¿Qué Puedes Hacer con una Paleta? by Carmen Tafolla; Magaly Morales (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy TAF (Easy fiction) / Easy TAF SPA (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9781582462899
Publication Date: 2009-04-14
A celebration of the paleta, an icy fruit popsicle. In English and Spanish.

FINALISTS

WINNERS

Clemente! by Bryan Collier (Illustrator); Willie Perdomo
Call Number: Easy B CLE (Easy biography)
ISBN: 9781250073228
Publication Date: 2016-01-19
Born in Puerto Rico, Roberto Clemente was the first Latin American player inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Known not only for his exceptional baseball skills but also for his extensive charity work in Latin America, Clemente was well loved during his eighteen years of playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He died in a plane crash while bringing relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua, but his legacy and inspiration live on.

The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan; Peter Sís (Illustrator)
Call Number: Juv F RYA (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9780439269704
Publication Date: 2010-04-01
A fictionalized biography of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who grew up painfully shy, ridiculed by his father, but who became one of the most widely-read poets in the world.
The Dreamer [Streaming audiobook] by Pam Munoz Ryan
Call Number: Juv F RYA Audiobk (OverDrive)
ISBN: 9780545238847
Publication Date: 2010

FINALISTS

WINNERS

Hurricane Dancers : the first Caribbean pirate shipwreck by Margarita Engle
Call Number: Juv F ENG (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9780805092400
Publication Date: 2011-03-15
The story of the first pirates of the Caribbean, told in verse.
Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People (Bilingual Edition) by Monica Brown; Julie Paschkis (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy B NER (Easy biography)
ISBN: 9781250812520
Publication Date: 2022-04-05
Once there was a little boy named Neftalí who loved wild things wildly and quiet things quietly. From the moment he could talk, he surrounded himself with words. Neftalí discovered the magic between the pages of books. When he was sixteen, he began publishing his poems as Pablo Neruda. Pablo wrote poems about the things he loved―things made by his friends in the café, things found at the marketplace, and things he saw in nature. He wrote about the people of Chile and their stories of struggle. Because above all things and above all words, Pablo Neruda loved people.

FINALISTS

WINNERS

The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano
Call Number: Juv F MAN (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9780545325059
Publication Date: 2012-09-01
In 1969 Spanish Harlem, Evelyn tries to break free from her conservative Puerto Rican environment, but her activist grandmother & neighborhood protests complicate things.

FINALISTS

WINNERS

Parrots over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth (Illustrator); Cindy Trumbore
Call Number: Easy 598.7 ROT (Easy nonfiction)
ISBN: 9781620140048
Publication Date: 2013-10-20
A combined history of the Puerto Rican parrot and the island of Puerto Rico, highlighting current efforts to save the Puerto Rican parrot by protecting and managing this endangered species.

FINALISTS

WINNERS

Separate Is Never Equal : Sylvia Mendez & her family's fight for desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh
Call Number: Easy TON (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9781419710544
Publication Date: 2014-05-06
Years before the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez, an eight-year-old girl of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage, played an instrumental role in Mendez v. Westminster, the landmark desegregation case of 1946 in California.
Separate Is Never Equal [E-Book] by Duncan Tonatiuh
Call Number: Easy TON Ebook (OverDrive)
ISBN: 9781613126332
Publication Date: 2014-05-06

Silver People : voices from the Panama Canal by Margarita Engle
Call Number: YA F ENG-M (Young adult fiction)
ISBN: 9780544668706
Publication Date: 2016-03-29

FINALISTS

WINNERS

Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Call Number: Juv F RYA (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9780439874021
Publication Date: 2015-02-24
Lost in the Black Forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and finds himself entwined in a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica--and decades later three children, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California find themselves caught up in the same thread of destiny in the darkest days of the twentieth century, struggling to keep their families intact, and tied together by the music of the same harmonica.
Echo [Streaming audiobook] by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Call Number: Juv F RYA Audiobk (OverDrive)
ISBN: 9780545788373
Publication Date: 2015-02-24

Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez
Call Number: Juv Fiction PER (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9781467742023
Publication Date: 2015-09-01
Loosely based on a school explosion that took place in New London, Texas in 1937, this is the story of two teenagers: Naomi, who is Mexican, and Wash, who is black, and their dealings with race, segregation, love, and the forces that destroy people.
Out of Darkness [E-Book] by Ashley Hope Pérez
Call Number: Juv F PER Ebook (OverDrive)
ISBN: 9781467761796
Publication Date: 2015-09-01

FINALISTS (HONORABLE MENTION)

All the Way to Havana by Margarita Engle
Call Number: Easy ENG (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9781627796422
Publication Date: 2017-08-29
A boy helps his father keep their very old car running as they make a trip to Havana for his newborn cousin's zero-year birthday. Includes author's note about cars in Cuba.
The Distance Between Us : young readers edition by Reyna Grande
Call Number: Juv B GRA (Juvenile biography)
ISBN: 9781481463713
Publication Date: 2016-09-06
When her parents make the dangerous and illegal trek across the Mexican border in pursuit of the American dream, Reyna and her siblings are forced to live with their stern grandmother as they wait for their parents to build the foundation of a new life. But when things don't go quite as planned, Reyna finds herself preparing for her own journey to "El Otro Lado" to live with the man who has haunted her imagination for years: her long-absent father.
Growing up Pedro : how the Martinez Brothers made it from the Dominican Republic all the way to the... by Matt Tavares (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy B MAR (Easy biography)
ISBN: 9780763668242
Publication Date: 2015-02-10
Before Pedro Martínez pitched the Red Sox to a World Series championship, before he was named to the All-Star team eight times, before he won the Cy Young Award three times, he was a kid from a place called Manoguayabo in the Dominican Republic. Pedro loved baseball more than anything, and his older brother Ramón was the best pitcher he'd ever seen. He dreamed of the day he and his brother could play together in the major leagues. This is the story of how that dream came true.

WINNERS

The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz
Call Number: JUV F DIA (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9781481457507
Publication Date: 2016-10-04
Twelve-year-old Jaime makes the treacherous journey from his home in Guatemala to his older brother in New Mexico after his cousin is murdered by a drug cartel.
Ada's Violin : the story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hood; Sally Wern Comport (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy HO (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9781481430951
Publication Date: 2016-05-03
The extraordinary true tale of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay, an orchestra made up of children playing instruments built from recycled trash.

FINALISTS

WINNERS

American Street by Ibi Zoboi
Call Number: YA F ZOB-I Ebook (OverDrive)
ISBN: 9780062473066
Publication Date: 2017-02-14
In this stunning debut novel, Pushcart-nominated author Ibi Zoboi draws on her own experience as a young Haitian immigrant, infusing this lyrical exploration of America with magical realism and vodou culture. On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie—a good life. But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola’s mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit’s west side; a new school; and a surprising romance, all on her own. Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola soon realizes that freedom comes at a cost. Trapped at the crossroads of an impossible choice, will she pay the price for the American dream?
Danza! : Amalia Hernández and El Ballet Folklórico de México by Duncan Tonatiuh
Call Number: Easy B HER (Easy biography)
ISBN: 9781419725326
Publication Date: 2017-08-22
Award-winning author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh tells the story of Amalia Hernandez, dancer and founder of El Ballet Folklorico de Mexico. Published in time for the 100th anniversary of Hernandez's birth, Danza! is the first picture book about the famous dancer and choreographer. Danza! is a celebration of Hernandez's life and of the rich history of dance in Mexico. As a child, Amalia always thought she would grow up to be a teacher, until she saw a performance of dancers in her town square. She was fascinated by the way the dancers twirled and swayed, and she knew that someday she would be a dancer, too. She began to study many different types of dance, including ballet and modern, under some of the best teachers in the world. Hernandez traveled throughout Mexico studying and learning regional dances. Soon she founded her own dance company, El Ballet Folklorico de Mexico, where she integrated her knowledge of ballet and modern dance with folkloric dances. The group began to perform all over the country and soon all over the world, becoming an international sensation that still tours today.

FINALISTS

WINNERS

Islandborn by Junot Díaz; Leo Espinosa (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy DIA (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9780735229860
Publication Date: 2018-03-13
Lola was just a baby when her family left the Island, so when she has to draw it for a school assignment, she asks her family, friends, and neighbors about their memories of her homeland ... and in the process, comes up with a new way of understanding her own heritage.
Undocumented : a worker's fight by Duncan Tonatiuh
Call Number: Juv 741.59 TON (Juvenile nonfiction)
ISBN: 9781419728549
Publication Date: 2018-08-07
Undocumented is the story of immigrant workers who have come to the United States without papers. Every day, these men and women join the work force and contribute positively to society. The story is told via the ancient Mixtec codex{u2014}accordion fold{u2014}format. Juan grew up in Mexico working in the fields to help provide for his family. Struggling for money, Juan crosses over into the United States and becomes an undocumented worker, living in a poor neighborhood, working hard to survive. Though he is able to get a job as a busboy at a restaurant, he is severely undercompensated{u2014}he receives less than half of the minimum wage! Risking his boss reporting him to the authorities for not having proper resident papers, Juan risks everything and stands up for himself and the rest of the community.

FINALISTS

2000-2009

WINNERS

The Color of My Words by Lynn Joseph
Call Number: Juv F JOS (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9780060282325
Publication Date: 2000-08-08
Life is difficult for Ana Rosa, a twelve-year-old would-bewriter living in a small village in the Dominican Republic.
The Composition by Antonio Skarmeta; Alfonso Ruano (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy SKA (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9780888995506
Publication Date: 2003-01-30
When a government official comes into a third grade classroom and tells the students to write a composition entitled "What My Family Does at Night," Pedro must decide how he feels about the military dictatorship that is running his country.

FINALISTS

WINNERS

A Movie in My Pillow = Una Pelicula en Mi Almohada by Jorge Argueta; Elizabeth Gomez (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy ARG SPA (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9780892391653
Publication Date: 2001-01-24
Poems in Spanish and English describe the author's boyhood as a refugee from rural El Salvador living in San Francisco's Mission District, where he had to cope with a new language, a new culture, and a very different way of life.
Breaking Through by Francisco Jiménez
Call Number: J-Fiction JI (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9780618011735
Publication Date: 2001-08-27
Having come from Mexico to California ten years ago, fourteen-year-old Francisco is still working in the fields but fighting to improve his life and complete his education.

FINALISTS

WINNERS

Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
Call Number: YA F ALV-J (Young adult fiction)
ISBN: 9780375815447
Publication Date: 2002-08-13
In the early 1960s in the Dominican Republic, twelve-year-old Anita learns that her family is involved in the underground movement to end the bloody rule of the dictator, General Trujillo.
Before We Were Free [streaming audiobook] by Julia Alvarez
Call Number: YA F ALV-J Audiobk (OverDrive)
ISBN: 9780739344712
Publication Date: 2006

FINALISTS

WINNERS

Just a Minute! : a trickster tale and counting book by Yuyi Morales
Call Number: Easy MOR (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9780811837583
Publication Date: 2003-09-01
In this version of a traditional tale, Senor Calavera arrives at Grandma Beetle's door, ready to take her to the next life, but after helping her count, in English and Spanish, as she makes her birthday preparations, he changes his mind.
The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Call Number: Juf F COF (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9780807083871
Publication Date: 2004-03-30
La nina seria, the serious child. That's how Consuelo's mother has cast her pensive, book-loving daughter, while Consuelo's younger sister, Mili, is seen as vivacious, a ray of tropical sunshine. Two daughters: one dark, one light; one to offer comfort and consolation, the other to charm and delight. But something is not right in this Puerto Rican family. Coming of age when American influence threatens to dilute the island's traditional Spanish customs as well as to harm, perhaps irreparably, its fragile ecology, Consuelo watches her family and culture being torn asunder, much like the island itself.

FINALISTS

WINNERS

My Name Is Celia : the life of Celiz Cruz = Me llamo Celia : la vida de Celia Cruz by Monica Brown; Rafael López (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy B CRU (Easy biography)
ISBN: 9780873588720
Publication Date: 2004-10-30
A biography of Celia Cruz, the Cuban-born Queen of Salsa. In English and Spanish.

FINALISTS

WINNERS

Cinnamon Girl : letters found inside a cereal box by Juan Felipe Herrera
Call Number: YA F HER-JF (Young adult fiction)
ISBN: 9780062447593
Publication Date: 2016-02-23

FINALISTS

WINNERS

Josias, Hold the Book by Nicole Tadgell (Illustrator); Jennifer Riesmeyer Elvgren
Call Number: Easy ELV (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9781590783184
Publication Date: 2006-03-01
Each day Chrislove asks his friend Josias when he will "hold the book," or join them at school, but Josias can only think of tending the bean garden so that his family will have enough food.
The Poet Slave of Cuba : a biography of Juan Francisco Manzano by Margarita Engle; Sean Qualls (Illustrator)
Call Number: Juv 811.54 MAN (Juvenile nonfiction)
ISBN: 9780805077063
Publication Date: 2006-04-04
Juan Francisco Manzano spent his early years entertaining the friends of his owner's wife. His poetry was his outlet. Written in verse.

FINALISTS

WINNERS

Red Glass by Laura Resau
Call Number: Juv F RES (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9780385734660
Publication Date: 2007-09-11
A celebration of the paleta, an icy fruit popsicle. In English and Spanish.
Yum! Mmmm! Que Rico! : Americas' sproutings by Pat Mora; Rafael López (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy MOR (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 1584302712
Publication Date: 2007-10-01
From blueberries to vanilla, indigenous foods of the Americas are celebrated in this collection of haiku.

FINALISTS

WINNERS

Just in Case : a trickster tale and Spanish alphabet book by Yuyi Morales (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy MOR (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9781596433298
Publication Date: 2008-10-14
As Senor Calavera prepares for Grandma Beetle's birthday he finds an alphabetical assortment of unusual presents. Includes Spanish words.
The Surrender Tree : poems of Cuba's struggle for freedom by Margarita Engle
Call Number: Juv 811.54 ENG (Juvenile nonfiction)
ISBN: 9780805086744
Publication Date: 2008-04-01
Cuba has fought three wars for independence, and still she is not free. This history in verse creates a lyrical portrait of Cuba.

FINALISTS

1993-1999

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In My Family / En Mi Familia by Carmen Lomas Garza; David Schecter (Editor); Harriet Rohmer (Editor); Francisco X. Alarcón (Translator)
Call Number: Easy LOM
ISBN: 9780892391387
Publication Date: 2000-12-28
Lomas Garza's vibrant paintings and warm personal stories depict memories of growing up in the traditional Mexican-American community of her hometown of Kingsville, Texas.
Parrot in the Oven : mi vida : a novel by Victor Martinez (As told to)
Call Number: J-Fiction MA (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9780060267063
Publication Date: 1996-10-30
Manny relates his coming of age experiences as a member of a poor Mexican American family in which the alcoholic father only adds to everyone's struggle.

FINALISTS

WINNERS

The Circuit : stories from the life of a migrant child by Francisco Jiménez
Call Number: J-Fiction JI (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9780395979020
Publication Date: 1999-10-25
A collection of stories about life in a migrant farm family.

FINALISTS

WINNERS

CrashBoomLove : a novel in verse by Juan Felipe Herrera
Call Number: YA F HER-JF (Young adult fiction)
ISBN: 9780826321145
Publication Date: 1999-09-01
Mama and Papa Have a Store by Amelia Lau Carling
Call Number: Easy LAU (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9781620143087
Publication Date: 2016-10-01
A little girl describes what a day is like in her parents' Chinese store in Guatemala City.

Américas Award

2020-2029

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FINALISTS (HONORABLE MENTION)

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FINALISTS (HONORABLE MENTION)

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Child of the Flower-Song People by Gloria Amescua; illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh

My Two Border Towns by David Bowles, illustrated by Erika Meza

HONORABLE MENTION TITLES

Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna by Alda P. Dobbs

Niños: poems for the lost children of Chile by María José Ferrada; illustrated by María Elena Valdez

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barbara Higuera

WINNERS

Growing an Artist : the story of a landscaper and his son by John Parra

Isla to Island by Alexis Castellanos

HONORABLE MENTION

¡Ándale, Prieta! by Yasmín Ramírez

Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo

Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore

COMMENDED TITLES OWNED BY THE LIBRARY

Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega

Roberto Clemente by Claudia Romo Edelman and Sara E. Echenique

Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzalez

Still Dreaming = Seguimos soñando by Glaudia Guadalupe Martinez; translated by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite

Tumble by Celia C. Pérez

Where Wonder Grows by Xelena González

WINNERS

Mexikid written & illustrated by Pedro Martin

Saints of the Household by Ari Tison

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2010-2019

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FINALISTS (HONORABLE MENTION)

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2000-2009

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