Mary Black receives a death bed request from her best friend, Diadema, to find a son that she gave up for adoption and let him know his mother "always loved him." Diadema is a fictionalized account of actual events, which came together in Paseo, a Texas border town. San Benito, across the U.S.-Mexico border, shares with Paseo centuries of history. Close by there is a set of small, strange volcanic rock mountains, an ancient archeological site that also reminds Paseos of a deeper, mystically past. Mary leaves the Midwest and finds her way to Paseo where she meets Carlos Alvarado who embodies the many historical contrasts of the city. Carlos is obsessed about his Mexican Native heritage, frustrated with what he considers the colonized reality of the present, and haunted by his past involvement with the American Indian Movement, he unwittingly leads Mary into labyrinth of mystery and intrigue. Their search intertwines with a theft of ancient skeletal remains from the local university museum, an L.A. medical examiner, and a Harvard anthropologist doing research at the sites. The mystery of Diadema's name and efforts to find her son blend into the mythology of the Virgen of Guadalupe to give an insightful look at the underground Indian traditions that still permeate Mexican American culture. "The spiritual path is a search for authenticity. From Mexican American, to Chicano and finally, Native American, the author of DIADEMA presents the steps one takes in traveling on this path that all of us must travel in our search for true meaning of who we are. Carlos Aceves paints a fascinating picture of a Southwest City (which we all know), a spiritual search for identity, the indigenous cultures ofthe area and a cast of characters who represent the people inhabiting this area." Pete T. Duarte, Former Professor at UTEP "A great story that brings to life the vibrant culture of a west Texas town." Mary Luckie, Educator. "Es una encantadora historia que dice realidades profundas del ser humano en forma tierna y mgica." Argelia Flores, teacher. Diadema truly reminded me of my childhood. In its, pages, I could almost hear my mother's voice once again speaking to me. It took me back to a very happy time of my life. Mara E. Saenz. Educator.
(source: Nielsen Book Data) 9780979645761 20160527

• Introduction / by Ilan Stavans
• Angie Luna
• A rock trying to be a stone
• Espíritu Santo
• Remembering possibilities
• The snake
• Time magician
• The abuelita
• The gardener
• The last tortilla
• Punching chickens
• Day of the dead
• My life in the city
• Acknowledgments.

"She asked me if I liked them. And what could I say? They were wonderful." From the very beginning of Sergio Troncoso's celebrated story "Angie Luna, " we know we are in the hands of a gifted storyteller. Born of Mexican immigrants, raised in El Paso, and now living in New York City, Troncoso has a rare knack for celebrating life. Writing in a straightforward, light-handed style reminiscent of Grace Paley and Raymond Carver, he spins charming tales that reflect his experiences in two worlds. Troncoso's El Paso is a normal town where common people who happen to be Mexican eat, sleep, fall in love, and undergo epiphanies just like everyone else. His tales are coming-of-age stories from the Mexican-American border, stories of the working class, stories of those coping with the trials of growing old in a rapidly changing society. He also explores New York with vignettes of life in the big city, capturing its loneliness and danger. Beginning with Troncoso's widely acclaimed story "Angie Luna, " the tale of a feverish love affair in which a young man rediscovers his Mexican heritage and learns how much love can hurt, these stories delve into the many dimensions of the human condition. We watch boys playing a game that begins innocently but takes a dangerous turn. We see an old Anglo woman befriending her Mexican gardener because both are lonely. We witness a man terrorized in his New York apartment, taking solace in memories of lost love. Two new stories will be welcomed by Troncoso's readers. "My Life in the City" relates a transplanted Texan's yearning for companionship in New York, while "The Last Tortilla" returns to the Southwest to explore family strains after a mother's death--and the secret behind that death. Each reflects an insight about the human heart that has already established the author's work in literary circles. Troncoso sets aside the polemics about social discomfort sometimes found in contemporary Chicano writing and focuses instead on the moral and intellectual lives of his characters. The twelve stories gathered here form a richly textured tapestry that adds to our understanding of what it is to be human.
(source: Nielsen Book Data) 9780816519613 20180604

Once an independent nation, Texas has always been proud of its unique culture. The literature of the Lone Star State has long attracted local, regional, and national audiences and critics, yet the state's Mexican American voices have yet to receive the attention they deserve. "Hecho en Tejas" is a historic anthology that establishes the canon of Mexican American literature in Texas. With close to one hundred selections chosen, the book reaches back to the sixteenth-century exploration narrative of Texas' first Spanish-speaking writer, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. It features prose by Americo Paredes and Jovita Gonzalez, Rolando Hinojosa and Tomas Rivera, Estela Trambley Portillo, and Sandra Cisneros. Among the poets included in the anthology are Ricardo Sanchez, Carmen Tafolla, Angela de Hoyos, and Abelardo 'Lalo' Delgado. "Hecho en Tejas" also includes corridos from the turn of the century and verses sung by music legends such as Lydia Mendoza and Santiago Jimenez, Sr., Freddy Fender, and Selena. In addition to these established names, already known across the United States, "Hecho en Tejas" introduces such younger writers as Christine Granados, Erasmo Guerra, and Tonantzin Canestaro-Garcia, the famous Tejano authors of tomorrow. In assembling this canonic reader, Dagoberto Gilb has created more than an anthology. Read cover to cover, "Hecho en Tejas" becomes not only a literary showcase, but also a cultural and historical narrative both for those familiar with Texas Mexicans and for outsiders. "Hecho en Tejas" is a mosaic portrait of the community, the land and its history, its people's sorrows and joys, anger and humour and pride, what has been assimilated and what will not be.
(source: Nielsen Book Data) 9780826341259 20160528

The first comprehensive interpretation of the work of a major figure in Chicano literature, Klaus Zilles's study of the fourteen novels in Rolando Hinojosa's 'Klail City Death Trip' series will appeal equally to the specialist, to the student, and to the interested reader of Hinojosa's intriguing and innovative 'Tejano' novels. The series is dedicated to revealing the suppressed oral history of Mexican Texas and to making the reader a companion on a quest for this elusive history.
(source: Nielsen Book Data) 9780826322753 20160528

• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21
• Chapter 22
• Chapter 23
• Chapter 24
• Chapter 25
• Chapter 26
• Chapter 27
• Chapter 28 Epilogue.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

This literary adventure takes place in nineteenth-century Texas and follows the story of a Tejana lesbian cowgirl after the fall of the Alamo. Micaela Campos, the central character, witnesses the violence against Mexicans, African Americans, and indigenous peoples after the infamous battles of the Alamo and of San Jacinto, both in 1836. Resisting an easy opposition between good versus evil and brown versus white characters, the novel also features Micaela's Mexican-Anglo cousin who assists and hinders her progress. Micaela's travels give us a new portrayal of the American West, populated by people of mixed races who are vexed by the collision of cultures and politics. Ultimately, Micaela's journey and her romance with a black/American Indian woman teach her that there are no easy solutions to the injustices that birthed the Texas Republic. This novel is an intervention in queer history and fiction with its love story between two women of color in mid-nineteenth-century Texas. Perez also shows how a colonial past still haunts our nation's imagination. The battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto offered freedom and liberty to Texans, but what is often erased from the story is that common people who were Mexican, Indian, and Black did not necessarily benefit from the influx of so many Anglo immigrants to Texas. The social themes and identity issues that Perez explores - political climate, debates over immigration, and historical revision of the American West - are current today.
(source: Nielsen Book Data) 9780292721289 20160528

Canicula -- the dog days -- a particularly intense part of the summer when most cotton is harvested in South Texas. In Norma Cantu's fictionalized memoir of Laredo in the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s, it also represents a time between childhood and an as yet unknown adulthood. Actual snapshots and the author's re-created memories allow readers to experience the pivotal events of this world -- births, deaths, injuries, fiestas, rites of passage. This popular book won the 1995 Premio Aztlan and is now available in paperback for the first time.
(source: Nielsen Book Data) 9780826315922 20160527