Críticas Magazine

Adriana V. Lopez

Hey, Everyday is Heritage Month at La Casa Azul
September 19, 2008

Currently, the much talked about La Casa Azul Bookstore is an online venture. But soon it plans to open into a real live bookstore in the heart of East Harlem offering new and used books in English and Spanish. Behind such an idealistic dream in such gloomy times for books (see today’s NYTimes article about the Herculean feat for a new Fort Greene bookstore), is the cheery and spirited Aurora Anaya Cerda. A book lover and community activist, she graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor’s degree in History and Chicana/o Studies and was awarded the Juanita Centeno Leadership Award and the UCLA Women for Change Leadership Award. Aurora recently received a scholarship from the New Start Fund, awarded to women entrepreneurs in New York City. We can’t wait for La Casa Azul to open. I’ll keep you updated and for more info on the store or to sign up to their newsletter visit their website here.

 
And hey, it's always Hispanic Heritiage Month at La Casa Azul Bookstore, but here’s their picks for your local celebrations:

 

Everything You Need to Know About Latino History: 2008 Edition
Provides an overview of Latino culture and history, examining Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and other groups, and discusses such topics as immigration, politics, and social, cultural, and economic trends.

 
Harvest of Empire : A History of Latinos in America
by Juan Gonzalez
A noted Hispanic journalist sheds new light on the history of Latinos in America, ranging from the first sixteenth-century colonies in the New World through the 1998 presidential election, and offers close-up portraits of distinguished Americans of Hispanic descent who have played a key role in the ever-evolving face of American life

500 Years of Chicana Women's History/ Anos de Historia de las Chicanans
by Elizabeth "Betita" Martinez
Vivid, pictorial account of struggle and survival, resilience and achievement. The bilingual text, along with hundreds of photos and other images, ranges from female-centered stories of pre-Columbian Mexico to profiles of contemporary social justice activists, labor leaders, youth organizers, artists, and environmentalists, among others.

Growing Up Latino 
by Harold Augenbraum
Features the writing of Sandra Cisneros, Oscar Hijuelos, Rudolfo Anaya, Julia Alvarez, and others
 

From Bomba to Hip-Hop: Puerto Rican Culture and Latino Identity
by Juan Flores
Essential reading for understanding both national and panethnic issues that influence cultural expression and the construction of Puerto Rican identity in the US. Analyzes distinctiveness of Puerto Rican culture in New York in relation to that of other US Latino groups. 

 
And for the kids, Casa Azul's got: 

Cool Salsa
Editor Lori M. Carlson
In a critically acclaimed book of poems in English with Spanish translations, Sandra Cisneros, Luis J. Rodriguez, Gary Soto and thirty-three others explore the experiences of young Latino immigrants. Young adult.


Extraordinary Hispanic Americans
by Cesar Alegre
Presents the lives of some famous and accomplished Hispanic Americans, including Hernando de Soto, Tito Puente, William Carlos Williams, and Ellen Ochoa 

Posted by Adriana V. Lopez on September 19, 2008 | Comments (0)