Red Hot Salsa

To be young and Latino.

To be young and American.

How do you keep your identity when you are torn between two or more cultures? As Raquel Valle Senties put it:

“My heart has no room for two countries as [my heart] has no room for two lovers.”

These are the stories of Mexican and Latin American teens, trying to figure out who they are. Told from the mouths of 28 influential Latino and Mexican American poets, whose poems were especially picked in a struggle to portray every aspect of bilingual life. Poems appear in both English and Spanish. In her translations, Carlson fuses the romance and passion of the Spanish language with the candidness of English. The result is vibrant flow of words, colored by well-known Spanish phrases and cognates. The poems are centered around five themes: language and identity, home, love, family, and victory. The resounding idea is the freedom that comes from a sense of cultural belonging.

In the words of Luis J. Rodriguez:

“Here you have a way. Here you can sing victory.”

Carlson, L.M. (Ed.). (2005). Red hot salsa: Bilingual poems on being young and Latino in The United States (L. M. Carlson., Trans.). New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Miss Crandall's School for Young Ladies and Misses of Color

A Notable Children’s Book!

This is a poetic account of the real life school in Canterbury, Connecticut told from multiple perspectives. This school stayed in operation despite racist persecution from 1833 to its forced closure in 1834. Can you imagine your students fighting to stay in school? Once they read this book, they’ll understand the true importance of an education and why a person would fight so hard to protect it.

This book is geared towards older students who are ready for an in depth look at racism and are mature enough to analyze and interpret more complex forms of poetry. It’s the perfect introduction to a high school unit on school segregation. Use this case study as a springboard to create a timeline of important schools, documents, and court cases, concerning school segregation.

Alexander, E. & Nelson, M. (2007). Miss Crandall's school for young ladies and misses of color. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong.