Friends from the Other Side / Amigos del otro lado

By Gloria Anzaldúa, Consuelo Mendez
Paperback: $11.95

Having crossed the Rio Grande into Texas with his mother in search of a new life, Joaquín receives help and friendship from Prietita a brave young Mexican American girl.

Description

“Did you come from the other side? You know, from Mexico?” So begins the friendship between Prietita and Joaquín, the young boy who, with his mother, has crossed the Rio Grande River to Texas in search of a new life.

Prietita, a brave young Mexican American girl, defends Joaquín from the neighborhood kids who taunt him with shouts of “mojado” or “wetback.” But what can she do to protect Joaquín and his mother from the Border Patrol as the van cruises slowly up the street toward their hiding place?

Writer Gloria Anzaldúa is a major Mexican American literary voice. Illustrator Consuelo Méndez is a noted Latin American artist. Both grew up in South Texas. In this, their first collaboration, they have captured not only the hardship of daily life on the border, but also the beauty of the landscape and the dignity and generosity of spirit that the Mexican Americans and the Mexican immigrants share.

About the Creators

Gloria Anzaldúa

Gloria Anzaldúa was a major Mexican American/Chicana literary voice, scholar, and activist. Her first book for Children's Book Press, Friends from the Other Side/Amigos del otro lado, about a brave young girl's friendship with an immigrant boy and his mother, was praised by School Library Journal as "an important book touching on a timely and sensitive issue." She passed away in 2004.

Consuelo Mendez
Consuelo Mendez

Consuelo Méndez is a painter and artist from Caracas, Venezuela, whose work is widely exhibited in Latin America. She spent a large part of her growing up years in South Texas before coming to San Francisco to study art. She returned to South Texas in order to do research for this book, which she illustrated in watercolors, graphite and colored pencils, and collage. She has illustrated several books for children.

Paperback

  • ISBN 9780892391301
  • Publication Date Apr 01, 1993
  • Trim Size 9.5 × 8.5 in
  • Weight 0.3125 lbs
  • Page Count 32
  • Hardcover

  • ISBN 9780892391134
  • Publication Date Apr 01, 1993
  • Trim Size 10 × 9 × 0.5 in
  • Weight 0.4375 lbs
  • Interests

  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JUV / Social Themes / Emigration & Immigration
  • BISAC Category 2 JUV / People & Places / United States / Hispanic & Latino
  • BISAC Category 3 JUV / Social Themes / Prejudice & Racism
  • Themes Bilingual, Bullying, Childhood Experiences and Memories, Conflict resolution, Courage, Discrimination, Empathy / Compassion, Fiction, Friendship, Immigration, Kindness / Caring, Latinx / Latino / Hispanic, Overcoming Obstacles, People In Motion, Persistence / Grit, Poverty, Realistic Fiction, Respect / Citizenship, Responsibility, Social Justice & Activism, Tolerance / Acceptance
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 5 - 7
  • Grade Range Grades K - 2
  • Guided Reading P
  • ATOS Book Level 2.3
  • DRA 38
  • Lexile Level 640
  • Reading Level Grades 2 - 3
  • SRC 3.6
  • Bebop Reading Fluent
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