NON-FICTION

Quinceanera by Elizabeth King was the children's book of the southwest that I chose to review. Before reading the book, I laid the book on the kitchen table next to my daughter's room. I wanted to see her reaction when she saw the book. Minutes later my daughter came to me with the book in her hand and asked if she was going to have a quinceanera. Her fifteenth birthday will be in September. Many young Hispanic girls look forward to the special day of their quinceanera. A book like this illustrates the most exciting moments in such an occasion.
The two stories told in this book have some similarities and differences, yet both elaborate on how special a fifteenth birthday is to a Hispanic female. The stories both tell how important the parents role is on this special day.
In the southwest quinceaneras are popular for the majority of the Hispanic females. They get together with their friends for practices and enjoy the big day together as well.The ceremony begins at the church, where this event is also a major celebration, thanking God for the life as a little girl that she has had and asking that she be taken care of now that she is a fully grown young lady.
This book presents the fairy tale event of a young girl's dream as they approach their fifteenth birthday.The stories are filled with warmth as the girls are accompanied by their families and the community.
This is a nice gift to give for a young girl approaching her 15th birthday.
Laura Kypuros

Watching Desert Wildlife
Watching Desert Wildlife by Jim Arnosky describes sights of what is encountered on a trip taken by him and his wife. Subtitles include "Spotting Desert Birds", where the author describes different desert birds found as well as gives a brief description of how they find water to survive. He writes about different snakes found in the Chihuahuan Desert. He tells the reader in "Coral Snakes and Rattlesnakes" and in "Non-venomous Snakes", of the dangers of poisonous snakes and that one should not get too close. He emphasizes that the best way to see snakes are through binoculars. As the couple search the grounds for snakes, they encounter lizards. He writes about different lizards and the best times of the day to look for them and where. He educates the reader about the only two venomous lizards in the world, which both are native to North America.In the book, we also visit "Desert Deer" and "Pronghorn".We learn of five different deer and how to identify them by hoof prints. "Birds of Prey" follows, along with a side note on how to tell what kind of bird is flying overhead by its silhouette.The book ends with "Desert Squirrels", whichbriefly describes the rock squirrel which is native to these parts,and "Hummingbirds".In "Hummingbirds", we learn how its bill looks when snapping up insects and when it sips nectar.
I think this is a good book for people of all ages to read simply because it describes and illustrates beautifully all that is seen.This book emphasizes the dangers as well as the great beauty in the desert even though it make look baron and bleak.The reader feels as if they too are on this adventurous trail with him.
Jim Arnosky

A LADY FOLLOWS: A Women of the West Novel by Holly Newman.Tom Doherty Associates, Inc. New York 10010, 1999.Fiction. Pp.382. $24.95 hard: acid-free paper, 0-9876-5432-1

This novel was splendid and very motivating.The title immediately draws attention to the question, "What is a lady to follow?" Immediately, as the story opens,it is noted that the woman the book is pertaining to is Caroline Harper, a pioneer woman who is about to take the challenges going West during the period that there is war between the United States and Mexico, 1846.Ms. Harper, a widow and a mourner, has found that her place is now to go towards New Mexico to take care of her cousins who are motherless and she feels are in need of her.She has lost her husband and son and feels useless and has a void that she is trying to fill.Her journey on the Sante Fe Trail brings so much history and action.Ms. Harper is an arrogant woman who wants things her way, butshe did run into many obstacles and one which includes a man, Gerard Gaspard, her guide who brings with him experience and much knowledge for the journey to be encountered.Little does Carolineknow what she is going to be facing and experiencing.She will not listen to anyone, except herself as she wants to reach New Mexico no matter what the outcomes are.Towards the conclusion, she understands what her destiny was and compared it to what others had in mind that were on the same trail.She realized the dangers she faced and also the dangers she imposed on the others that she had brought on the trail with her.Thenotes in her journal were beautifully written with details of so many events to include those of suffering, deaths, excitement,other's intentions of the war, and her success.
To conclude, what she did learn was that a journal in the wrong hands can be the loss of many to include her own life.
The author has done a lucid performance in first detailing the story and then providing muchdetails in retelling it by way of the journals.The author'swriting allows the reader to become so involved in the life experiences of those people who were moving West and the never ending challenges faced.How easily life could end if one was not careful.I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy challenges.
Dolores S. Flores

Desert Hummingbird Gardens: Creating Garden Habitat For Hummingbirds.Yoder, Sylvia.Throughout the Year. Paradise Valley, AZ: Real Estate Consulting and Education, Inc., 1999.
This is a non-fiction book.Looking at the title, it tells about a desert garden for hummingbirds.The cover is a photograph of a hummingbird feeding for a flower on a tree.The cover makes a person want to pick up the book and look inside it.The photographs are so colorful that it feels a person can step into the pictures.The photos are setup along with the information that goes with them.
Also the book has different sections, one section is did you know, it gives information about hummingbirds.Another section identifies and names different hummingbirds.The book as general landscape guidelines.It has pictures of tress, shrubs, perennials, vines, cacti and succulents along with information about them.It also has bloom charts.The book has further reading list about hummingbirds.This book will help you discover that a desert landscaped garden can provide a nourishing home for hummingbirds and a vibrant garden for you.
Lillian Kneip

Moving & Strage. Fagan, Kathy. Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Press, 1999.
This is a book of poems.The cover is wonderful with its colors and old picture on it.Print in the book is the right size to read on off-white paper.The color of the page makes the book easier to read.

From the first emblems of language - the angular letters of A and K - a child steps toward the preservation of consciousness, and, in turn, the paradox of preserving that which is lost.These beautifully crafted poems trace a journey to adulthood and grief with a lyrical mastery that is breathtaking.
It words are of unsparing rigor; its intelligence and vision continually spring forward in changed ways.These are poems both revealing and resistant: deeply felt, deeply communicative, yet avoid any easy lyricism.Again and again the reader pauses, astonished by some fresh turn of language, of insight, of terrain.The book offers extraordinary pleasure, clarities and depth.
Lillian Kneip

BEHIND THE MOUNTAINS. By Oliver La Farge (Charles Publishing: 1994). Non-Fiction, Pp. 181; paperback: $12.95.
This was not only a remarkable book to read, but one that Jon Pen La Farge has cherished, son of Oliver La Farge, which details events of his mother=s family and her family which originated from her childhood through the time of the Depression in Rociada, New Mexico.The traditions mentioned and carried throughout the story are just splendid. Behind the Mountains has themes around the fond memories Jon's mother had of where she came from and that his father wanted him to have.These memories are retold with so much energy and love that took place around the scenic mountain area which was a world of their own to the Baca family who were very prominent and well-known in this area.They were considered upper class and greatly respected.The author shares his stories with describing Consuelo Baca's roots and then as they age.There are hard times and these were evident as they describe them, but the understanding of family love and warmth is what enriches the words dictated.The common problems or factors of a large family and their livelihood makes it very special to analyze and appreciate.As the author notes about his wife Consuelo, "Each detail is jewels clear, complete in itself, and part of the pattern that is like a bird's eye view of time...." These words are astonishing and the way they are expressedin La Farge's writing is what creates such beauty and love of his wife, her family, and his son to hold on too forever.
I really feel that the author's way of delivering the story will fascinate many.I highly recommend this book.
Dolores S. Flores

AFRICAN AMERICAN ACHIEVERS: The Black Cowboys by Gina De Angelis.Chelsea House Publishers, Philadelphia, 1998.144pp. Bibliography and index.Hard 0-7910-2589-6.
The Black Cowboys is an in depth view of African Americans in the History of the West.It was very well written, with a lot of photos of yesteryear.It began with migrations by black slaves into the west before and during the civil war.From the trappers to the businessmen that came and settled the old west, there was always a struggle.These people not only dealt with the natural hardships but they also had to deal with prejudice and injustices from the white people.Many of these African American Heroes are not in our history books eventhough, they may have been more important than any others to the colonization of the west may.An excellent example of how these people were treated unjustly is the 1950 movie Tomahawk in which the white actor Jack Oakie played the role of the great black explorer James Beckwourth.Along with Beckwourth were several others such as Bass Reeves, who served 32 years as a U.S. Marshal, Ned Huddleston, better known as Isom Dart, who was a minor cattle rustler who once took a wounded sheriff to the doctor, and Bill Picket, a rodeo performer who had to disguise himself as a mexican bullfighter in order to compete in the rodeos.If one wanted to find out exactly how important the African Americans really are to the history of the west, The Black Cowboys would be an excellent and very accurate source of information.

Norberto Cardona

Happy Birthday, Josefina!: A Springtime Story by Valerie Tripp, illustrated by
Jean-Paul Tibbles, vignettes by Susan McAliley. 1st edition.Pleasant Company Publications, 8400 Fairway Place, P.O. Box 620998, Middletown, WI53562, 1998. 69 p. $5.95
soft 1-56247-587-8; 97-33218.

Valerie Tripp brings yet another story among her American Girls Collection.This book is the fourth in its series.Valerie Tripp delights audiences of all ages with her bilingual effort to bring the Mexican culture to life.This well-researched story includes historical information in the section of the book called "Peek into the Past." The book also contains a glossary of the Spanish words used throughout the story.This story is well-paced and the homely realistic illustrations enhance its loyalty to the Mexican culture. Josefina Montoya is a young girl living on a rancho in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1824. The Montoya family speaks Spanish.Josefina is approaching her tenth birthday and has always yearned to be a curandera (healer) like her godmother, Tia Magdalena. Tia Magdalena advises Josefina to wait until the time is right to know that she is a healer. Josefina participates in family and community activities throughout this chapter book. Josefina takes care of an orphaned baby goat, helps re-plaster the church, and has fun with her pueblo Indian friend, Mariana.One day while the girls are playing, Josefina is given the opportunity to prove her ability as a curandera, when her best friend, Mariana, gets bitten by a rattlesnake.Josefina remembers the globe mallow root that Tia Magdalena had given her. Without hesitation, she removes the root from her pouch, crushes it between two rocks, and spits on it to make it pasty.She presses the crushed root against Mariana's wound again and again.
Will this be Josefina's test to become a true curandera?Can she be a healer? Josefina's tenth birthday brings one of celebration and of second chances.
Judy Barros

Nuevo Tex-Mex: Festive New Recipes from Just North of the Border by David Garrido and Robb Walsh, foreword by Stephen Pyles, photographs by Manny Rodriguez.Chronicle Books, 85 Second Street, San Francisco, California 94105, 1998. kitchen notes, mail-order sources, bibliography, table of equivalents, index. 156 p. $19.95 soft. 0-8118-1612-5; 97-30796.
David Garrido and Rob Walsh take the idea of Tex-Mex cooking seriously.They use the finest of fresh ingredients to bring out the heartiest of flavors in their recipes. This brightly colored and well-created recipe book will keep you entertained in the kitchen for hours.And if you're not hungry when you purchase this book, just wait until you see the photographs!Your tummy will be waiting to be tantalized!
What an interesting and excellent way to start off a contagious collaboration of ideas (some that are sure to get you hooked); an introduction to the history and criticisms of Tex-Mex cuisine.
(Salud!...in other words Cheers!Mouth-watering beverages to cool off the thirstiest of thirsts start out these spellbinding recipes!There are margaritas for adult drinkers and flavored waters for kids in Chapter 1.
Whether dipping or topping your favorite taco, the salsas in Chapter 2 will tickle your taste buds or burn the back of your throat.Why not be brave and try a few?
Early to bed, yet late to rise? This breakfast/brunch menu will sure to please no matter what time you get your tired, achy body out of bed the next morning...Eggs to Ya in Chapter 3.
Soft versus Crunchy in Chapter 4 provides us with a choice of crispy tacos for the excitement in your life or soft tacos for the down-hearted...Let's Run for the Border!