To be young, female and Latina in the kaleidoscopic world of New York City is the reality Phyllis Tashlik captured in this multifaceted volume. The voices that speak through its pages are Las Mujeres Hispanas, a group of Latina teenagers at Manhattan East, a public alternative school in New York City’s El Barrio. They met throughout the course of a year to read and discuss their reactions to the works of renowned female Hispanic authors as well as the concerns born from their own identities. Individually and as a collectivity they went on to write poems, stories, essays and interviews with prominent Latinas. Hispanic, Female and Young: An Anthology, the result of these endeavors, is an anthology of both Las Mujeres’ creative efforts and the literature that inspired them. It combines the fresh perspectives of the younger women with those of such seasoned, prize-winning authors as Lorna Dee Cervantes, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Roberta Fernández, Nicholasa Mohr, Pat Mora and many more. The resulting intergenerational dialogue includes remembrances of family and childhood, the difficulties and joys of growing up bilingual and bicultural, and what it is like to deal with both racism and misogynism.
Hispanic, Female and Young will set milestones for young Latino audiences on their roads to self-discovery and for more mature readers in their nostalgic pilgrimage to the past. It is a celebration of youth and of America’s ethnic diversity.
Named to The New York Public Library’s 1995 Books for the Teen Age
Selected for the American Library Association’s Young Adult Library Services Association’s Quick Picks for Young Adults 1995
“The poems, stories, and essays in this anthology were written by eighth-grade girls, students in a New York City public school, who gathered in a class designed to introduce them to Hispanic women writers. Sharing their feelings and views of their lives, families, and ethnic heritage, the students responded to the writings of established writers—Nicholasa Mohr, Pat Mora, Judith Ortiz Cofer, and others—with writings of their own. The talented young writers who contributed to this anthology have much to tell their readers. While their work speaks directly to those who share their culture, like all good writing, this collection showcases works that both encompass and transcend ethnicity.”—Booklist
“This collection of poems, essays, and stories by both published and aspiring writers has been selected by Las Mujeres Hispanas, an eighth-grade elective class in Spanish Harlem (El Barrio) schools in New York City. The students searched for, read, and reviewed literature by Hispanic women and then chose examples that would appeal to YAs. They also include three interviews they conducted with women they admire—Ingrid Ramos, Olga Mendez, and Nicholasa Mohr. The stories are emotionally and mentally stimulating. Many will whet readers’ appetites for more works by the same or other Hispanic females…”—School Library Journal
PHYLLIS TASHLIK, the director of the Center for Inquiry in New York’s Performance Standards Consortium, divides her time between writing and editing.
ATOS Interest Level: Upper Grades
Category: Young Adult
