Edited by: Maria de la Luz Reyes
Publication Date: April 8, 2011
Pages: 192
Series: Language and Literacy Series
This engaging collection examines the personal narratives of a select group of well-respected educators who attained biliteracy at a young age in the era before bilingual education. Their autobiographical accounts celebrate and make visible a linguistic potential that has been largely ignored in schools and underscores the inextricable and emotional ties that Latinos have to Spanish. Teachers can glean important lessons about the individual potential of their Latino students from the lived experiences of successful Latinos whose life stories dispel the myth that Spanish is an obstacle to learning. These stories of tenacity and resilience offer hope for a new generation of bilingual learners who are too often forced to choose between English and their native language.
Book Features:
María de la Luz Reyes is Professor Emerita at the University of Colorado–Boulder. Her books include The Best for Our Children: Critical Perspectives on Literacy for Latino Students (with John J. Halcón).
“These stories reflect in extraordinary ways the importance of bilingualism and biliteracy for Latino children.”
—Guadalupe Valdés, Stanford University
“In this wonderful volume you are about to read elegantly crafted, heartfelt, and insightful autobiographical narratives. They moved me and instructed me as few writings have in our field of study.”
—From the Foreword by Luis C. Moll, University of Arizona
2012 International Latino Book Awards Best Biography, English—Finalist
Professors: Request an Exam Copy
Print copies available for US orders only. For orders outside the US, see our international distributors.