Books published by publisher Arte Publico Press

Best Books of 2011 by The Hispanic ReaderBronze Award for Essays in ForeWord Review's Book of the Year AwardsSecond Place for Best Biography in English in the International Latino Book Awards"On good days I feel I am a bridge. On bad days I just feel alone," Sergio Troncoso writes in this riveting collection of sixteen personal essays in which he seeks to connect the humanity of his Mexican family to those he meets on the East Coast, including his wife's Jewish kin. Raised in a home steps from the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas, Troncoso crossed what seemed an even more imposing border when he left home to attend Harvard College.Initially, "outsider status" was thrust upon him; later, he adopted it willingly, writing about the Southwest and Chicanos in an effort to communicate who he was and where he came from to those unfamiliar with his childhood world. He wrote to maintain his ties to his parents and his abuelita, and to fight against the elitism he experienced in the Ivy League. "I was torn," he writes, "between the people I loved at home and the ideas I devoured away from home."Troncoso writes to examine his life and to create meaning from the disparate worlds he inhabits and the borders he crosses. In his three-part essay entitled "Letter to My Young Sons," he documents the terror of his wife's breast cancer diagnosis and the ups and downs of her surgery and treatment. Other essays explore evolving gender roles and interfaith marriage as Troncoso becomes a father, he struggles with an uneasy relationship with his elderly father, and he understands the impact his wife's Jewish heritage and religion have on his Mexican-American identity.Crossing Borders: Personal Essays reveals a writer, father and husband who has crossed linguistic, cultural and intellectual borders to provoke debate about contemporary Mexican-American identity. Challenging assumptions about literature, the role of writers in America, fatherhood and family, these essays bridge the chasm between the poverty of the border region and the highest echelons of success in America. Troncoso writes with the deepest faith in humanity about sacrifice, commitment and honesty.

Finalist, ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Young Adult category Armed with a long knife, flint-lock musket, and his father's medical bag, fifteen-year-old Lorenzo Bannister sets off to fulfill his father's deathbed with. Lorenzo joins a secret flatboat operation delivering much-needed medicine and gunpowder to George Washington's army, leading the reader on a romping ride from the docks of New Orleans to the battlefields of the American Revolution. This action-packed historical novel for young people tells the story of Gibson's Lambs and the Spaniards, forgotten heroes of the struggle for independence."

Every night when he was a boy, José M. Hernández would look out the window and stare at the stars. They were different colors: blue, yellow and white. Some were larger and brighter than others, and some twinkled as if they were alive. Later, when he saw man land on the moon on TV, he knew he wanted to be an astronaut. But José struggled in school because his family moved constantly and he didn’t speak English. His parents were migrant workers from Mexico; they followed the crops up and down the state of California. José was in second grade when his teacher convinced his parents to stop migrating and stay in the United States. She also encouraged his love of astronomy, books and learning. José became an electrical engineer, got married and had a family, and though he was very happy, he never stopped thinking about his dream. So he applied to NASA to become an astronaut. His application was rejected eleven times, but he kept applying. He was finally selected for astronaut school and achieved his dream when he flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station! With beautiful illustrations by Steven James Petruccio, this heartwarming, bilingual picture book will introduce children ages 5-9 to the concept of space travel. The author’s story is sure to motivate kids to set goals and reach for their own dreams.

One day in a small California barrio, a scary-looking stranger with an ugly scar on his face arrives. Silence falls on the streets. Normally raucous children stop playing, and their fearful mothers quickly beckon them inside. Everyone peeks out of windows and doors to watch the stranger walk down Main Street. Later in the week, the stranger again appears in town. And a few days later, on a pleasant Sunday morning, the man shows his frightening face yet again. But this time, he’s not alone. Cradled in the stranger’s arms is a big, red rooster with a yellow ribbon tied around its neck. When the rooster sets off after a bug with the stranger hanging on to the ribbon “like a cowboy who had lassoed a wild bull,” the townspeople are finally able to look past the long, ugly scar on the stranger’s face. Echoing the oral tradition common to so many Latinos, acclaimed author Victor Villaseñor shares with young readers one of his father’s favorite stories. With vibrant illustrations by José Jara, this will soon become the favorite of many children aged 3 to 7.