Books published by publisher Cinco Puntos Press

2019 Pura Belpré Honor Book2019 Walter Dean Myers Honor Book for Outstanding Children's Literature2019 Claudia Lewis Award for Excellence in Poetry2019 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award2018 Jean Flynn Award for Best Middle Grade BookALSC Notable Children's Book, 2019A School Library Journal Best Book of 2018, Middle GradeShelf Awareness 2018 Best Children's & Teen Books of the Year, Middle Grade NCTE 2019 Notable Verse NovelsAméricas Award 2019 Commended Title2019 White Raven2020-2021 Texas Bluebonnet ListTwelve-year-old Güero is Mexican American, at home with Spanish or English and on both sides of the river. He's starting 7th grade with a woke English teacher who knows how to make poetry cool. In Spanish, "Güero" is a nickname for guys with pale skin, Latino or Anglo. But make no mistake: our red-headed, freckled hero is puro mexicano, like Canelo Álvarez, the Mexican boxer. Güero is also a nerd--reader, gamer, musician--who runs with a squad of misfits like him, Los Bobbys. Sure, they get in trouble like anybody else, and like other middle-school boys, they discover girls. Watch out for Joanna! She's tough as nails. But trusting in his family's traditions, his accordion and his bookworm squad, he faces seventh grade with book smarts and a big heart. Life is tough for a border kid, but Güero has figured out how to cope. He writes poetry.

When it was first published, Crossing Bok Chitto took readers by surprise. This moving and original story about the intersection of Native and African Americans received starred reviews and many awards, including being named an ALA Notable Children’s Book and a Jane Addams Honor Book. Jeanne Rorex Bridges’ illustrations mesmerized readers—Publishers Weekly noted that her “strong, solid figures gaze squarely out of the frame, beseeching readers to listen, empathize and wonder.”Choctaw storyteller Tim Tingle blends songs, flute, and drum to bring the lore of the Choctaw Nation to life in lively historical, personal, and traditional stories.Artist Jeanne Rorex Bridges traces her heritage back to her Cherokee ancestors.

"A stunning children's picturebook."—Midwest Book ReviewThe Bee Tree tells the magical story of a honey hunt in the dense rainforest of Malaysia. The story is narrated by Nizam, a young boy whose grandfather Pak Teh is the leader of the honey hunting clan, the one who has the honor of climbing up the 120-foot tualang tree in the annual honey hunt. But Pak Teh is getting older and is now ready to prepare someone to take his place. He believes that Nizam is the one.

Named to Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2014Named to School Library Journal Best Books of 2014Gabi Hernandez chronicles her last year in high school in her diary: college applications, Cindy's pregnancy, Sebastian's coming out, the cute boys, her father's meth habit, and the food she craves. And best of all, the poetry that helps forge her identity.July 24My mother named me Gabriella, after my grandmother who, coincidentally, didn't want to meet me when I was born because my mother was unmarried, and therefore living in sin. My mom has told me the story many, many, MANY, times of how, when she confessed to my grandmother that she was pregnant with me, her mother beat her. BEAT HER! She was twenty-five. That story is the basis of my sexual education and has reiterated why it's important to wait until you're married to give it up. So now, every time I go out with a guy, my mom says, "Ojos abiertos, piernas cerradas." Eyes open, legs closed. That's as far as the birds and the bees talk has gone. And I don't mind it. I don't necessarily agree with that whole wait until you're married crap, though. I mean, this is America and the 21st century; not Mexico one hundred years ago. But, of course, I can't tell my mom that because she will think I'm bad. Or worse: trying to be White.Isabel Quintero is an award-winning writer from the Inland Empire of Southern California. She is also the daughter of Mexican immigrants. In addition to Gabi, A Girl in Pieces, she has also written a chapter book series for young readers, Ugly Cat and Pablo (Scholastic, Inc.), a non-fiction YA graphic biography, Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide (Getty Publications, 2018), which received the Boston Globe Horn Book Award, and most recently, a picture book, My Papi Has a Motorcycle (Kokila, 2019). Isabel also writes poetry and essays. Her work can be found in The Normal School, Huizache, The Acentos Review, As/Us Journal, The James Franco Review, and other publications.

In Walking the Choctaw Road, Tim Tingle reaches far back into tribal memory to offer a deeply personal collection of stories woven from the supernatural, mythical, historical, and oral accounts of Choctaw people living today. “Oklahoma” comes from the Choctaw word “Okla Homma,” meaning “Red People”. In this, his first collection of stories, acclaimed storyteller and folklorist Tim Tingle tells the stories of his people, the Choctaw People, the Okla Homma. For years Tim has collected the stories of the old folks, weaving those tales into his own stories, mixing traditional lore with stories from everyday life. Thus, Walking the Choctaw Road has a mixture of contemporary stories of Choctaw people living their lives right now, historical accounts passed down from generation to generation, and stories arising from beliefs and myths. In one of the 11 stories, Tim tells how audiences are always wanting to hear stories about the Indian Wars, so he tells about his own Indian War, which he calls “Archie’s War”, the 20-year war between his father and himself, which ended in hard-won respect and love for them both. In another, he lets a five-year-old boy tell us a magical, tragic tale about “The Trail of Tears”, when the U.S. government forcibly removed the Choctaw people from their homeland to Oklahoma. And in another, a Choctaw preacher tells about his grandmother, a healing woman, who has a beyond-death relationship with her protector dog, Shob.

Will little Corky—so quirky and curious—live her life and her dreams to the fullest? When Corky is a baby, Old Bear gives her the keys to her days. As she grows, she lives in wonderment. As her days grow short, she asks Old Bear for a few more days. Old Bear reminds Corky that she holds the key to her days. She must do what needs to be done, and dream what needs to be dreamed. When she is ready, she will not be afraid to open the door to wonder.Paula Wallace lives in Omaha, Nebraska.

2019 Pura Belpré Honor Book2019 Walter Dean Myers Honor Book for Outstanding Children's Literature2019 Claudia Lewis Award for Excellence in Poetry2019 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award2018 Jean Flynn Award for Best Middle Grade BookALSC Notable Children's Book, 2019A School Library Journal Best Book of 2018, Middle GradeShelf Awareness 2018 Best Children's & Teen Books of the Year, Middle GradeNCTE 2019 Notable Verse NovelsAméricas Award 2019 Commended Title2019 White Raven2020-2021 Texas Bluebonnet ListTwelve-year-old Güero is Mexican American, at home with Spanish or English and on both sides of the river. He's starting 7th grade with a woke English teacher who knows how to make poetry cool. In Spanish, "Güero" is a nickname for guys with pale skin, Latino or Anglo. But make no mistake: our red-headed, freckled hero is puro mexicano, like Canelo Álvarez, the Mexican boxer. Güero is also a nerd--reader, gamer, musician--who runs with a squad of misfits like him, Los Bobbys. Sure, they get in trouble like anybody else, and like other middle-school boys, they discover girls. Watch out for Joanna! She's tough as nails. But trusting in his family's traditions, his accordion and his bookworm squad, he faces seventh grade with book smarts and a big heart. Life is tough for a border kid, but Güero has figured out how to cope. He writes poetry.

2019 Pura Belpré Honor Book2019 Walter Dean Myers Honor Book for Outstanding Children's Literature2019 Claudia Lewis Award for Excellence in Poetry2019 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award2018 Jean Flynn Award for Best Middle Grade BookALSC Notable Children's Book, 2019A School Library Journal Best Book of 2018, Middle GradeShelf Awareness 2018 Best Children's & Teen Books of the Year, Middle Grade NCTE 2019 Notable Verse NovelsAméricas Award 2019 Commended Title2019 White Raven2020-2021 Texas Bluebonnet List Twelve-year-old Güero is Mexican American, at home with Spanish or English and on both sides of the river. He's starting 7th grade with a woke English teacher who knows how to make poetry cool. In Spanish, "Güero" is a nickname for guys with pale skin, Latino or Anglo. But make no mistake: our red-headed, freckled hero is puro mexicano, like Canelo Álvarez, the Mexican boxer. Güero is also a nerd--reader, gamer, musician--who runs with a squad of misfits like him, Los Bobbys. Sure, they get in trouble like anybody else, and like other middle-school boys, they discover girls. Watch out for Joanna! She's tough as nails. But trusting in his family's traditions, his accordion and his bookworm squad, he faces seventh grade with book smarts and a big heart. Life is tough for a border kid, but Güero has figured out how to cope. He writes poetry.

In his introduction to Coyote &, Joe Hayes says, “Many American Indian stories are sacred. They are part of the religion of the people who tell them, and so belong to just one tribe or sometimes just a part of the tribe. Sometimes Coyote plays a role in these religious stories. But the coyote stories in this collection are different. They are told for entertainment. They are especially loved by children, who delight in Coyote’s foolish antics.”

"This charming little book will introduce young readers to safe and effective natural remedies from the native traditions of the American Southwest. A good way to learn about the healing power of plants."—Andrew Weil, MDAaron has asked his grandfather Tata to teach him about the healing remedies he uses. Tata is a neighbor and family elder. People come to him all the time for his soothing solutions and for his compassionate touch and gentle wisdom. Tata knows how to use herbs, teas, and plants to help each one. His wife, Grandmother Nana, is there too, bringing delicious food and humor to help Tata's patients heal. An herbal remedies glossary at the end of the book includes useful information about each plant, plus botanically correct drawings.Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford grew up in Nogales on the Arizona-Mexico border. Born into a pioneering Jewish family with roots in Eastern Europe, Roni embraced the languages, cultures, and people on both sides of the border. Now a retired bilingual educator, her first book, My Nana's Remedies / Los Remedios de mi Nana, is a classic, a parent's and teacher's friend for teaching children traditional values.Antonio Castro L. is nationally recognized for his illustrations of books by Joe Hayes. Teaming up with his son, book designer Antonio Castro H., he uses his exacting illustrative skills to bring to life this story of family and plants. Born in Zacatecas, Mexico, Antonio has lived in the Juarez–El Paso area for most of his life.

Joe Hayes tells stories from Byrd Baylor's marvelous collection of stories told by Arizona Indian children. At a school in southern Arizona, Byrd Baylor saw a story about Rattlesnake and how he made the first brush shelter so the Papago people would have shade. This story was told by a Tohono O’odham child. "As soon as I read the story," Byrd said, "I knew I wanted a special kind of book to hold this special kind of story. It would have to be written by children, not tampered with too much by adults."

"All Around Us begs to be shared over and over."―Yuyi Morales "A transcendent, perfectly gorgeous book."—Naomi Shihab Nye ALSC Notable Children’s Book 2018 Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book2018 American Indian Youth Literature Award: Picture Book Honor Best Picture Book, Texas Institute of Letters 2017 Tomás Rivera Children’s Book Award Grandpa says circles are all around us. He points to the rainbow that rises high in the sky after a thundercloud has come. "Can you see? That's only half of the circle. That rest of it is down below, in the earth." He and his granddaughter meditate on gardens and seeds, on circles seen and unseen, inside and outside us, on where our bodies come from and where they return to. They share and create family traditions in this stunning exploration of the cycles of life and nature.This is a debut picture book for Xelena Gonzalez and Adriana Garcia.