Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! Celebrating family and heritage is such a nice way to start the school year. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, temperatures are starting to dip and that also has us looking to spend more time indoors. This virtual bookshelf features titles about family, friends, history, and food. We don't know about you, but for us spending time with family indoors always seems to lead to food, and some good stories!

Round is a Tortilla by Roseanne Thong

In this lively picture book, children discover a world of shapes all around them: rectangles are ice-cream carts and stone metates, triangles are slices of watermelon and quesadillas. Many of the featured objects are Latino in origin, and all are universal in appeal. With rich, boisterous illustrations, a fun-to-read rhyming text, and an informative glossary, this playful concept book will reinforce the shapes found in every child's day!

Captain Dom's Treasure by Terry Catasus Jennings

Dominguita is ready for another big adventure - and figures that her beloved library is a great place to try to find one! After Dominguita finds an old map in the back of a copy of Treasure Island, she is excited to see a big X on the map. Because everyone knows that X marks the spot for treasure! When Dom shows her friends Pancho and Steph, they don’t think the map is real. But after a little investigating, they discover there’s real treasure at stake! And there are a few other people who want that treasure too. Can Dom and her friends figure out a way to return the special treasure to one of their favorite people before it falls into the wrong hands?

Freddie Ramos Gets a Sidekick by Jacqueline Jules

Freddie is trying to make his first invention! But he gets frustrated when his first attempt fails. As Freddie zooms around Starwood Park to feel better, he notices holes in the doors and fence. Who is responsible for making the holes? Freddie wants to find the culprit, but when he gets injured and can't use his Zapato Power, who will look after Starwood Park?

Stef Soto, Taco Queen by Jennifer Torres

A heartwarming and charming debut novel about family, friends, and finding your voice all wrapped up in a warm tortilla. Seventh grader Estefania "Stef" Soto is itching to shake off the onion-and-cilantro embrace of Tia Perla, her family's taco truck. She wants nothing more than for her dad to get a normal job and for Tia Perla to be put out to pasture. It's no fun being known as the "Taco Queen" at school. But just when new city regulations are proposed, and her family's livelihood is threatened, she will have to become the truck's unlikely champion. Listen to what other kids thought about this title on Book Club for Kids!

Running by Natalia Sylvester

When fifteen-year-old Cuban American Mariana Ruiz’s father runs for president, Mari starts to see him with new eyes. A novel about waking up and standing up, and what happens when you stop seeing your dad as your hero—while the whole country is watching. In this authentic, humorous, and gorgeously written debut novel, Senator Anthony Ruiz is running for president. As tensions rise within the Ruiz family, Mari begins to learn about the details of her father's political positions, and she realizes that her father is not the man she thought he was. But how do you find your voice when everyone's watching? When it means disagreeing with your father-publicly? What do you do when your dad stops being your hero? Will Mari get a chance to confront her father? If she does, will she have the courage to seize it?

Taking Sides by Gary Soto

Eighth-grader Linc Mendoza has moved from a dusty San Francisco barrio to a well-groomed suburb and a new junior high school. Suddenly he's in the minority, a Mexican-American in a mostly white school. The basketball coach is tough on him. Classes are even tougher. And his best friend is back in the old neighborhood. To make things worse, the basketball team is scheduled to play against Linc's old school in a league game. How can Linc play his best when he's shooting against his former teammates? To find an answer, Linc will need to sort through a maze of emotions and some tricky moves on the court. It is a journey that will teach him much about choices and change. Narrator Robert Ramirez's tones capture each of Linc's frustrations and joys. This is a gripping story by an award-winning author noted for realistic tales of Mexican-American life and culture.

Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs by Camila Townsend

In November 1519, Hernando Cortes walked along a causeway leading to the capital of the Aztec kingdom and came face to face with Moctezuma. That story-and the story of what happened afterwards-has been told many times, but always following the narrative offered by the Spaniards. After all, we have been taught, it was the Europeans who held the pens. But the Native Americans were intrigued by the Roman alphabet and, unbeknownst to the newcomers, they used it to write detailed histories in their own language of Nahuatl. Until recently, these sources remained obscure, only partially translated, and rarely consulted by scholars. For the first time, in Fifth Sun, the history of the Aztecs is offered in all its complexity based solely on the texts written by the indigenous people themselves. Camilla Townsend presents an accessible and humanized depiction of these native Mexicans, rather than seeing them as the exotic, bloody figures of European stereotypes. The conquest, in this work, is neither an apocalyptic moment, nor an origin story launching Mexicans into existence. The Mexica people had a history of their own long before the Europeans arrived and did not simply capitulate to Spanish culture and colonization. Instead, they realigned their political allegiances, accommodated new obligations, adopted new technologies, and endured.

Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by Juan Gonzalez

The first new edition in ten years of this important study of Latinos in U.S. history, Harvest of Empire spans five centuries-from the first New World colonies to the first decade of the new millennium. Latinos are now the largest minority group in the United States, and their impact on American popular culture-from food to entertainment to literature-is greater than ever. Featuring family portraits of real-life immigrant Latino pioneers, as well as accounts of the events and conditions that compelled them to leave their homelands, Harvest of Empire is required listening for anyone wishing to understand the history and legacy of this increasingly influential group.

On the Hook by Francisco X. Stork

Hector has always minded his own business, working hard to make his way to a better life someday. Until Joey singles him out. Joey, whose older brother, Chavo, is head of the Discípulos gang, tells Hector that he's going to kill him: maybe not today, or tomorrow, but someday. And Hector, frozen with fear, does nothing. From that day forward, Hector's death is hanging over his head every time he leaves the house. He tries to fade into the shadows - to drop off Joey's radar - to become no one. But when a fight between Chavo and Hector's brother escalates, Hector is left with no choice but to take a stand. The violent confrontation will take Hector places he never expected, including a reform school where he has to live side-by-side with his enemy. It's up to Hector to choose whether he's going to lose himself to revenge or get back to the hard work of living.

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