Presents a collection of true stories and nonfiction pieces, spanning nearly three decades, that, read together, paint an intimate portrait of a literary legend's life and career.

"Most agree that West Liberty is a special place. The first majority Hispanic town in Iowa, it has been covered by media giants such as Reuters, Telemundo, NBC, and ESPN. But Chuy Renteria and his friends grew up in the space between these news stories, where a more complicated West Liberty awaits, full of small-town joy and horrific violence. We Heard it When We Were Young tells the story of a young boy, first generation Mexican-American, who is...

"Cuando el padre de Reyna Grande deja a su esposa y sus tres hijos atrás en un pueblo de México para hacer el peligroso viaje a través de la frontera a los Estados Unidos, promete que pronto regresará; con el dinero suficiente para construir la casa de sus sueños. Sus promesas se vuelven más difíciles de creer cuando los meses de espera se convierten en años. Cuando se lleva a su esposa para reunirse con él, Reyna y sus hermanos son depositados...

When Rosie was only nineteen, the father of her newborn walked out with no warning. With no college degree, no career, and an addiction to emotional eating, Rosie was overwhelmed. Rosie's life was anything but easy, especially when her weight ballooned to 400 pounds. Yet she never, ever gave up. Despite the pain, the rejection, and the disappointment, there were small victories and successes. Each one gave her the strength to keep on going. Eventually,...

"In this collection of essays, Ana Castillo examines what it means to be a single, brown, feminist parent in a world of mass incarceration, racial profiling, and police brutality. Castillo writes about intergenerational stories from Mexico City to Chicago, and she narrates some of America's social injustices through the lens of motherhood"--

"Growing up in Yakima, Washington, Noé Álvarez worked at an apple-packing plant alongside his mother, who "slouched over a conveyor belt of fruit, shoulder to shoulder with mothers conditioned to believe this was all they could do with their lives." A university scholarship offered escape, but as a first-generation Latino college-goer, Álvarez struggled to fit in. At nineteen, he learned about a Native American/First Nations movement called the...

The former San Antonio mayor and secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Barack Obama shares his life story, recounting how his mother's political activism inspired his ascent from poverty to a successful political career.