These unique voices combine in a harmony of Mexican and American, of magical and ordinary, of tragedy and triumph. From established writers to emerging talents, the contributors to this volume represent the depth and beauty of a community that is just beginning to make itself heard.  The collection features the short story "The Time About the Dog" by Álvaro Rodríguez, co-screenwriter of the recent film Machete.  Other contributors: Angélica Maldonado, Yaresy Salinas, María Ramírez, Daniel Tyx, Mónica G. Hernández, Félix Omar Vela, Evangelina Ayon, Lois Marie Garza, Charlene Bowles, Robert Brown, Cindy Jáimez, Virgilio B. Valencia, Alfredo Ortiz, Javier David González, Matthew Madrigal, Olga Lidia Cervantes, Richard D. Givens, Verónica Sandoval, Edwin de Kock, Gwenda J. González, Jonathan Corey Mangan, Kristin Michelle Keith, María Piedra, Ludivina V. Vásquez, María de la Luz Quiroga, Clarrissia Nerio, Nina Medrano, Rosalia Arriaga, Anna Lilia Castillo, Gloria M. Alvarado, and Edwin Sandoval.

Along the River: An Anthology of Voices from the Rio Grande Valley

Literature & Fiction

David Bowles

United States

VAO Publishing

Lissi Linares is a pastor's daughter whose love for others contrasts with her fear of eternal damnation. Little Jasmine "Jazzy Moon" Luna is determined to save Jesus from being crucified. Naida Cervantes hides a brutal secret behind shapeless, florid dresses. Hermana Gracie tries to set her son up with a good Christian girlfriend, only to make a surprising discovery. Zeke wants a new guitar and Ben wants a cool girlfriend, but what they find as migrant workers in Arkansas changes their desires. These individuals and others try to negotiate the often rocky intersection of faith and culture in seven independent but intertwining tales that explore life in an evangelical Christian, Mexican-American community. Frank, funny and heart-breakingly real, this volume explores themes of identity, culture, religion and sexuality in the context of a little-known subset of Hispanic culture.

Combustible Sinners and Other Stories

Teen & Young Adult

Infante, Myra

Who protects our precious fields of corn? What leaps from the darkness when you least suspect it? Which spirit waits for little kids by rivers and lakes? From the ahuizotl to the xocoyoles—and all the imps, ghosts and witches in between—this illustrated bilingual encyclopedia tells you just what you need to know about the things that go bump in the night in Mexico and the US Southwest. ¿Quién protege nuestras milpas preciosas? ¿Qué cosa salta de la oscuridad cuando menos te lo esperes? ¿Cuál espíritu acecha a los pequeños cerca de los ríos y los lagos? Desde el ahuizotl a los xocoyoles—y demás diablillos, fantasmas y brujas—esta enciclopedia ilustrada bilingüe te dice justo lo que debes saber sobre las cosas que dan miedo en México y en el suroeste de los Estados Unidos.

Mexican Bestiary: Bestiario Mexicano

Children's Books

Bowles, David

Vela, Noé

Education & Reference

Pioneer. Divorcée. Entrepreneur. Rancher. Postmaster. Visionary. Spiritual guide. Recluse. Donna Hooks Fletcher blazed trails for women in deep South Texas in the first few decades of the 20th century, and her life left an indelible mark on the heart of the Rio Grande Valley. Now, for the first time, her unique view of the world can be discovered in her own words

Donna Hooks Fletcher: Life and Writings: Río Grande Valley Historical Series

Biographies & Memoirs

Fletcher, Donna Hooks

Community & Culture

Thirty-nine voices mingle like the currents of our river, flowing into deep narrative resacas and rushing from lyrical reservoirs. Just as the Río Grande wends its way through basins, bosques, deserts, fields-so these poems, stories and essays explore the variegated quiltwork of border culture, streaming somberly through the darkness and coruscating in the light. Contributors include Robert Paul Moreira, Rob Johnson, Rachel Vela, Katherine Hoerth, José Hernández, Erika Garza, Edward Vidaurre, Christopher Carmona, Alejandro Fernández Cabada and Alan Oak, among many others.

Along the River 2: More Voices from the Rio Grande

Borders are magical places, and growing up on a border, crossing and recrossing that space where this becomes that, creates a very special sort of person, one in whom multiple cultures, languages, identities and truths mingle in powerful ways. In these eight stories and sixteen poems, a wide range of authors explore issues that confront young people along the US-Mexico border, helping their unique voices to be heard and never ignored. Featuring the work of David Rice, Xavier Garza, Jan Seale, Guadalupe García McCall, Diana Gonzales Bertrand, and many others.

Juventud! Growing up on the Border: Stories and Poems

Saldana Jr., Rene

Biographies

From Dodger Stadium to the Astrodome, from the Río Grande Valley to Chicago, from Veracruz to Puerto Rico, from high-school teams to stickball in the streets, from the lessons of fathers to the excited joy of daughters, from massive cheering in the stands at Wrigley Field to the dynamics of family and community echoing on the diamond, these fifteen stories use the sport of baseball to explore geographical, cultural and dream-like spaces that transcend traditional notions of the game and transform it into a universal yet wholly individual experience. Featuring the work of Dagoberto Gilb, Norma Elia Cantú, Nelson Denis, Christine Granados, René Saldaña, Jr., and many more.

Arriba Baseball!: A Collection of Latino/a Baseball Fiction

Moreira, Robert Paul

When the sun sets on the Río Grande Valley, all manner of dark voices begin to croak, snarl and wail. Come explore the black shadows amidst the mesquite and palm trees down at the water’s edge…just have a care not to fall (or be pulled) into the current.

Along the River III: Dark Voices from the Rio Grande

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