Lengua fresca Latinos writing on the edge

Editors Augenbraum (executive director, National Book Fdn.) and Stavans (Latin American & Latino culture, Amherst Coll.) have joined efforts again (their first coedited book was Growing Up Latino) to produce this anthology of avant-garde literature from a new generation of Latinos writing in either English, Spanish, or Spanglish, the "lengua fresca"(fresh language) to which the title refers. They begin their book with excerpts from their lively correspondence concerning what is and who is Latino, how they have expanded the scope of traditional genres, and other cultural insights. Selections include short stories, essays, poetry, cartoons-even ephemera describing culture. Each entry is unique, e.g., a tongue-in-cheek menu from a Puerto Rican restaurant, hip-hop lyrics, a treatise on Mexican food, and an outrageously funny comic strip called La Cucaracha. The more traditional selections include stories from hope-to-hear-more-of authors Oscar Casares, Nelly Rosario, and Miguel Jaime-Becerra. Brief biographies of the contributors follow the selections. Recommended for all public libraries. [Augenbraum is a former LJ reviewer.-Ed.]-Nedra Crowe-Evers, Sonoma Cty. Lib., Santa Rosa, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.