Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States

Publishers Weekly

Describing his unlikely path to becoming a writer, Oscar Hijuelos introduces the more than three dozen poems in the handsomely packaged paper-over-board Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States, edited by Lori Marie Carlson. In Spanish, Gary Soto offers a humorous take on the role the language plays, while Luis S. Rodriguez poses a call to action in Piece by Piece. Each poem appears completely in English and in Spanish, and a closing glossary defines the terms. (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

In this follow-up to Cool Salsa, Carlson has brought together not only well known poets but also student poets in this collection that illustrates the hardships of growing up in two cultures. Divided into five parts: language/identity, neighborhoods, amor, family moments-memories, and victory, each poem written in English or Spanish is translated often by the creator and these translations are right on target. The book contains an introduction by novelist Oscar Hijuelos, a glossary, and biographical notes. As usual in anthologies, some poems are much better than others, but altogether we get the feeling of what it is like growing up Latino. 2005, Random House, Ages 10 to 14.
—Maria E. Gentle

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-As she did in Cool Salsa (Holt, 1994), Carlson assembles another impressive forum of poetic voices. In Spanish and English, the poets speak eloquently of themselves, how and where they live, their families, and their dreams for the future. Many of them are quite well known and a number were included in the earlier book: Gary Soto, Gina Valdes, Martin Espada, and Luis J. Rodriguez, among others. In this volume, Carlson has added a few poems by students in the New York City public school system: they, too, are excellent and thought-provoking. Ivette clvarez, for example, issues a passionate plea in "Invisible Boundaries" to "go beyond the stereotypes that/lock us down and judge us." Other poems will delight readers with their delicate play of language, as in Jos Antonio Burciaga's "Bilingual Love Poem/Poema de amor bilingue," or in Tato Laviera's "My Graduation Speech," which conveys a sardonic frustration through its comic mix of languages. By turns humorous and poignant, nostalgic and immediate, these poems represent a diversity of experiences, underpinned by emotions that anyone can recognize. Once again, Oscar Hijuelos's personable, highly readable introduction sets the tone. Carlson has crafted an accessible gem of a collection, and teen readers of all backgrounds will find echoes of their own experiences in its pages.-Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A decade after Cool Salsa (1994), Carlson has collected a new generation of voices. Thirty-eight poems in English and in Spanish reintroduce poets from her earlier collection (Gina Valdes, Trinidad Sanchez, Jr., Luis Rodriguez) and debut many new ones. Divided into themed sections (language, identity, neighborhoods, etc.) the poems elicit not just the particulars of people and place, but of being an adolescent. Some of the best poems play with language, much of which is sadly lost in translation (Michele Serros's imagined epitaph in "Dead Pig's Revenge": "Chicharrones Choke Chicana Child to Death (in Chino)" in Spanish just lies on the page like a dead pig). Nevertheless, the translations add an essential dimension to the book-a sense of an inclusive and diverse community-and Carlson leaves a handful of the untranslatable ones untouched, as Sacinto Cardona's "women who weep into their huiples" in "Tumbling Through My Tumbaburro." Biographical notes on the poets, and an introduction by Oscar Hijuelos round out this volume that will be appreciated by any young writer. (Poetry. 12+)