Judith Ortiz Cofer

Set in the 1950s and 1960s, The Line of the Sun moves from a rural Puerto Rican village to a tough immigrant housing project in New Jersey, telling the story of a Hispanic family's struggle to become part of a new culture without relinquishing the old. At the story's center is Guzmán, an almost mythic figure whose adventures and exile, salvation and return leave him a broken man but preserve his place in the heart and imagination of his niece, who is his secret biographer.

Cofer's award-winning collection of prose recalls her childhood spent shuttling between the island of her birth and New Jersey.

Twelve stories about young people caught between their Puerto Rican heritage and their American surroundings.

Escalas los siete pisos hasta el oasis de la azotea, donde puedes pensar al ritmo de tu propia banda. Notas discordantes suben con el tr fico de las cinco, se suavizan con un bolero al ocaso. En compa a de las palomas observas a la gente all abajo, que fluye, en corriente, cada uno est solo en medio de la multitud, cada uno es una isla como t .

Through her beautifully lyrical writing, Judith Ortiz Cofer tells us ofthe women's lives that entangled with hers in El Building in Paterson,New Jersey. A community transplanted from what they now view as an island paradise, these Puerto Rican families yearn for the colors and tastes of their former home. As they carve out lives as Americans, their days are filled with drama, success, and sometimes tragedy. A widow becomes crazy after her son is killed in Vietnam, her remaining word "nada." Another woman carries on after the death of her husband, keeping their store, filled with plantain, Bustello coffee, jamon y queso, open as a refuge for her neighbors. And there are Cofer's stories of growing up with a dictatorial and straying father, a caring mother, and a love for language that will lead to a career as a teacher and writer.

This is a Spanish-language edition of The Latin Deli, Judith Ortiz Cofer's prizewinning collection of short stories, personal essays, and poems. A work rich in longing, love, and remembrance, El deli latino opens a door into the lives of the Puerto Rican immigrants who live in or near an urban New Jersey tenement known as "El Building." The book was selected by Rita Dove, Ashley Montague, and Henry Louis Gates Jr. to receive the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, which recognizes work that has made "important contributions to our understanding of racism or our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures." In the poem from which the book takes its title, a "woman of no-age" presides over a small store whose wares--Bustelo coffee, jamón y queso, "green plantains hanging in stalks like votive offerings"--must satisfy, however imperfectly, those who hunger for their island home. In the story "Nada," an anguished mother whose son has been killed in Vietnam refuses the consolation of her neighbors and the medals offered by the government ("Tell the Mr. President of the United States what I say: No, gracias."). Cofer's essay "The Paterson Public Library" recalls how, in books, she found refuge and solace from the outside world. El deli latino transcends the particulars of the expatriate experience to speak universal truths about the mysteries of desire, the quest for knowledge, and the struggle to reconcile opposing selves.

This landmark collection of shimmering bits of poetry, fiction, fable, and essay presents a kaleidoscopic vision, of growing up as seen through the eyes of young women.

La nina seria, the serious child. That's how Consuelo's mother has cast her pensive, book-loving daughter, while Consuelo's younger sister Mili, is seen as vivacious--a ray of tropical sunshine. Two daughters: one dark, one light; one to offer comfort and consolation, the other to charm and delight. But something is not right in this Puerto Rican family. Set in the 1950s, a time when American influence is diluting Puerto Rico's rich island culture, Consuelo watches her own family's downward spiral. It is Consuelo who notices as her beautiful sister Mili's vivaciousness turns into mysterious bouts of hysteria and her playful invented language shift into an incomprehensible and chilling "language of birds." Ultimately Consuelo must choose: Will she fulfill the expectations of her family--offering consolation as their tragedy unfolds? Or will she risk becoming la fulana, the outsider, like the harlequin figure of her neighbor, Mario/Maria Sereno, who flaunts his tight red pedal pushers and empty brassiere as he refuses the traditional macho role of his culture. This affecting novel is a lively celebration of Puerto Rico as well as an archetypal story of loss, the loss each of us experiences on our journey from the island of childhood to the uncharted territory of adulthood.

Juliana is too sick to go to school one cold, winter day. So she stays at home in bed and looks out her bedroom window. She watches as a tall lady in a red coat and hat carries her boxes of books and papers upstairs. Her mother has heard that the mysterious woman is a poet writing a book. Juliana loves books and can't wait to meet the poet upstairs. The next day, the poet invites her to come upstairs. Together, they write a poem about a big river that leads to the sea. As they make pictures with words, the walls of the cold apartment become a beautiful vista of mountains, palm trees, birds and flowers. That special day, poetry takes Juliana from her cold and ordinary apartment to a sparkling island habitat. Invoking Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos' famous poem about the Loiza River, Ortiz Cofer's lyrical text is combined with Oscar Ortiz's breathtaking illustrations of the natural world and the animals that inhabit it. This inspiring picture book for children ages 5 to 9 demonstrates the power of the written word as Juliana learns that poetry can change the world.

The Cruel Country is a memoir centered around the author's journey to Puerto Rico after her mother had been diagnosed with late stage lung cancer. The story takes us through Cofer's journey as she sits by the her mother's hospital bed during the last moments of her life, through the grieving process and Catholic funereal rites that follow her mother's death and her return to her life in the U.S. Cofer's writerly talents richly inform this narrative meditation on her family's life in Puerto Rico and the States, her frantic research on cancer, considerations of Catholicism, family, and culture, and much more. The book at the same time is very much a study of cultural differences and the balance that the author must find as a Puerto-Rican American, not wholly part of her mother's culture. We see this come to a head as she communicates with doctors, participates in funeral arrangements and sacraments, and recollects her Anglo husband John's father's death. This very personal story about the author's life will resonate with Cofer's legions of fans including students and those interested in memoir, ethnic and cultural crossings, spirituality, loss, grief, and reconciliation

Poetry. Fiction. Latino/Latina Studies. Spanish language edition of SILENT DANCING: A PARTIAL REMEMBRANCE OF A PUERTO RICAN CHILDHOOD, translated by Elena Olazagasti-Segovia. "The original English version of this book was well received, and Olazagasti-Segovia's Spanish translation will most certainly be popular not only among Puerto Ricans but also with other immigrant groups who know the apparent dichotomy of living in two different and opposing cultures. Chapters trace the author's changes from childhood to adolescence in a life divided between long stays in her mother's native Puerto Rico with her colorful extended family and long, lonely winters in New Jersey while her absent father serves in the U.S. Navy. Each phase poses different challenges, but the author as a young girl manages to meet the demands of womanhood and family without losing her own identity. Latinas, specially young adults who have gone through similar experiences, will identify with the author, for her lovely book is a mirror where each of us may see our own reflection, although slightly altered by personal experience. This very enriching work is recommended for public libraries, especially those with young adult collections"--Carmen J. Palmieri, Library Journal.

From the award-winning author of AN ISLAND LIKE YOU, winner of the Pura Belpre AwardMaria is a girl caught between two worlds: Puerto Rico, where she was born, and New York, where she now lives in a basement apartment in the barrio. While her mother remains on the island, Maria lives with her father, the super of their building. As she struggles to lose her island accent, Maria does her best to find her place within the unfamiliar culture of the barrio. Finally, with the Spanglish of the barrio people ringing in her ears, she finds the poet within herself. In lush prose and spare, evocative poetry, Cofer weaves a powerful novel, bursting with life and hope.

If I Could Fly is a standalone novel based on charactersintroduced in Judith Ortiz Cofer's bestselling short story collection,An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio, which won the inaugural Pura Belpré Award. Fifteen-year-old Doris is used to taking care of herself. Her musician parents have always spent more time singing in nightclubs than watching after her. But when her ailing mother goes home to Puerto Rico to get well and pursue a singing career there, and her father finds a new girlfriend, Doris is more alone than she's ever been. Disconnected from her family and her best friends, who are intertwined in terrifying relationships with a violent classmate, Doris finds refuge in taking care of homing pigeons on her apartment building's roof. As Doris tries to make sense of it all, she learns that, just like the pigeons, she might have to fly far distances before she finds out where she belongs.

Judith Ortiz Cofer's third volume of poetry collects thirty-four poems written over the course of many years. In places as stark as a New Jersey barrio or fabled as the island home of Penelope and Odysseus, the people in these poems sometimes resist, sometimes reconcile, multiple cultures, tongues, and traditions as they navigate over ever changing landscapes.

A cultural legacy and a woman's desire to be released from rituals -- these are the terms that Cofer confronts in her poetic dialectic of survival. Cultural icons, customs and rites of passage take root in an imagery that is lush, tropical and piercing.

Once upon a time, a lion and a lioness lived in a forest at the edge of a field. They think they are better than all their neighbors, even though the other animals¿horses, burros, cats, cows and even a goat¿aren't starving like the lions. But the lion has a brilliant idea to end the rumbling in their stomachs: they will invite all their neighbors to a grand fiesta full of music and dancing. And while everyone is dancing, they'll lure the goat away and push him into a cauldron of boiling water. But the arrogant lion's plan goes wildly awry when the goat's suspicious friends help him escape!

An assortment of animals parade through these entertaining tales. In "A Funeral for Nangato,' a village of naïve, proverb-quoting mice decide to bury their enemy, the cat Nangato, who deserves a proper funeral because one should "be good to those who treat you badly." But just because all the mice say Nangato is dead doesn't mean he is! And in "The Brave Little Ant and El Señor Chivo," a tiny ant helps an old couple save their garden from a bad-tempered goat who is determined to eat them out of house and home. Even though the ant is small, she still manages to save the vegetables and the day!

Adapted by celebrated author Judith Ortiz Cofer, these Puerto Rican folktales will delight young readers ages 8 ¿ 12, whether they're reading alone or with their favorite adult. Available in both English and Spanish, these stories featuring a variety of animals share lessons that will appeal to kids who enjoy animals and storytelling!