Sudden Fiction Latino: Short Short stories from the United States and Latin America

For Passages Academy it seems that Latino History Month and our ELA short story curricular unit are destined to occur at the same time each Fall. Thus, teachers seeking extremely short fiction, totalling about four pages or less, and stories with a connection to Latino/a history, may be interested in this volume.  Although many of the stories will not appeal to reluctant adolescent readers, short pieces by literary greats like Rudolfo Anaya (“The Native Lawyer”) and Gabriel Garica Marquez (“Light is Like Water”), may serve as a worthy introduction to these canonical authors.   “Day Ah Dallas Mare Toes,” by Luna Calderon, and “Counterfeit,” by Edmundo Paz Soldan, on the other hand, have a charm all their own and might just provoke meaningful discussion on themes of truth, deceit, family, and death and the role of names in literary texts and life.  This link from the publisher allows readers to view the entire table of contents, some of which are hyperlinked to permit previews of the text.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Shapard, James Thomas and Ray Gonzalez (Eds.)  Sudden Latino Fiction:  Short-short stories form the United States and Latin America.  New York:  W. W. Norton & Company, 2010.