Who Was Selena, part of the Who Was? biography series, provides a cogent overview and empathetic perspective of the life of Selena Quintanilla, the beloved Texas-born singer of Latin music, known as the Queen of Tejano. Students will be interested to learn how she skyrocketed to fame at an early age, had to learn Spanish as a second language, and tragically died young.
Significantly, the first chapter outlines the discrimination faced by Texans with Mexican ancestry like Selena. In keeping with the series, this volume includes sidebars on schema-building topics like the Corpus Christi City Directory, Tejano Music, Laura Canales, and Gloria Estefan. Black and white illustrations and white space make this an especially attractive choice for newly independent readers. Backmatter includes Selena’s discography, a timeline of her life, and what was happening in the world during those years including the opening of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and the presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to the US congress. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber
Bisantz, Kate and Max. Who Was Selena? New York City: Penguin Wrrkshop, 2018. Print.
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