This book is a loving blueprint for how people can become involved in changing the direction of their lives and their community. Delgado-Gaitan weaves stories of the individuals of Carpinteria together with stories of the community of Carpinteria, and creates an intricate tapestry that shows how individuals can change The System.

Because Delgado-Gaitan does not try to stay out of the story - she too is she is an immigrant Latino with a background similar to those of many of the people that she interviewed - she allows her perspective to enter and flavor (in very readable prose) her carefully researched accounting of parental involvement in the school system of Carpinteria. One of the most heartening aspects of the story is that Delgado-Gaitan actually becomes very invested and involved with helping the parents to change the school system. And they are SUCCESSFUL!

One of my favorite passages is about a woman who at first thought that not being active in the school activities showed her respect for the teacher. She says, "I didn't feel that I needed to know who my children's teachers were because I trusted that they knew what they were doing. I didn't know what my children needed because I didn't have much schooling in Mexico, so why should I question what they were doing in the classroom?"

I was very touched by this woman's story because it helps to show that so often we don't take action because we don't think that we are smart enough, or capable enough. We do not feel imbued with POWER. Yet that can change, as Delgado-Gatain allows us to see when the woman, Vicki Flores, describes her shift in consciousness. As she attends the COPLA (Committee of Latino Parents) meetings, her views begin to change. "At first I didn't see why other parents felt that it was necessary to learn about schools, but I kept attending meetings because my neighbor insisted that I go with her. Finally, in one meeting I asked them why as Latinos we should have to know all of the information that was being presented to us. Suddenly they all began explaining how Latino children were left behind in school and they received less attention if we as parents didn't get involved. My neighbor told me that her son was having problems reading and when she went to talk to the school the teacher gave her materials to help her son. I know I should go talk to the teacher because my youngest daughter, Angie, tells me that she is having lots of problems." (p 29) And so she took action.

I highly recommend this book because, quite simply, it helps you to see that no matter how helpless you may feel, when you join with others, communicate your vision, and accept that yes, it will take time, it IS possible to change the world.

Many readers know Carolina de Jesus's memior "Child of the Dark" but few knew that she wrote a second book about her bitter journey from her favela shack to the brick house of her dreams. There, she was treated just as badly as she had been when she was a scavenger for garbage in the favela. As a former Peace Corps volunteer in Brazil (too many years ago!!) I loved this book. It is riveting, unexpected, and filled with insights about how Carolina de Jesus saw the world. The editor's background description and analysis is excellent, too.

This is a marvelous study not only of a poignant African-Brazilian woman persecuted for daring to state her beliefs, but one that reveals the different ways that American (Levine) and Brazilian (Meihy) scholars perceive the problems of race in society. A must read for anyone interested in Latin American society or the history of women or of blacks in the hemisphere.

This slim, nicely organized collection of Mexican sayings (or "dichos Mexicanos") made a nice addition to my writer's library. I collect many resource books that help me add flavor and accuracy to my fiction and poetry writing. This book pulls together many wonderful aphorisms from Mexican culture and gives them to you in both English and Spanish. The categories include sayings about love, philosophy, religion, animals, and others. Dichos such as, "Old is the sun and it still shines," or "It was your fortune to have a wagon, now drag it," make you smile while offering ancient truths. This is an enjoyable and educational collection that you will come back to time and time again.

This important book needs translating into English NOW!

I read this work in the original Catalan and only wish there was an English translation so that more people would get to read this thought provoking work.

Through a study which ranges from the earliest hominids to modern man, Carbonell (& Co) ask the questions: What makes us human? At what point did we become human? Is the process still on-going? What distinguishes us from our "cousins" on the evolutionary tree (such as the Neanderthals), etc...

The authors' conclusions advance our thinking in paleontology, psychology, linguistics and anthropology and their redefinition of what it means to be human needs to reach as wide a readership as possible.

We always remember certain books as "life changing" - this was definitely one of those for me.

Machado de Assis used to publish his books weekly on newspapers abou a hundred years ago. His literary work is one of the best in Portuguese language - that he mastered as few did. Besides the perfect use of language, Machado is famous for the psicological insights on his characters. With these characteristics, Machado published "O Memorial de Aires" (Aires Journal) periodically and reached two levels of readers: those that were interested in an easy-reading story, with love affairs depicted in a simple plot, and those who wanted more than that - those who were seraching for the dephtness of human relationship and behavior. Along with that, his books bring a colourful image of Rio de Janeiro (and Brazil) of the XIX century. Not only captivating, his books are entertainig and delicious. Soap-operas, nowadays, would be as good as his books - if they had that second level only Machado could reach

This book is raw and angry, but a satisfying read nonetheless. Poverty, murder, fights and most of all hunger are the main themes in this book. But what keeps you interested is her wonderfull insights on life and her overwhelming love for her children. Toward the end it starts to lag, after all, it is a diary that was not meant for publication. The characters are scattered and it's a bit repetitive, but the important thing is she takes you into her world. That, in my mind, is the gift of a talented author

Just an outstanding account of real life in Rio de Janeiro. Carolina is a true heroine in her own right. She goes against the social standards and works to support her children by herself. It is a great book about the trials of the human heart-and Carolina certainly triumphs over them.

the daily diary of the Carolina De Jesus describes a daily hard life of a woman, who picked up paper and metal everyday just to get enough money to feed her children. Also, in her diary she describes the horrible realatioship of the government to the people of the lower class.. The hunger and poorness of these people clearly illustrates in this book. The contest of these book clearly reflevt it's title, "Child of The Dark."

"Bitita's Diary" by Carolina Maria de Jesus was a very interesting testimonial about a young black girl growing up in Brazil. Bitita had to face many obstacles throughtout her life, beginning in her childhood years. Many people in her onw family would (did) not accept her because of her dark skin and kinky hair. She was not allowed to enter the homes of her mulatto relatives. Bitita was treated different from her brother because he was of a lighter complextion. She was very curious as a child which irritated her mother and older relatives (she would constantly question different theories/aspects of life. As Bitita grew up she found that life was difficult, and she had to work very hard to maintain in society. For example, Bitita was very sick and was had an infection in her leg; yet she still worked on that leg as much as she could until she could not work anymore. In all, this book was a great exapmle of a testimonial. You were able to view the world as Bitita saw it and see the hardships that she had to face throughout her life.

Bitita's Diary by Carolina Maria de Jesus is a wonderful testimonial depicting the life of a poor, black, Brazilian woman. Bitita takes the reader first hand through her life from a young girl to a mature woman. Most importantly, this book opened my eyes to class, gender, and race relations in Latin America. Not only is Bitita discriminated against because she is black, but she also feels discrimination because she is poor and a woman. Despite her misfortunes and sicknesses, Bitita becomes quite educated (mainly self-taught). Through Carolina Maria de Jesus' style of writing, the reader can see just how spunky and inquisitive of a child Bitita was. The innocence of a child can see truths and wrongs quite easily, unlike us adults. Not only does Bitita question these wrongs - she argues them loudly and openly. For this, I admire Bitita. This book was an easy read because of the author's frankness and honesty. The background settings were well explained which lead to the complete understanding of why Bitita acted the way she did. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Latin American culture, or the plight of gender, class, and race issues.

I felt that the book Bitita's Diary by Carolina Maria de Jesus was an excellent testimonial about a young girl growing up in Brazil during the early 1900s. As a young girl living in the favelas near Sacramento, she faced many hardships because of her race, gender, and class. She was discriminated in every which way because she was a women of darker skin who belonged to the lower class. Throughout all the obstacles that she faced in life, she still seemed to conquer the impossible. She recieved an education which helped to succeed in life. I really did enjoy this book because Bitita took you on a journey through her thoughts and feelings. She forced you to endure the suffering that she felt during her hard times, yet she also let you enjoy her happiness during good times. What I also enjoyed about the book is that by it being testimonial it challenges "offical history." Many time there is only one side to the story, but through Bitita's writing, one can see how a young girl of the lower class viewed the Brazilian Revolution of 1930 differently than others.

I used this book in a 1st year college course and found it to be very thorough in it's content, It did not assume I already new the basics but explained every section thoroughly. I recomend it.

Why we feel so special about ourselves? Because we know everything about ourselves. Matute reflects here (and in the others books of the trilogy, The Trap and First Memory) how our childhood shapes our future life, and how we cannot do much about it. We can understand our life because we know all things that happened to us, since childhood. Trying to make to understand it to other people is the main problem of living with somebody. Yes, Matute hits the right string inside our souls, and with her wonderful prose, poetically talks about friendship, love and hate, fears and beliefs, during the Spanish civil war. A war that changed the life of the characters of the novel in a very profound way, with no blood nor suffering, but with deep feelings. Only Matute can convince us of the importance of the most secret feelings in our everyday life. I recommend you to read first First Memory, although is not required.