Review Detail

Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed
(Updated: August 16, 2021)
Overall rating
 
5.0
Writing Style
 
N/A
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Learning Value
 
N/A
What worked: Rich collection of essays from fifteen Latinx authors on finding one's identity. I loved these tales, where Latinx authors shared their own experiences and discoveries.

Some of my favorites:

The Mark of a Good Man by Meg Medina. She shares her family history of being Cuban. When an uncle comes to the states, whispers from family circulate on what happened to him while in Cuba.

Eres Un Pocho by Mark Oshiro. Haunting, raw portrayal of a queer brown male navigating his own identity in a white world. This essay was powerful as Oshiro starts at age seven with questions others ask of who is is to later in life when he learns to love himself.

The Land, the Ghosts, and Me by Cristina Arreola. An important part of Arreola's identity was coming to terms with the dead in her life. This was important to her not only a person, but as an El Pasoan, and a Latina. I really loved this essy as it shows the power of drawing from one's ancestors through such customs as remembering them. The author leaving presents for her dead mother reminds me of my own ofrenda, altar, I put together for my mother who passed. The beauty of this custom is shown throughout this essay.

There's more in this engaging portrayal of authors sharing their own pasts and how they learned to embrace who they were and not what society expected of them. I totally loved how many of these essays resonated with me.
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