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Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month
September 15 - October 15, 2007

Novels About Mexican Americans Covering the Years 1940-1979

Prepared By
RIK GUTIERREZ
Chicano Resource Center Librarian (September 2002)
Chicano Resource Center

Heart of Aztlan

By Rudolfo Anaya

One son is sucked into the Pachuco culture that flourished in the 1940's and 1950's.

The Plum Plum Pickers

By Raymond Barrio

It emphasizes life in migrant camps and the working conditions of Chicano farm workers in the mid-1960's.

The Devil in Texas/El Diablo en Texas

By Aristeo Brito

There are two large sections in the book that begin in the year 1942 and later in 1979.

Cactus Blood

By Lucha Corpi

The trail of this mystery leads back to former activists in the 1970's.

Delia's Song

By Lucha Corpi

This mystery covers the 1960's.

Eulogy for a Brown Angel

By Lucha Corpi

This mystery begins in the 1970's during the Chicano Civil Rights Movement.

Maravilla

By Laura del Fuego

Set in the 1960's.

Leaving Home

By Lionel G Garcia,

Set partly in the 1940's, this story examines the act of breaking family ties for an unknown, uncertain future.

Dark Side of the Dream

By Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez

Starting during World War II, this covers Chicano issues after the war.

Klail City, a Novel

By Rolando Hinojosa

This is the translation of Klail City y Sus Alrededores. This and the following three novels show the world of a Chicano community in south Texas in the 1960's and the 1970's.

Claros Varones de Belken:Fair Gentlemen of Belken

By Rolando Hinojosa

Dear Rafe

By Rolando Hinojosa

This is the revised and translated version of Mi Querido Rafe

Estampas del valle y otras obras : Sketches of the Valley and Other Works

By Rolando Hinojosa

The Useless Servants

By Rolando Hinojosa

The narration is from a Korean War journal written by a Mexican American.

The Rain God: a Desert Tale

By Arturo Islas

Beginning in the decade of the 1940's, this novel explores the history and psychology of Mexican Americans born and educated in the U.S.

Two Ranges

By Roberto C Medina

Autobiographical in scope, the narrator recreates his life between 1938 and 1974.

Pilgrims in Aztlan

By Miguel Mendez

This is a translation of Peregrinos de Aztlan (c1974). It offers penetrating views of barrio dwellers including a Vietnam veteran who live in the American Southwest.

Old Faces and New Wine

By Alejandro Morales

This is a translation of Caras Viejas y Vino Nuevo. This is a compendium of barrio life in the 1950's and 1960's.

The Collected Stories of Amado Muro

By Amado (Chester E. Seltzer) Muro

Muro writes about working in the fields as a farmhand and following the crops.

Blue Day on Main Street

By J. L. Navarro

Three short stories about "los vatos", whose aspirations and aversions are expressed with sympathy.

Bracero

By Eugene Nelson

A story of Mexican migrant workers trying to get into California.

...y no se lo trago la tierra/...and the earth did not part

By Tomas Rivera

The twelve short stories deal with a year in the life of a seasonal worker in Texas in the 1950's.

East Side Dreams

By Art Rodriguez

The novel starts in 1966 and tells about a difficult childhood and young adulthood that includes prison time.

What Now My Love

By Floyd Salas

Set during the tumultuous late 1960's, it involves the protagonist's flight from prosecution after a drug bust.

Lay My Body on the Line

By Floyd Salas

Also set in the 1960's, this story revolves around a college professor's paranoia as an anti-Vietnam War and Black Panther activist.

Hay Plesha Lichans tu di Flac

By Saul Sanchez

Short stories of the migrant worker experience and the Vietnam War.

Chicano

By Richard Vasquez

The last two generations covered in the book begin their stories after World War II as they encounter problems in getting a good education, discrimination and assimilation in the society.

Giant Killer

By Richard Vasquez

The main plot reminds one of prevalent attitudes in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

Pocho

By Jose Antonio Villarreal

This is considered the first Chicano novel. In its latter parts it covers the emergence of the pachucos in Los Angeles and events during World War II.

Macho

By Edmundo (now Victor) Villasenor

It concerns the fight to end the bracero program.

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Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month | 2000 Census Facts & Figures, Revised 2002
A Selected Reading List | Novels About Mexican Americans, 1940-1979