jld Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Dd15 would like to start reading some Spanish books, and wants original works (she specifically said no translations). She could read classics, but would especially like to read teen or children's novels by contemporary Spanish or Latin American authors (even books from 50-60 years ago are okay, too; the point is to find out what young people might read apart from classics). Unfortunately, the only author I am familiar with for this age group is Elvira Lindo, who wrote the Manolito series for pre-teen boys, so I am not much help.:D Mabelen, or others, would you please share what your teens or pre-teens are reading in Spanish? Gracias!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2bee Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Thanks for reminding me. I'm having the same problem as your daughter and I've been meaning to ask some of my Latin American friends from school, I will go to the lounge today and try to find out some good original authors... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ester Maria Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 I know you said no classics, but I can't resist. :tongue_smilie: Calderon is so wonderful, my 14 yo discovered him some time ago and she loves him. With regard to poetry, there are a few poems by Lorca and Machado that she loves too, and of course Manrique, I think Cadalso "disappeared" from the shelf once too and it was probably due to her, but I didn't ask her afterward how she liked him. She also loves Borges though, but Garcia Marquez didn't "click" with her when a friend tried to offer him to her. But Borges was a big hit, and classical golden age theatre. I'm not sure she read anything non-classical regarding Spanish literature, but I still wanted to let you know which were the things she liked, as she's approximately the same age as your daughter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2bee Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Sorry, today no one was around. I guess I'm in the minority in that I go to school on Saturday....PM me Mon or Tues and I'll try to remember to ask around, okay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jld Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 Well, dd just read my original post and said that I am the one who does not want her to start with the classics, and that she would be just fine with them. :D So maybe we will just start there, if I don't get any recs, and don't find any on my own. I don't really enjoy reading lit in other languages, and not even a lot in English. When I read, I mostly read non-fiction. In college, I wasn't very good at picking apart Spanish or even English literature, and I don't really want to relive that, though maybe it would be different now. I studied Spanish to be able to speak it well; that's really what draws me to any language. I want to be able to reach out to people in their languages, and not always have them having to reach out to me in mine. EM, thanks for sharing what your dd has enjoyed in Spanish. I didn't realize she read Spanish. She is studying French, too, right? I don't know if you are interested in having her read contemporary French authors, but my dd has really enjoyed Anne Pietri's novels. I'm sure they don't have the depth your dd is used to, but if she ever wants something lighter, she may want to try them. :) mom2bee, thanks for your offer. If you ever think of it, that's great, but don't worry about it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ester Maria Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 EM, thanks for sharing what your dd has enjoyed in Spanish. I didn't realize she read Spanish. She is studying French, too, right? I don't know if you are interested in having her read contemporary French authors, but my dd has really enjoyed Anne Pietri's novels. I'm sure they don't have the depth your dd is used to, but if she ever wants something lighter, she may want to try them. :) She reads it bilingually, actually - I think it's a shame not to access the original if you have the means to, since much of the language does transfer, but at the same time, I don't think it would do her much good to disperge her energy by formally studying Spanish too, so she opted for formal French and occasional reading in Spanish, aided by Italian translations. :) Thanks for the French recommendation, I should indeed get her start reading independently in French soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2bee Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Okay, so when I went today, only one young woman was there. She is Latina, but was born and raised in the states, but she's fully bilingaul in English and Spanish, her parents made sure of it. Which of course means she has no appreciation for learners of a 2nd langauge....Anyway,. I had to ask her for recommendations and I told her I wanted modern, young adult and childrens books and such but all she gave me were a list of authors of classics. (She refused to give me anything else. :glare:) I'm sure this a list of highly talented authors and they've produced some amazing works, hopefully someone will find this a good starting point... Gabriel Garcia Marquez Julio Cortazar Isabel Allende Jorge Luis Borges Julia Alverez Reinaldo Arenas Junot Diaz Ana Lydia Vega Oscar Acosta Mario Vargas LLosa Josefina Pla (Plu?) Augosto Roa Bastos I recommend browsing around this site also, for some reading in various languages on a simpler level... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jld Posted March 23, 2011 Author Share Posted March 23, 2011 . but all she gave me were a list of authors of classics. (She refused to give me anything else. :glare:) She probably doesn't know any. We do have native Spanish speakers on these boards, but they aren't posting on this thread, and I think it might be because they don't have anything to recommend. Dh wouldn't have been able to recommend French authors for dd, either; I was the one going into the Salon du Livre Jeunesse in Paris every year for 3 years trying to get familiar with the young adult lit scene there. It's great to read the classics, but it's fun to see what contemporary fiction kids might be reading in other countries, too. Dd has read various French authors, and likes their work, but she says that the most interesting juvenile lit authors today write in English. I'd like to see that challenged . . .:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabelen Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 She probably doesn't know any. We do have native Spanish speakers on these boards, but they aren't posting on this thread, and I think it might be because they don't have anything to recommend. Dh wouldn't have been able to recommend French authors for dd, either; I was the one going into the Salon du Livre Jeunesse in Paris every year for 3 years trying to get familiar with the young adult lit scene there. It's great to read the classics, but it's fun to see what contemporary fiction kids might be reading in other countries, too. Dd has read various French authors, and likes their work, but she says that the most interesting juvenile lit authors today write in English. I'd like to see that challenged . . .:D I am afraid you are right. I really don't have a lot of recommendations as far as Spanish authors for teens. I would suggest either searching in collections such as Barco de vapor http://www.literaturasm.com/Home-ebv.html for Spanish speaking authors or even in the International Childrens Library http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ choosing Show Spanish books and Ten to Thirteen for age in the Simple Search feature under Read Books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 (edited) We do have native Spanish speakers on these boards, but they aren't posting on this thread, and I think it might be because they don't have anything to recommend. I'm not a native Spanish speaker, but I'm not a native German speaker either, and I could come up with tons of recs in German: Cornelia Funke, Michael Ende, Paul Maar, Kai Mayer – there are lots more, and each of those authors are very prolific. I'm not sure if there isn't as much juvenile/teen lit written in Spanish or what. If I look at a foreign language book store, the Spanish titles for younger folk are virtually all translations. I just got the Continental Books catalog in the mail; it's got pages of Spanish books for kids and teens - all translations. Originals abound for adults... I'm going to try to go through a book called Cajas de cartón with my older kids - it was written in English by a Mexican-American author (Francisco Jiménez) about his childhood as a sharecropper, but he did the translation himself, so that's almost as good as writing it in Spanish in the first place. There are also two sequels that follow his life story through college. I'd love it if Julia Alvarez', Sandra Cisernos' or Pam Muñoz Ryan's books were written in Spanish, but they write in English, and other translators translate them, so other than the fact that the stories are about Spanish-speaking/bilingual characters they aren't really any better than any other translated book, from a linguistic standpoint. All those authors do write good YA books, though, and virtually all are available in Spanish, if not originally written in them. There is one series for young adults written by Isabel Allende, who still writes in Spanish even though she now lives in the US - I just remembered those. The first book is La ciudad de las bestias. Frustration. I've been :bigear: hoping someone else would have more ideas. One fantastic series I've found for younger kids is the Celia books by Elena Fortún. They are set in the 1930s in Spain, and follow the story of a young girl, who is always getting herself in trouble (in very funny ways). While the main character is younger, I think they could still be very fun to read for older kids. They are novels, not picture books. There was a TV series based on them in Spain that we love. Edited March 30, 2011 by matroyshka Edited to add links Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somewhere mom Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 La Ciudad de las Bestias by Isabel Allende is pretty good for that age group. I do not know which kind of book you are looking for. Will give you a list of some of the books I read in High School! You said Gabriel Garcia Marquez did not click with her but have you tried some of his short stories? He has a book, which was the first one I read from him while I was in High School, called Relato de un Naufrago which is very entertaining. I loved Cien Anos de Soledad but if she is not into "realismo magico" she might not like it. Also, Rosario Ferre wrote a book called The House on the Lagoon (not in High School)which is very good also for that age group. It is in English but it is the story of a family in Puerto Rico. Might be explicit in some parts. Isabel Allende also has Eva Luna, De Amor y De Sombra, and La Casa de los Espiritus. There might be some graphic scenes there if I recall correctly but it has been YEARS since I read them. They are also part of the movement called "realismo magico", just in case! Magali Garcia Ramis has a book called Felices Dias Tio Sergio which I also read in High School and it is very good. Humberto Eco - El Nombre de la Rosa is a thriller in a monastery. Esmeralda Santiago (not in High School) also has a few book about her coming of age when she moved to the States from Puerto Rico and the process of assimilation. Her personal story is quite interesting! The ones that I've read in recent years are a bit more explicit in nature but if you need more recommendations let me know! Can you tell where I am from? ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest manhattan Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 I would suggest: MarÃa Teresa León César Fernández GarcÃa Carmen Baroja and some wikipedia suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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