They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid's Poems

They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid's Poems

<div><div><div><b>2019 Pura Belpré Honor Book</b></div><div><b>2019 Walter Dean Myers Honor Book for Outstanding Children's Literature</b></div><div><b></b></div><div><b>2019 Claudia Lewis Award for Excellence in Poetry</b></div><div><b>2019 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award</b></div></div><div><div><b>2018 Jean Flynn Award for Best Middle Grade Book</b></div></div><div><b>ALSC Notable Children's Book, 2019</b></div></div><div><b>A <i>School Library Journal </i>Best Book of 2018, </b><b>Middle Grade</b></div><div><b>Shelf Awareness 2018 Best Children's & Teen Books of the Year, Middle Grade </b></div><div><b>NCTE 2019 Notable Verse Novels</b></div><div><b>Américas Award 2019 Commended Title</b></div><div><b></b></div> <span><div><span></span></div><div><span></span></div><br />Twelve-year-old Güero is Mexican American, at home with Spanish or English and on both sides of the river. He's starting 7th grade with a woke English teacher who knows how to make poetry cool. </span><br /><br /><span>In Spanish, "Güero" is a nickname for guys with pale skin, Latino or Anglo. But make no mistake: our red-headed, freckled hero is puro mexicano, like Canelo Álvarez, the Mexican boxer. Güero is also a nerd--reader, gamer, musician--who runs with a squad of misfits like him, Los Bobbys. Sure, they get in trouble like anybody else, and like other middle-school boys, they discover girls. Watch out for Joanna! She's tough as nails. </span><br /><br /><span>But trusting in his family's traditions, his accordion and his bookworm squad, he faces seventh grade with book smarts and a big heart. Life is tough for a border kid, but Güero has figured out how to cope. </span><br /><br /><span>He writes poetry.</span>