*"This superb anthology of short stories, comics, and poems is fresh, funny, and full of authentic YA voices revealing what it means to be Mexican American . . . Not to be missed."— SLC, starred review *"Superlative . . . A memorable collection." — Booklist, starred review *" Voices reach out from the pages of this anthology . . . It will make a lasting impression on all readers." —SLJ, starred review Twenty stand-alone short stories, essays, poems, and more from celebrated and award-winning authors make up this YA anthology that explores the Mexican American experience. With works by Francisco X. Stork, Guadalupe Garcia McCall, David Bowles, Rubén Degollado, e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, Diana López, Xavier Garza, Trinidad Gonzales, Alex Temblador, Aida Salazar, Guadalupe Ruiz-Flores, Sylvia Sánchez Garza, Dominic Carrillo, Angela Cervantes, Carolyn Dee Flores, René Saldaña Jr., Justine Narro, Daniel García Ordáz, and Anna Meriano. In this mixed-media collection of short stories, personal essays, poetry, and comics, this celebrated group of authors share the borders they have crossed, the struggles they have pushed through, and the two cultures they continue to navigate as Mexican Americans. Living Beyond Borders is at once an eye-opening, heart-wrenching, and hopeful love letter from the Mexican American community to today's young readers. A powerful exploration of what it means to be Mexican American.
Authors
I grew up in Houston with an older brother and a younger brother and a large but close-knit network of aunts, uncles, and cousins spreading across the state of Texas. I graduated from Rice University with a degree in English, and earned my MFA in creative writing with an emphasis in writing for children from the New School in New York. There I was lucky to meet CAKE Literary founders Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra, who started me on the Love Sugar Magic journey. I live in Houston with my dog Cisco. I have taught creative writing and high school English and currently work as a tutor for students of all ages across Houston. In my free time I love knitting, playing full-contact quidditch, and singing along to songs in English, Spanish, and American Sign Language.
Alex Temblador is the Texas-based author of the award-winning novel, Secrets of the Casa Rosada. Her second novel, HALF OUTLAW, is forthcoming from Blackstone Publishing (2022). Her debut novel has won such awards like the Middle Grade/ Young Adult Discovery Prize Winner of the 2018 Writers' League of Texas Book Awards, Kirkus' Best of YA Books of 2018, the NACCS Tejas Foco Young Adult Award 2019, the Texas Library Association's TAYSHA's Nomination, and received a Starred Kirkus Review. When she's not working on her next novel, Alex is a full-time freelance travel, arts, culture, and design writer and teaches the occasional seminar on creative writing. Alex loves literary fiction with a multicultural or diversity aspect and prefers to write about family dynamics, race, ethnicity, and identity.
David Bowles is a Mexican American author and translator from south Texas. He has written several award-winning titles, most notably THEY CALL ME GÜERO and MY TWO BORDER TOWNS His work has also been published in multiple anthologies, plus venues such as The New York Times, Strange Horizons, School Library Journal, Rattle, Translation Review, and the Journal of Children’s Literature. Additionally, David has worked on several TV/film projects. In 2019, he co-founded the hashtag and activist movement #DignidadLiteraria, which has negotiated greater Latinx representation in publishing. He is presently the vice president of the Texas Institute of Letters.
