Narrative writing with latinx teens: testimonios, texts, and teaching

I’m thrilled to share the book of my heart, where I weave together my experience teaching writing, ethnic studies, and Latinx youth literature. Chapters have lesson sequences with a multimedia introduction, poetry immersion, middle-grade literature, and young adult literature.

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Writing for Remembrance, Release, and Resistance: Narrative Writing With Latinx Teens: Testimonios, Texts, and Teaching Book Talk.

The Ethyle R. Wolfe Institute at Brooklyn College. March 13, 2025.

Multimodal Text Sets for Creative Writing Inspiration

Chapters two through six in Narrative Writing with Latinx Teens: Testimonios, Texts, and Teaching feature multimodal texts across the lessons. Lesson one grounds us in the topic at hand with multimedia, lesson two with poetry, lesson three with middle-grade literature, and lesson four with young adult literature. All sources are linked below. Please contact me here if any of the links are down.

Lesson 1:

• We Still Here documentary trailer

• Investigative journalist Bianca Graulau’s documentary Aquí Vive Gente on Bad Bunny’s “El Apagón” music video [begins at 4:35 minutes].

• Sí, Se Puede: The Latino Heroes Who Changed the United States graphic novel by Julio Anta, illustrated by Yasmín Flores Montañez

Lesson 2:

• Ariana Brown’s “23” spoken word poetry performance

• “Afro-Mexican Poetics” conversation and poetry readings with Alan Pelaez Lopez and Ariana Brown

• Darrel Alejandro Holnes’ “Amending Wall” poem on the Poetry Unbound podcast

Lesson 3:

• “Crane Poem Gallery” and “Sanctuary Breakfast” by Aida Salazar in Land of the Cranes

• Imagine by Juan Felipe Herrera (poem, picture book, or video)

• Hear My Voice/ Escucha mi voz: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States (booktrailer)

Lesson 4:

• The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante

• Latinx KidLit Book Festival “Fantastical y Más Fuerte: Contemporary Takes on Immigration” video

Lesson 1:

• “The Kids Are Not Alright: The Mental Health Crisis Affecting Latina Teens” Vice video.

• GLSEN National School Climate Survey and State Snapshot

Lesson 2:

• The Carrying and The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón

• “To Be Made Whole” On Being podcast episode (features poems from The Carrying and The Hurting Kind)

• The Pain We Carry: Healing from Complex PTSD for People of Color by Natalie Y. Gutiérrez

Lesson 3:

• Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango

• The Horn Book Magazine “Publishers’ Preview: Debut Authors: Five Questions for Andrea Beatriz Arango”

• Latinx KidLit Book Festival “How Do Writers Use Poetry to Tell a Story with Andrea Beatriz Arango” video

• Follet Learning “First Chapter Friday: Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango” video

Lesson 4:

• The Making of Yolanda La Bruja by Lorraine Avila

• “Lorraine Avila Talks Being an Author and Using Her Voice to Stand Up for Issues in Her Community” Growing Up Latina podcast episode video

• “Lorraine Avila’s Debut Novel Explores Brujería, Afro-Latina Girlhood, and Community” by Sofia Aguilar for Hip Latina website

Chaper Four: Learning a New Language, Learning a New Me

Lesson 1:

• “Translanguaging in 15 Minutes” by Dr. Mike Mena on The Social Life of Language YouTube channel

Lesson 2:

• “Translation” by Yesika Salgado (spoken word performance)

• “Translation for Mamá” and “My Father in English” poems by Richard Blanco in Homeland of My Body: New and Selected Poems

Lesson 3:

• The Year I Flew Away by Marie Arnold

• We Need Diverse Books blog “Marie Arnold Writes So Immigrant Readers Feel Seen” by Karis Rogerson

Lesson 4:

• “Karla Sánchez and Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil” from Daughters of Latin America: An International Anthology of Writing by Latine Women edited by Sandra Guzmán