Now that we are empty nesters, and there are no more children in our house, my husband and I have a Chihuahua. Her name is Blanca and she rules our house. We spoil her and do whatever she says. My favorite part of living with Blanca is the song and dance she does when I get home…She sings the “Barbie Song” but with her own Lyrics… “I’m a Blanca-girl, in a Blanca World. My Mommy loves me…My Daddy loves me.” She’s so silly, but we love her anyway.
Visit Guadalupe Garcia McCall’s website at guadalupegarciamccall.com
Guadalupe Garcia-McCall’s 2013 Workshop: WRITING A NARRATIVE POEM
Participants in this workshop will use a Memory Web to focus on a special memory as inspiration for writing a lively, narrative poem full of sensory details and personal charm.
Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Grades 7-10
Pages 224
When Lupita learns Mami has cancer, she is terrified by the possibility of losing her mother, the anchor of her close-knit family. Suddenly, being a high school student, starring in a play, and dealing with friends who don’t always understand, become less important than doing whatever she can to save Mami’s life.
While her father cares for Mami at an out-of-town clinic, Lupita takes charge of her seven younger siblings. As Lupita struggles to keep the family afloat, she takes refuge in the shade of a mesquite tree, where she escapes the chaos at home to write. Forced to face her limitations in the midst of overwhelming changes and losses, Lupita rediscovers her voice and finds healing in the power of words.
Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall