The award is presented annually at a ceremony at the Library of Congress during Hispanic Heritage Month, along with coordinating workshops for teachers. The Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature is literary award presented annually that recognizes high quality 'children’s and young adult books that portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States, and to provide teachers with recommendations for classroom use.' It was first awarded in 1993 by the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP). 'About this title' may belong to another edition of this title.Children's and young adult book award Américas AwardĮncourage and commend authors, illustrators and publishers who produce quality children’s and young adult books that portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States, and to provide teachers with recommendations for classroom useĬonsortium of Latin American Studies Programs, coordinated by Tulane University’s Stone Center for Latin American Studies and Vanderbilt University’s Center for Latin American Studies Julie Halverstadt, Douglas Public Library District, Castle Rock, COĬopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Readers can sense the angst and terror of a child torn between adults in this complex tale of conflict, set against the battling emotions of the main character and those who love him. Spanish phrases and slang lend authenticity to the text and serve to contrast the New Mexico setting with that of suburban Iowa. But when Billy is picked up by the police after a fight and his fingerprints match those of a boy who has been missing for six years, his uncle drives down from Iowa to take him back to a life now completely alien to him a life where he is William Campbell, not Billy Melendez. He loves his father, and understands the man's gruff, no-nonsense personality. He has adjusted to his new life-he hunts and ropes calves and has friends. The novel opens six years after the kidnapping, with Billy, now 16, living with his father in a predominantly Hispanic community in rural New Mexico.

The Campbells provided the only family he had ever known, until his father, a rodeo cowboy, kidnapped him. William Campbell was raised by his mother's sister and her husband. Grade 7-10-Roybal's novel relates with wrenching clarity the pain and confusion that adults sometimes inflict on their children.

Billy by Laura Roybal