Las lágrimas de Xóchitl

BASIC INFO	LANGUAGE LEVEL	COMPREHENSION-AIDING FEATURES
Book Title Las lágrimas de Xochitl (Xochitl’s tears) Author(s) Virginia Hildebrandt Illustrator(s) Black and white photographs, uncredited Cover art by Ana Vasileva Chapter art by Virginia HIldebrandt (author) Other Contributors (none) Published by One Good Story LLC Genre Folklore and Legends / Realistic Fiction Publication date 2016 #Ownvoices No	From the author/publisher’s website Novice low / mid or Levels 1 and 2 Total Word Count (not listed)	Illustrations YES Glossary YES Guiding Questions NO Context YES Other Explanatory notes

IDENTITIES PRESENT IN THE TEXT		SYNOPSIS
Races, Ethnicities, and Nationalities White Indigenous – Maya Kaqchikel Guatemalan American Languages spoken Spanish English Maya Kaqchikel Sex and Genders Female Male Ages Teenager: 13-18 Young Adult: 18-35 Mid-life Adult: 35-65 Social classes Poor Other: students from the United States travel to Guatemala to help build a school	Sexual Orientation None mentioned in text (Dis)Abilities and Neurotypes None mentioned in text Religions, Syncretism, and Spirituality Christian: ”a group of fifteen people from Minnesota who are volunteers from a church that participates with the organization Hug it Forward” (p. 60) Other: The main character has a Mayan cultural belief that the jaguar protects the people. Relationship and Family Structures Single parent Communal/village-based Body Descriptions Not mentioned in text	From the author/publisher’s website When wild animals close in to stalk the remote village, no one in San Felipe is safe. After a vicious attack, Xóchitl’s responsibilities become complicated when she must care for her injured brother while avoiding nosey neighbors. With her family and her dreams in jeopardy the rugged realities of Xóchitl’s daily life give her the resiliency to face disappointment, the danger of what lurks in the dark and the secret of B’alam. Las lágrimas de Xóchitl is the first in a set of two.

ILLUSTRATIONS	STORY	SOCIAL JUSTICE
To what extent do the illustrations present positive and thoughtful representations of identities? The book contains photographs and illustrations, some of which contribute more to building background knowledge than representing the characters. Unfortunately, both the photographs and illustrations are uncredited, leaving uncertainty about whether the author captured the images herself or obtained them from the internet. While there is a photograph of a character from the United States at the end of the book, there is a notable absence of a photograph that distinctly represents the main character, Xóchitl.	We understand identities are complex and no single story represents the spectrum of identity-based experiences. Also, a text may address a stereotype, misrepresentation, or generalization without relying on it. *Does any stereotype, misrepresentation, or generalization affect any positive and thoughtful representations of identities in the text?* Problems faced by characters with an identity belonging to a marginalized group are resolved through the benevolent intervention of a white person, a male, a straight person, a body-abled person, etc. (saviorism) Characters of color are assumed to have low family wealth, low educational attainment and/or low income. Female characters are not in a variety of roles that could also be filled by a male character. Characters of diverse backgrounds are represented stereotypically, or presented as foreign or exotic or are tokenized. (microaggressions)	This section is for teachers who are working towards sourcing more texts within the four domains of anti-bias education. We are excited about reading all books and we understand that not all books are written for this specific purpose. *Does this text work toward goals within any of the* four domains of anti-bias education as defined by Learning for Justice? Justice: Raise awareness of prejudice and injustice Action: Motivate students to act by highlighting individual and collective struggles against injustice

LLLAB’s REVIEW
Las lágrimas de Xóchitl (Xóchitl’s tears) narrates and describes the life of Xóchtil, a 14 year-old girl that lives in San Felipe B’alam, Guatemala. Xóchitl lives in an indigenous village with her mother and siblings. Xóchitl and her family are Maya Kaqchikel. The story describes Xóchitl’s desire to learn English and go to school in Guatemala City (the capital of Guatemala) to continue to learn more English. She currently attends the village school and learns English with Profe Shawn, a U.S. American that lives and works in Guatemala City, who travels periodically to the village school to teach English. Xóchitl’s older brother works in the fields and is attacked by an animal as Xóchitl prepares to take an English exam to win a chance to attend school in the capital. This book is the first in a series and it ends without a resolution. This book centers a Maya Kaqchikel indigenous community in Guatemala, with a focus on Xochitl’s family. The author provides some basic background information on the indigenous communities of Guatemala to support reader comprehension. The LLLAB Board has not communicated with members of Maya Kaqchikel communities to confirm the author’s representations. In the author’s acknowledgements, she mentions a personal trip to Guatemala where she, like some of her characters, participated as a volunteer in building a school. Xochitl’s family demonstrates love for each other in their efforts to help one another. The value of family is present throughout their town, which creates a strong sense of community. For example, “[Xóchitl] se preocupa mucho por la familia. Atzin está enfermo y la familia tiene hambre. Cuando pueden, los vecinos les dan unos frijoles o unas tortillas…” / [Xóchitl] worries a lot about her family. Atzin is sick and the family is hungry. When they can, the neighbors give them beans and tortillas… (pp. 48-49). One example in the book that demonstrates the community’s self-sufficiency is when Xóchitl’s brother, Atzin, finds a solution for her as she struggles to see at night while studying for her English test. The family does not have electricity and Xochitl has difficulty reading by firelight (p. 27), so Atzin takes Xóchitl to a place where she can read by moonlight: “Ella se sienta en una roca grande y lee los libros en inglés por la luz de la luna” / She sits on a big rock and reads the books in English by the light of the moon (p. 31). The family is depicted as hardworking and responsible. The older brother, Atzín, works in the field. Xóchitl does housework, takes care of the family’s chickens, and takes care of her younger siblings. Also, Xóchitl values education and studies hard: “A ella le encanta leer y aprender sobre su país y el mundo fuera del pueblo pequeño donde vive” / She loves to read and learn about her country and the world outside of the small village where she lives (p. 8). Xóchitl is fascinated by the clothing and celebrities that she sees in magazines from the United States, and learning English is presented as desirable for Xóchitl and her classmates. “Saben que aprender inglés es una oportunidad increíble para los estudiantes de San Felipe” / They know that learning English is an incredible opportunity for the students of San Felipe (p. 21). A teacher may wish to guide a student discussion on the main character’s reasons for learning English as it relates to language acquisition and the potential power and/or benefits of learning languages. Xóchitl and her family are indigenous. The author describes their life as “different” but doesn’t always contrast them with others from whom they differ. This can leave the impression that Xóchitl and her family are “other” or “different” from the reader. “La gente indígena vive una vida muy diferente” / The indigenous people live a very different life (p. 6). A teacher may wish to point to other moments in the book where Xóchitl’s rural community is specifically contrasted with Guatemalans living in the city. The teacher may also wish to invite students to identify similarities between their lives and Xóchitl’s. The author gives a lot of information about Xóchitl’s rural community. Sometimes that information is simplified and generalized. The teacher may need to be careful to avoid stereotypes of indigenous peoples who are “poor but happy”: “Las personas de los pueblos son pobres. No tienen mucho dinero” / The people of the town are poor. They don’t have a lot of money (p. 7). In another example, the text states, “No les piden muchas cosas materiales a sus padres. Están contentos y no quieren una vida complicada” / They don’t ask for a lot of material things from their parents. They are happy and don’t want a complicated life (p. 12). A teacher may also wish to supplement this fictional story with non-fiction and/or authentic resources that can show the diversity of life in Guatemala. Teachers may also wish to incorporate texts in which Maya Kaqchikel communities share about their traditional lifeways. The author suggests that Xóchitl herself wants more from life than she can find in her hometown, though it is not clear what she wants and why: “Está triste porque quiere conocer el mundo fuera de los límites de su pueblo. La vida dentro de los dos cuartos de su casa y los senderos del pueblo pequeño no es suficiente” / She’s sad because she wants to know the world outside of the boundaries of her town. Life within the two rooms of her house and the paths of her small town is not enough” (p. 5). Other characters do not question that Xóchitl would want to leave her community to go to “more developed” areas. Many other students from that community pursue this same goal. No characters push back against the implicit assumptions that the roads to opportunity lead through the English language and the Global North. One of Xóchitl’s teachers is a U.S. American, Shawn Brown, who lives in Guatemala City and travels to the village a few times a week to teach English. Several paragraphs are used to describe Mr. Brown’s dedication and sacrifices to make the difficult trip to Xóchitl’s town. He is the only teacher who has dialogue in the story. By centering Mr. Brown instead of Xóchitl’s local teachers, the story contributes to the erasure of native teachers and their expertise. “Las familias del pueblo saben que las visitas del señor Brown son muy importantes”/ The families of the town know that the visits of Mr. Brown are very important (p. 21). A second group of outsiders comes to Xóchitl’s village in Chapter 10 when a church group from Minnesota working with the NGO Hug It Forward comes to help build a new school in collaboration with the local community. Xóchitl’s friend, who is also Maya Kaqchickel and lives in a nearby community, tells Xóchitl that the school-building project is an “incredible opportunity for San Felipe” / Es una oportunidad increíble para San Felipe (p. 57). The teacher may want to facilitate a discussion on the portrayal of White outsiders as benevolent saviors whose primary role in this story is to help the “poor Guatemalans.” Xóchitl’s family is indigenous (Maya Kaqchikel) and has limited economic resources. As Xóchitl’s mother comments, “Somos pobres” / We are poor (p. 66). The houses in Xóchitl’s village are described as “rustic” and “basic” (p. 14). Xóchitl explains that some children do not have the privilege to attend school because they must work in the fields or help at home (p. 18). When her brother, Atzin, is attacked by a mysterious creature that he believes is the mythical “chupacabras” (p. 43), Xóchitl’s family goes through a difficult time because Atzin is not able to work: “Es un tiempo muy difícil para la familia porque Atzin no puede trabajar. Cuando Atzin no puede trabajar, la familia no tiene comida” / It is a difficult time for the family because Atzin cannot work. When Atzin cannot work, the family does not have food (p. 48). When Katie, a volunteer from the United States, invites Xóchitl to be an exchange student in Minnesota, Xóchitl’s mother says they do not have money and cannot buy the airline ticket: “No es posible. No tenemos dinero. No podemos pagar el boleto de avión. Cuesta mucho. Somos pobres” / It is not possible. We do not have money. We cannot pay for the airline ticket. It costs a lot. We are poor (p. 66). While the text focuses on Xóchitl’s family’s lack of economic resources, it mentions that there are other ways of life in Guatemala: “La capital es una ciudad moderna y la vida es rápida. Hay tanta tecnología como en los Estados Unidos” / The capital is a modern city and life is fast. There is as much technology as in the United States” (p. 8). In comparing Xóchitl’s rural community to the capital city of Guatemala, the text assumes the reader’s point of reference is the United States. The LLLAB Board notes that the United States has economic diversity, and that some readers may have a personal point of reference other than the United States. Thus the teacher may to balance the text’s portrayal of economic poverty in Xóchitl’s community with additional resources that highlight economic diversity within Guatemala, the United States and/or other points of reference. In the story, men and women take on roles that are specific to their gender. Xóchitl remains at home and must take care of her three younger siblings, while her older brother must work in the fields to help care for the family. “Los hombres y los muchachos trabajan en los campos de cultivo. Las mujeres y las muchachas trabajan en casa donde preparan la comida y cuidan a los niños pequeños” / The men and the boys work in the fields. The women and girls work at home where they prepare the food and take care of the small children (p. 8). Xóchitl indicates that her life is the same as all the other women and girls in the village (p. 8). Teachers may wish to discuss gender roles. In the story, the narrator says “la muchacha americana” to refer to a character from the United States (p. 61). In Guatemala, the words “americano” and “americana” refer to everyone from North, Central, and South America; many Guatemalans would use the term “estadounidense” to refer to people from the United States. The teacher should note that many Latin Americans find it offensive when the word “americano” is used to refer only to people from the United States. The character Katie is from the U.S. and her behaviors set up some teachable moments about intercultural conflicts. Katie, who speaks English in the story, says that a Guatemalan breakfast “looked completely gross. I’m so sure I’m gonna eat nasty looking beans and a tortilla. Whatever” (p. 62). Later, when Katie visits Xóchitl’s house, she is surprised by its size yet she chooses to keep these thoughts to herself: “Katie se sorprende cuando ve la casa donde vive Xóchitl. La casa es muy pequeña y rústica. Katie no comprende cómo una familia tan grande puede vivir en una casa tan pequeña. / Katie is surprised when she sees the house where Xóchitl lives. The house is very small and rustic. Katie doesn’t understand how a family so big can live in a house so small (p. 64). Teachers may wish to discuss how visitors to another country may act offensively and politely. The text provides an opportunity for a lesson on how to act if you try food you don’t like, how to respond if someone insults another culture, and overall etiquette when encountering cultures that are new to you. A teacher who intends to leave this book on the shelf for free voluntary reading should know that while Katie’s growth can be inferred, the text itself does not offer explicit counterpoints to the biases in Katie’s thoughts and words.

LLLAB’s REVIEW

Las lágrimas de Xóchitl (Xóchitl’s tears) narrates and describes the life of Xóchtil, a 14 year-old girl that lives in San Felipe B’alam, Guatemala. Xóchitl lives in an indigenous village with her mother and siblings. Xóchitl and her family are Maya Kaqchikel. The story describes Xóchitl’s desire to learn English and go to school in Guatemala City (the capital of Guatemala) to continue to learn more English. She currently attends the village school and learns English with Profe Shawn, a U.S. American that lives and works in Guatemala City, who travels periodically to the village school to teach English. Xóchitl’s older brother works in the fields and is attacked by an animal as Xóchitl prepares to take an English exam to win a chance to attend school in the capital. This book is the first in a series and it ends without a resolution.

This book centers a Maya Kaqchikel indigenous community in Guatemala, with a focus on Xochitl’s family. The author provides some basic background information on the indigenous communities of Guatemala to support reader comprehension. The LLLAB Board has not communicated with members of Maya Kaqchikel communities to confirm the author’s representations. In the author’s acknowledgements, she mentions a personal trip to Guatemala where she, like some of her characters, participated as a volunteer in building a school.

Xochitl’s family demonstrates love for each other in their efforts to help one another. The value of family is present throughout their town, which creates a strong sense of community. For example, “[Xóchitl] se preocupa mucho por la familia. Atzin está enfermo y la familia tiene hambre. Cuando pueden, los vecinos les dan unos frijoles o unas tortillas…” / [Xóchitl] worries a lot about her family. Atzin is sick and the family is hungry. When they can, the neighbors give them beans and tortillas… (pp. 48-49).

One example in the book that demonstrates the community’s self-sufficiency is when Xóchitl’s brother, Atzin, finds a solution for her as she struggles to see at night while studying for her English test. The family does not have electricity and Xochitl has difficulty reading by firelight (p. 27), so Atzin takes Xóchitl to a place where she can read by moonlight: “Ella se sienta en una roca grande y lee los libros en inglés por la luz de la luna” / She sits on a big rock and reads the books in English by the light of the moon (p. 31).

The family is depicted as hardworking and responsible. The older brother, Atzín, works in the field. Xóchitl does housework, takes care of the family’s chickens, and takes care of her younger siblings. Also, Xóchitl values education and studies hard: “A ella le encanta leer y aprender sobre su país y el mundo fuera del pueblo pequeño donde vive” / She loves to read and learn about her country and the world outside of the small village where she lives (p. 8).

Xóchitl is fascinated by the clothing and celebrities that she sees in magazines from the United States, and learning English is presented as desirable for Xóchitl and her classmates. “Saben que aprender inglés es una oportunidad increíble para los estudiantes de San Felipe” / They know that learning English is an incredible opportunity for the students of San Felipe (p. 21). A teacher may wish to guide a student discussion on the main character’s reasons for learning English as it relates to language acquisition and the potential power and/or benefits of learning languages.

Xóchitl and her family are indigenous. The author describes their life as “different” but doesn’t always contrast them with others from whom they differ. This can leave the impression that Xóchitl and her family are “other” or “different” from the reader. “La gente indígena vive una vida muy diferente” / The indigenous people live a very different life (p. 6). A teacher may wish to point to other moments in the book where Xóchitl’s rural community is specifically contrasted with Guatemalans living in the city. The teacher may also wish to invite students to identify similarities between their lives and Xóchitl’s.

The author gives a lot of information about Xóchitl’s rural community. Sometimes that information is simplified and generalized. The teacher may need to be careful to avoid stereotypes of indigenous peoples who are “poor but happy”: “Las personas de los pueblos son pobres. No tienen mucho dinero” / The people of the town are poor. They don’t have a lot of money (p. 7). In another example, the text states, “No les piden muchas cosas materiales a sus padres. Están contentos y no quieren una vida complicada” / They don’t ask for a lot of material things from their parents. They are happy and don’t want a complicated life (p. 12). A teacher may also wish to supplement this fictional story with non-fiction and/or authentic resources that can show the diversity of life in Guatemala. Teachers may also wish to incorporate texts in which Maya Kaqchikel communities share about their traditional lifeways.

The author suggests that Xóchitl herself wants more from life than she can find in her hometown, though it is not clear what she wants and why: “Está triste porque quiere conocer el mundo fuera de los límites de su pueblo. La vida dentro de los dos cuartos de su casa y los senderos del pueblo pequeño no es suficiente” / She’s sad because she wants to know the world outside of the boundaries of her town. Life within the two rooms of her house and the paths of her small town is not enough” (p. 5). Other characters do not question that Xóchitl would want to leave her community to go to “more developed” areas. Many other students from that community pursue this same goal. No characters push back against the implicit assumptions that the roads to opportunity lead through the English language and the Global North.

One of Xóchitl’s teachers is a U.S. American, Shawn Brown, who lives in Guatemala City and travels to the village a few times a week to teach English. Several paragraphs are used to describe Mr. Brown’s dedication and sacrifices to make the difficult trip to Xóchitl’s town. He is the only teacher who has dialogue in the story. By centering Mr. Brown instead of Xóchitl’s local teachers, the story contributes to the erasure of native teachers and their expertise. “Las familias del pueblo saben que las visitas del señor Brown son muy importantes”/ The families of the town know that the visits of Mr. Brown are very important (p. 21). A second group of outsiders comes to Xóchitl’s village in Chapter 10 when a church group from Minnesota working with the NGO Hug It Forward comes to help build a new school in collaboration with the local community. Xóchitl’s friend, who is also Maya Kaqchickel and lives in a nearby community, tells Xóchitl that the school-building project is an “incredible opportunity for San Felipe” / Es una oportunidad increíble para San Felipe (p. 57). The teacher may want to facilitate a discussion on the portrayal of White outsiders as benevolent saviors whose primary role in this story is to help the “poor Guatemalans.”

Xóchitl’s family is indigenous (Maya Kaqchikel) and has limited economic resources. As Xóchitl’s mother comments, “Somos pobres” / We are poor (p. 66). The houses in Xóchitl’s village are described as “rustic” and “basic” (p. 14). Xóchitl explains that some children do not have the privilege to attend school because they must work in the fields or help at home (p. 18). When her brother, Atzin, is attacked by a mysterious creature that he believes is the mythical “chupacabras” (p. 43), Xóchitl’s family goes through a difficult time because Atzin is not able to work: “Es un tiempo muy difícil para la familia porque Atzin no puede trabajar. Cuando Atzin no puede trabajar, la familia no tiene comida” / It is a difficult time for the family because Atzin cannot work. When Atzin cannot work, the family does not have food (p. 48). When Katie, a volunteer from the United States, invites Xóchitl to be an exchange student in Minnesota, Xóchitl’s mother says they do not have money and cannot buy the airline ticket: “No es posible. No tenemos dinero. No podemos pagar el boleto de avión. Cuesta mucho. Somos pobres” / It is not possible. We do not have money. We cannot pay for the airline ticket. It costs a lot. We are poor (p. 66). While the text focuses on Xóchitl’s family’s lack of economic resources, it mentions that there are other ways of life in Guatemala: “La capital es una ciudad moderna y la vida es rápida. Hay tanta tecnología como en los Estados Unidos” / The capital is a modern city and life is fast. There is as much technology as in the United States” (p. 8). In comparing Xóchitl’s rural community to the capital city of Guatemala, the text assumes the reader’s point of reference is the United States. The LLLAB Board notes that the United States has economic diversity, and that some readers may have a personal point of reference other than the United States. Thus the teacher may to balance the text’s portrayal of economic poverty in Xóchitl’s community with additional resources that highlight economic diversity within Guatemala, the United States and/or other points of reference.

In the story, men and women take on roles that are specific to their gender. Xóchitl remains at home and must take care of her three younger siblings, while her older brother must work in the fields to help care for the family. “Los hombres y los muchachos trabajan en los campos de cultivo. Las mujeres y las muchachas trabajan en casa donde preparan la comida y cuidan a los niños pequeños” / The men and the boys work in the fields. The women and girls work at home where they prepare the food and take care of the small children (p. 8). Xóchitl indicates that her life is the same as all the other women and girls in the village (p. 8). Teachers may wish to discuss gender roles.

In the story, the narrator says “la muchacha americana” to refer to a character from the United States (p. 61). In Guatemala, the words “americano” and “americana” refer to everyone from North, Central, and South America; many Guatemalans would use the term “estadounidense” to refer to people from the United States. The teacher should note that many Latin Americans find it offensive when the word “americano” is used to refer only to people from the United States.

The character Katie is from the U.S. and her behaviors set up some teachable moments about intercultural conflicts. Katie, who speaks English in the story, says that a Guatemalan breakfast “looked completely gross. I’m so sure I’m gonna eat nasty looking beans and a tortilla. Whatever” (p. 62). Later, when Katie visits Xóchitl’s house, she is surprised by its size yet she chooses to keep these thoughts to herself: “Katie se sorprende cuando ve la casa donde vive Xóchitl. La casa es muy pequeña y rústica. Katie no comprende cómo una familia tan grande puede vivir en una casa tan pequeña. / Katie is surprised when she sees the house where Xóchitl lives. The house is very small and rustic. Katie doesn’t understand how a family so big can live in a house so small (p. 64). Teachers may wish to discuss how visitors to another country may act offensively and politely. The text provides an opportunity for a lesson on how to act if you try food you don’t like, how to respond if someone insults another culture, and overall etiquette when encountering cultures that are new to you. A teacher who intends to leave this book on the shelf for free voluntary reading should know that while Katie’s growth can be inferred, the text itself does not offer explicit counterpoints to the biases in Katie’s thoughts and words.

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