Texas Border Business
Mission, Texas– A brand-new book, straight off the press, was just released and our very own Mission High School (MHS) librarian, Margarita “Margie’ Longoria, is behind it all. Living Beyond Borders: Stories about Growing Up Mexican in America is an idea that was born to celebrate the lives of Mexican Americans and it was something she wanted to do for a long time. It is now on bookshelves.
There are 19 collaborative works featured in the book from contributing writers. One of the stories in the book resonates with Margie entitled “My name is Dolores.” The story features a young girl attending school in a new country where she doesn’t know the language. The one phrase that her father teaches Dolores to say is “My name is Dolores” to anyone that asked her a question. This is a story that many readers can relate to who have come from another country to live in the United States without knowing the language.
“I want this book to be mirrors and windows into our community and culture,” states Margie Longoria, MHS librarian. “I want kids to see themselves in this book and I want people to see inside our culture that is often portrayed negatively in the media. I want them to see that we are like everybody else. We have stories, families, we love, our kids go through the same trials and tribulations like any other kid in the world and that we are all human. We are a beautiful culture.”
Margie is credited as the editor, and she had contributing writers from throughout the country featured in this anthology. Some are published authors and one writer makes her debut in this book. Margie hopes that English teachers can use this book in their classrooms, so that students can not only get a true depiction of what it means to be Mexican American but also so that students can relate to the stories.
This book has already been received with open arms among various professors at several universities that will be using it in their classrooms. To think this all started with one phone call to a friend Guadalupe Garcia McCall, a published author, who was meeting with her agent at the time. That agent loved Margie’s idea and she was able to get her a book deal with the top book publishing company, Philomel, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
The book has already hit shelves at Barnes and Noble, independent book companies, as well as Amazon. Margie has already had events to launch her book and is scheduled to also be at Barnes & Noble soon to view her event schedule check it out at margiesmustreads on Instagram. Make sure to stay tuned for future projects that Margie has in the works which she will be announcing soon.
