From Latinas to Latinas

Latina Power. By Ana Nogales Latina Power! shows Latinas how to recognize and maximize seven attributes they already possess to enhance their lives and bring them closer to their dreams. The uplifting message of this book encourages Latinas to move beyond expected roles and become the women they wish to be simply by embracing seven traits naturally ingrained into them by Latino culture. Dr. Nogales incorporates an interactive, personal element into each chapter, including a self-assessment quiz to determine how strong or weak each attribute is in the Latina reader's own personality, and exercises to improve each trait. Also featured throughout the guide are personal stories exemplifying each strength, as told to the author by Latinas from a wide variety of backgrounds, including novelist Isabel Allende, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, and many others. Prescriptive and encouraging, Latina Power! is certain to benefit countless Latinas.

Culture Shock: The Rise of Hispanic Immigrants in America. By  Laura Drain How Latinos Can Adapt Yet Preserve Their Heritage Cultural Shock: In her book Ms. Drain writes of the feelings and experiences that Hispanic immigrants endure when adapting to life in the United States. Readers get to personally travel along as Laura adapts to learning a new language and new way of living in a foreign environment, yet focusing on ensuring that she and her children preserve their language and customs. Extra bonuses that make the book special include the recipes of famous Mexican dishes and margaritas and in depth description of Mexican holidays, which allow readers to experience some Mexican culture in their own home

Adriana Ocampo Adriana is a planetary geologist. She studies the surfaces of planets and moons.  When she and her team studied a crater (which is like an enormous dent on the surface of a planet or moon) in the Yucatan peninsula (located in Mexico), they found out something brand new.  This crater--called the Chicxulub crater--was created when a meteorite fell into the earth's atmosphere and hit Earth! When a meteorite slams into a moon or planet, the force is so strong, it sends a splash of dirt, rocks, and melted earth flying.  Everything on earth gets smashed and splattered--even the meteorite breaks into pieces.  All that is left after the impact is a hole in the ground, called a crater.  But actually, there's more . . . In 1988, Adriana and her team figured out that this meteorite fell 65 million years ago--which is around the time dinosaurs lived on the earth.  That means this meteorite is what killed the dinosaurs.  In fact the meteorite killed half of all the living things on earth. Adriana says that people had trouble believing in her team's discovery.  "Even other scientists did not want to accept that a rock from space could impact the earth and cause global destruction," she says. So how did Adriana get into this? "I couldn't sleep at night without first going into my backyard or up on my roof to look up and wonder what all those points of light (stars) were about," says Adriana.  She grew up dreaming of becoming a space explorer. "When I was a girl in Argentina, girls were not allowed to study science."   Her parents immigrated to America when she was in junior high. Adriana joined a high school program that paired students with engineers from the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA).  "All I ever wanted to do was work at NASA.  Now I do!" Adriana speaks in countries all over the globe and leads research expeditions with colleagues, college students, and teachers.  She is bringing her love of planetary geology to more and more people--especially minorities and young people.  "My hope is that as more probes are sent to explore other planets, this field will be more enticing to the next generations." Adriana C. Ocampo, Ph.D. Program Executive, NASA Headquarters Office of Space Science Washington, DC .

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