YOLANDA NAVA, author "It's All in the Frijoles"

Emmy-award-winning journalist Nava has produced a collection of poems, old sayings, personal stories, folktales and short quotations drawn from an eclectic array of sources that is guaranteed to be a constant resource for parents who wish to instruct their children in traditional virtues. ("Blood is inherited," Nava's mother told her, "but virtue is acquired.") Divided into chapters with titles such as Responsibility, Respect, Hard Work, Faith, Courage, Justice and Chastity, each section features a host of historical figures, contemporary writers, directors, producers, political figures, artists, actors and entrepreneurs--a veritable who's who of international Latinos that demonstrates the immense influence of this group on American culture. 

Laced through it all is Nava's commentary on her own life, which, coming as it does from a highly successful journalist and businesswoman (she owns the Ponce-Niacasio Broadcasting Co.), is worth consideration. Despite a tendency to rely on celebrity status as intrinsic proof of virtue, Nava pulls off her lessons of Latino life with charm and old-fashioned grace.

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