Reading Research Quarterly Vol. 38, No. 3 July/August/September 2003 ©2003 International Reading Association (pp. 418–430) ESSAY BOOK REVIEW Learning and Not Learning English: Latino Students in American Schools. By Guadalupe Valdés. 2001. New York: Teachers College Press. 177 pp. Softcover. ISBN 0-8077-4105-1. US$23.95. Literacy reform for Latina/o students MARÍA E. FRÁNQUIZ University of Texas at San Antonio, USA cross the United States, demographic shifts are a fact of life, and the question of how to improve literacy among Latina/o students in elementary and secondary schools is a compelling one for educators and researchers alike. One researcher re- minded us that through language “children of diverse ethnicities, social classes, ages, abilities and genders orchestrate their social organization and socialize one an- other across a range of activities” (Goodwin, 1997, p. 5). Another recommended moving the perspectives of marginalized children to the center of research and fol- lowing an anthropolitical approach in the study of language (Zentella, 1997a). Although “few books have focused on the richness of the cultural, linguistic, and experiential resources that Latino students bring to school, and on what teachers need to know and do to tap into these resources” (Nieto, 2001, p. ix), one book that does deserves attention, Learning and Not Learning English: Latino Students in American Schools by Guadalupe Valdés. Learning and Not Learning English is part of a multicultural education series edited by James Banks. The book examines four middle school children’s lives—in the raw and not in the neat composite. We meet Elisa, Lilian, Manolo, and Bernardo—bright, enthusiastic, capable Spanish speakers who are not being served by an English language curriculum that they don’t understand. Valdés shows that these students’ lack of access to a rich curriculum as they learn English ought to be a central consideration for reform. To shed light on Learning and Not Learning English, I begin with its orienta- tion toward research. Next, I present sociopolitical conditions embedded in pro- grams, policies, and pedagogies for the teaching of English to Latina/o students. Then I introduce student testimonios , a tradition in Latin American countries that A 418