Happy 100th, Ofelia Dumas Lachtman! (YA novelist: "The Girl from Playa Blanca," 1995)

[l***@yahoo.com]

I HOPE she's around, anyway...

She lives in Torrance, California (about 10 miles south of L.A.). Her first poem was published when she was 12.

The "Pepita" series is for little kids.

About "The Girl from Playa Blanca":

"When Elena and her little brother, Carlos, leave their Mexican seaside village to search for their immigrant father in Los Angeles, they encounter intrigue, crime, mystery, friendship, and love."

More about it:

https://sites.google.com/a/k12.friscoisd.org/fhs-independent-reading-herman-2b/novel-2-rename-with-novel-title


http://www.encyclopedia.com/children/scholarly-magazines/lachtman-ofelia-dumas-1919
(includes details on her books)

Excerpt:

"Contributor to periodicals, including Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Boston Globe, Washington Times, Newsday, St. Petersburg Times, Dallas Morning News, and Detroit News.

"Author, 1974--. Formerly worked as a medical stenographer; West Los Angeles-Beverly Hills YWCA, former executive director."

"...Campfire Dreams was translated into French and German."

https://www.google.com/search?q=ofelia+dumas+lachtman&source=lnms&tbm=bks&biw=1266&bih=810
(book synopses)

https://www.google.com/search?q=ofelia+dumas+lachtman&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj28tnj8q7VAhXDPj4KHTjGBSgQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1266&bih=810
(photos and book covers)

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1266&bih=810&q=ofelia+dumas+lachtman+kirkus&oq=ofelia+dumas+lachtman+kirkus&gs_l=psy-ab.3..33i160k1l2.9701.10426.0.10633.6.6.0.0.0.0.102.367.3j1.4.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..2.4.365.QrxcAxKg0_c
(three Kirkus reviews)

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/49610.Ofelia_Dumas_Lachtman
(reader reviews)

http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jdumas/LATimesArticle.html
(2000 article on books for Latino kids - Lachtman gets mentioned halfway down)


WRITINGS:

A Shell for Angela (novel), Arte Público Press (Houston, TX), 1995.

BILINGUAL PICTURE BOOKS

Pepita Talks Twice/Pepita habla dos veces, illustrated by Alex Pardo DeLange, Piñata Books (Houston, TX), 1995.
Big Enough/Bastante grande, illustrated by Enrique O. Sánchez, Spanish translation by Yanitzia Canetti, Piñata Books (Houston, TX), 1998.
Pepita Thinks Pink/Pepita y el color rosado, illustrated by Alex Pardo DeLange, Spanish translation by Yanitzia Canetti, Piñata Books (Houston, TX), 1998.
Pepita Takes Time/Pepita, siempre tarde, illustrated by Alex Pardo DeLange, Spanish translation by Alejandra Balestra, Piñata Books (Houston, TX), 2001.
Tina and the Scarecrow Skins/Tina y las pieles de espantapájaros, illustrated by Alex Pardo DeLange, Spanish translation by José Juan Colín, Piñata Books (Houston, TX), 2002.
Pepita Finds Out/Lo que Pepita descubre, illustrated by Alex Pardo DeLange, Spanish translation by Carolina Villarroel, Piñata Books (Houston, TX), 2004.
Pepita Packs Up/Pepita empaca, illustrated by Alex Pardo DeLange, Spanish translation by Gabriela Baeza Ventura, Piñata Books (Houston, TX), 2005.
Pepita on Pepper Street/ Pepita en la calle Pepper, illustrations by Alex Pardo Delange, Spanish translation by Maria Estela Monsivais, Pinata Books (Houston, TX), 2008.


YOUNG-ADULT NOVELS

Campfire Dreams, Harlequin (New York, NY), 1987.
("Chris’s parents had been against her taking a job at Camp Whiteoak. 'You’re only 16,' they’d said. They were being overprotective. They just wanted to keep her a little kid forever. They didn’t want her to grow up. But when she arrived, she found there might be another reason for their disapproval, a reason that might disrupt her whole life. Only one person could help her find out – Tony. Was that why she liked him, or was there something else about him she found hard to resist?"

The Girl from Playa Blanca, Piñata Books (Houston, TX), 1995.
Call Me Consuela, Arte Público Press (Houston, TX), 1997.
Leticia's Secret, Piñata Books (Houston, TX), 1997.
The Summer of El Pintor, Arte Público Press (Houston, TX), 2001.
A Good Place for Maggie, Piñata Books (Houston, TX), 2002.
Looking for La Única (sequel to The Summer of El Pintor), Arte Público Press (Houston, TX), 2004.
The Trouble with Tessa, Piñata Books (Houston, TX), 2005.
The Truth about Las Mariposas, Arte Público Press (Houston, TX), 2007.



Lenona.

[Lenona]

Mistake, sad to say! She died in 2018.

The notice and photo are on page 41.

https://plannedgiving.uua.org/documents/u/unitarian-universalist-association/pdf-memorial-book-2018-2019.pdf

Ofelia D. Lachtman, 1919 – 2018
Pacific Unitarian Church, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

Ofelia D. Lachtman died September 13, 2018. Born of Mexican parents, Ofelia Dumas Lachtman was native of Los Angeles, California. She attended Los Angeles City schools, including Los Angeles City College and a brief stint at UCLA, before marrying and moving to Riverside, California. She had a son and a daughter.

During World War II, Ofelia worked as a medical stenographer. Later, when her two children were grown, she became a group worker and eventually the executive director of the West Los Angeles-Beverly Hills YWCA. She was also a member of PEN International.

When she was twelve, her work appeared in an anthology of children’s poetry. She was the author of numerous bilingual children’s picture books, including Big Enough published in 1998, and the Pepita series. Her book Pepita Talks was a recipient of a 1996 Skipping Stones Award.

Ofelia also wrote numerous young adult novels. Her book Campfire Dreams published in 1987 won the Benjamin Franklin Award for best young adult novel. Her work has been translated into French and German.