Canicula -- the dog days -- a particularly intense part of the summer when most cotton is harvested in South Texas. In Norma Cantu's fictionalized memoir of Laredo in the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s, it also represents a time between childhood and an as yet unknown adulthood. Actual snapshots and the author's re-created memories allow readers to experience the pivotal events of this world -- births, deaths, injuries, fiestas, rites of passage. This popular book won the 1995 Premio Aztlan and is now available in paperback for the first time. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.