Short biographical sketches and drawings of 30 prominent Mexican Americans are presented in this book of reading exercises. Written on a fourth or fifth grade level, the book includes figures representing a variety of occupations and fields of achievement: the arts, sports, business, journalism, education, entertainment, literature, medicine, law, labor, public service, religion and the military. Those chosen reflect and exemplify the contributions of Mexican Americans regionally and nationally. Although the selection is largely contemporary, a few of Mexico's prominent historical figures are also included. Among the figures included are Robert J. Acosta, Romana Acosta Banuelos, Cantinflas, Vikki Carr, Cesar Chavez, Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez, Patrick F. Flores, Clotilde P. Garcia, and Jim Plunkett. A one-page narrative on each personality provides material for practice reading. Each selection is accompanied by exercises for reinforcing comprehension skills, including discovering the main idea, identifying paragraph topics, recognizing true and false statements, and recalling factual information. Attention is also devoted to word recognition, the use of context, and extension of vocabulary. (Author/DS)