''The Chalupa Rules: A Latino Guide to Gringolandia''
By : Mario Bosquez

Will you let a sultry mermaid, a vigilant soldier or a wide-eyed frog give you advice in life? You will, if you listen to what Mario Bosquez has to say. New York City's first, full-time Chicano television anchor says a simple, yet colorful game of Mexican Bingo can point your way to success.

This award-winning Latino news anchor reveals his continuing struggle to survive in the nation's top television market and how a simple, childhood game called ''Chalupa'' is helping him to do that. Also known as Loteria, the game's playing cards feature colorful images; mermaids, stars, and colorful characters from the Mexican world of art and fantasy .

The images and the sayings or ''dichos'' on the cards are an exciting launching point for Mario's Chalupa Rules.

THE CHALUPA RULES

''The Chalupa Rules/A Latino Guide to Gringolandia'' maps out a way for Latinos to navigate life in the United States while always holding on to the history and values of their ancestors.

Using the colorful, folkloric images of a beloved Mexican game of chance, ''The Chalupa Rules/A Latino guide to Gringolandia,'' uses time-tested proverbs and modern-day life experiences to help Hispanics from all parts of Latin America to survive in the United States.

As a fourth-generation Chicano, Mario built his life and career as a broadcast journalist on the homespun ''dichos''/sayings that his family has always treasured. In addition, his own ''guides to Gringolandia'' are especially adapted to a changing world that constantly challenges Latinos to move ''adelante''/forward.

Generations of Mexicans have grown up playing ''Loteria'' or ''Chalupa''. Although played like a traditional game of ''Bingo'', Chalupa has a flavor all its own.

The ''Chalupa Rules'' include sayings from the game, traditional Spanish proverbs and Mario's original, ''hand-crafted'' rules of survival that draw from his real-life experiences and struggles.

For years, this veteran reporter and anchor lived in a government-sponsored home as he struggled to support his family. After more than two-decades in the broadcast industry, Mario is now co-anchor of ''CBS 2 News This Morning'' at New York's WCBS Television. Mario also speaks to Latino students about ''breaking the cycle'' of low self-esteem that results from poverty, abuse and racism.

There is nothing like this self-help, inspirational book on the market. ''The Chalupa Rules'' stands out because, according to Mario, ''It's important to 'be real'; to tell your story and learn from valuable proverbs and insights that come from your own culture. Just because you have a job people might perceive as a sign of success, that doesn't mean you are not still struggling.''

The ''Chalupa Rules", published by Plume, includes sayings from the game, traditional Spanish proverbs and Mario's original, 'hand-crafted' rules of survival that draw from his real-life experiences and struggles.