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She had been driven, with the other fourth and fifth graders, through rain and across the slick of leaves from West Philadelphia toward an old stone building in Bryn Mawr. She sat on the floor with a wide gold band on her head and a pencil in her hand. I was asking her (the others, too) to think about home—what it is. I was asking for specifics—the sounds in the streets, the light in the house, the color of the flowers in the pot. I was reading a little Julia Alvarez, a little Sandra Cisneros, a little Jacqueline Woodson, a little Charles Blow. Tell me what you are hearing, I said. Tell me which details make these memories of homes and houses particular for you.

Many hands up. Many questions. Many details.

Then, toward the end, I asked the children to imagine their someday house—where will you live when you are ten or fifteen years older than you are today? Some wrote a sentence. Some worked with their tutors to write more. This little girl with the golden hairband wrote, on her own, an entire page and a half.

She wanted to read it aloud.

I said yes. Quieted the room.

Her home of the future would have candy walls. It would have yellow, purple, orange, red, TVs, a place for everyone she loves. It would have (this was a final detail) bulletproof windows that were shaped like hearts.

Are you going to be a writer? I asked her. Oh, yes. She said. What do you read? I asked her. Junie B., she said, and (her favorite book of all) the dictionary.

Next week maybe I'll tell her that when I was her age I dreamed of being a writer, too. That being a writer is possible. That anyone who conjures candy walls and heart-shaped bulletproof windows is a heroine of mine. Next week, when she returns, with another story.

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I felt blessed when Pennsylvania Gazette editor John Prendergast invited me to write a 3,000 word story about Greg Djanikian, who trusted me to teach at Penn, who talks with  me many spring-semester Tuesdays when I arrive early to teach, who inspired a key character in my forthcoming Florence novel One Thing Stolen, and who writes some of the most gorgeous poetry anywhere. I wrote of his most recent book, Dear Gravity, here.

To write this story I spent an afternoon in Greg's beautiful home (filled with the artistry of his wife), interviewed Stephen Dunn, Julia Alvarez, Al Filreis, and others, and returned to a dear student, Eric Xu, who brought valuable insights to the Greg's beloved teaching.

The story can be found here.

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Writers Maxine Hong Kingston and Julia Alvarez have been awarded the National Medal of Arts.

Here’s more from the press release: “The National Medal of Arts is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the federal government. It is awarded by the President of the United States to individuals or groups who are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support, and availability of the arts in the United States.”

President Barack Obama himself presented all the recipients with their medals in a ceremony at the White House. Follow these links to check out podcasts featuring Kingston and Alvarez. (Photo Credit: Jocelyn Augustino)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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Among the projects I'm doing this summer is a do-it-yourself paint job of the exterior of our house. On days when it isn't too hot or humid, I enjoy being out there, scraping paint and listening to an audiobook.

Today, I started listening to Julia Alvarez's Before We Were Free. Published in 2002 by Knopf Books for Young Readers, it won the Pura Belpre Award in 2004.

Chapter one opens with this:

"May I have some volunteers?" Mrs. Brown is saying. We are preparing skits for Thanksgiving, two weeks away. Although the Pilgrims never came to the Dominican Republic, we are attending the American school, so we have to celebrate American holidays.

That opening was unexpected. But because I've read one of Alvarez's other books, my ears perked up. Where, I wondered, would this particular scene go in Alvarez's skilled hands! Mrs. Brown picks Anita (the protagonist) and her cousin, Carla, to play the parts of two Indians who will welcome the Pilgrims because,

Mrs. Brown gives the not-so-good parts to those of us in class who are Dominicans.

Mrs. Brown then gives the two girls a headband with a feather sticking up like one rabbit ear. She asks them to greet the Pilgrims, being played by two boys wearing Davy Crockett hats. Anita thinks

Even I know the pioneers come after the Pilgrims.

Mrs. Brown asks Anita/the Indian to welcome the pilgrims "to the United States" but Oscar raises his hand and asks:

"Why the Indians call it the United States when there was no United Estates back then, Mrs. Brown?"

Some kids make fun of him. Anita hates it when the Americans make fun of the way the Dominicans speak English. Mrs. Brown tells him that

"It's called poetic license. Something allowed in a story that isn't so in real life."

Beautifully done, Ms. Alvarez! I'm hooked.

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Yesterday, I started reading Julia Alvarez's Return to Sender. I'm taking a minute this morning to say a couple of things about it before I dash out the door for the morning.

First, here's what Alvarez says about it on her website:

The seed for the novel came when I got involved translating at local schools for the children of Mexican migrant workers who have now made their way up to Vermont. (And boosted our compromised Latino population!) These workers are now doing the milking on many of our dairy farms. Without them, many of our small farmers could not survive, as they, too, are being squeezed by the high cost of farming and a dearth of workers.

Seeing how baffled the Mexican children and their classmates were about how to understand this situation that had thrown us all together, I thought: we need a story to understand what is happening to us! The title comes from a dragnet operation that the Department of Homeland Security conducted in 2006, named, Return to Sender. Work places were raided and undocumented workers were seized. Their children were the biggest casualties of this operation -- left behind to be soothed and reassured until they could be finally reunited with their parents.

The boy on the cover is Tyler. His family owns one of the dairy farms that hires Mexican migrant workers. The girl is Mari. I had a lump in my throat as I read about these two young people trying to make sense of the world and each other's world, too. Alvarez has done a terrific job showing all three.

Part of Tyler's world is his life at school. There, one of Tyler's teachers is a woman named Ms. Ramirez. Sprinkled in the first part of the book are references to Mexican culture, and, references to American Indian culture. Tyler has learned about the Trail of Tears. I liked seeing it in Alvarez's book. Tyler's world is enlarged by his teachers.

More later...

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One of the things I discovered in writing a nonfiction book is that unlike your fictional characters, the people you meet and write about enter your life, not just your imagination. They call you up on the phone or send you holiday letters at Christmas. After all, you've written about them, given them a second [...]

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For the last 15 years, my husband Bill and I have been involved in a project in the Dominican Republic, a coffee farm with a literacy program, which we named, Alta Gracia, after the national virgencita. It seemed the right name for a farm located high in the mountains (alta) dedicated to spreading grace (gracia). [...]

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I am a virgin blogger! I've never done a blog-blog before.I am a virgin blogger! I've never done a blog-blog before. I hesitate because, I actually have blogged before, but not intentionally, and what I was doing was not called by that name. A long time ago, before blogging was invented, I was talked into [...]

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By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: May 23, 2011

As the school year ends, join Random House Children’s Books to

BEAT THE HEAT with SUMMER READING!

Because every beach bag should have sunscreen, a pair of shades, and a story…

PASSION

By Lauren Kate

Before Luce and Daniel met at Sword & Cross—before they fought the Immortals—they had already lived many lives. Desperate to unlock the curse that condemns their love, Luce must revisit her past incarnations to understand her fate. Sweeping centuries and spanning the globe, PASSION is the third novel in the thrilling and romantic Fallen series by New York Times bestselling author Lauren Kate.

Delacorte Press | 978-0-385-73916-0 | June 14, 2011 | | $17.99 / $19.99 Can. | Ages 12+ | 432 pgs

THE WARLOCK: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

By Michael Scott

The fifth book in Michael Scott’s riveting six-part New York Times bestselling series, which has introduced readers to legendary historical and mythological figures—weaving history, mystery, and magic together seamlessly. Before penning the first novel, The Alchemyst (2007), Michael Scott devoted nearly a decade researching this series—and it shows. In THE WARLOCK, the twins of prophesy—Sophie and Josh—have been separated, and as the end of the series nears, the action-packed plot is more intense and absorbing than ever. With Scatty, Joan of Arc, Saint Germain, Palamedes, and Shakespeare all in Danu Talis, Sophie is on her own with the ever-weakening Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel. She must depend on Niten to help her find an immortal to teach her Earth Magic. Much to the surprise of readers, she will find her teacher in the most ordinary of places.

Delacorte Press | 978-0-385-73533-9 | May 24, 2011 | | $18.99 / $20.99 Can. | Ages 12+ | 400 pgs

THE EMERALD ATLAS

By John Stephens

Fourteen-year-old Kate, 12-year-old Michael and 11-year-old Emma have moved from one orphanage to another over the last 10 years. Taken away from their parents as babies, and seemingly unwanted, these children are more remarkable than they possibly could imagine. They are being protected from a horrible evil about which they know nothing—that is, until they discover a magical prophecy that is tied to three books of magic, the first of which is The Emerald

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I am currently reading In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez and loving it. When I found out it was the first book selected for the new Algonquin Book Club, I decided to finally pick it up. Some novels are classics for a reason, In the Time of Butterflies is one of them. Looking forward to watching out the book club webcast, author Edwidge Danticat interviews Julia Alvarez about In the Time of Butterflies. The event was held at a Miami bookstore and sold out, 250 tickets.

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Alqonquin Books is launching a new book club series beginning March 21.

We’ll be featuring four Algonquin Book Club selections a year for dynamic literary events held around the country and simultaneously webcast on our site. For each event, an Algonquin author will be interviewed by a notable writer.

I am mentioning the book club at Color Online because in this inaugural year two of four books are written by female authors of color. Its not often that women authors of color make up fifty percent.

March 21 Julia Alvarez (In the Time of the Butterflies) interviewed by Edwidge Danticat, author of Brother, I’m Dying

April 26 Sara Gruen (Water for Elephants) interviewed by Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help
August 18 Heidi Durrow (The Girl Who Fell from the Sky) interviewed by Terry McMillan, author of Getting to Happy

October 20 Robert Goolrick (A Reliable Wife) interviewed by Patricia Cornwell, author of Port Mortuary

Anyone who has read In the Time of Butterflies is encourged to Join the Conversation.

Want to chat with other readers about In the Time of the Butterflies? Each week, we’ll be giving away Algonquin Book Club tote bags, autographed Julia Alvarez books, Advance Review Copies, brand new titles hot off the press, and other swag to people who join in the conversation by:

Posting comments on the In the Time of the Butterflies discussion section on our Facebook page.
Sharing thoughts on Twitter using #AlgBookClub.

Contributing feedback to our In the Time of the Butterflies book club discussion blog posts leading up to the event.

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Algonquin Books has launched the Algonquin Books Club. The publisher has chosen twenty-five paperback titles from its list, building a readers guide for each book.

Here’s more from the site: “We’ll be featuring four Algonquin Book Club selections a year for dynamic literary events held around the country and simultaneously webcast on our site. For each event, an Algonquin author will be interviewed by a notable writer.”

The first event (March 21st) will be held in Miami at Books & Books. Edwidge Danticat, author of Brother, I’m Dying, will interview Julia Alvarez on her masterpiece, In the Time of the Butterflies. Below we’ve listed the rest of Algonquin Book Club’s 2011 event offerings.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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The Américas Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature is given in recognition of U.S. works of fiction, poetry, folklore, or selected non-fiction (from picture books to works for young adults) published in the previous year in English or Spanish that authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States. The award, which is sponsored by the U.S. Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP), reaches beyond national borders to focus on the the diversity of cultural heritage throughout the continents of North and South America.

The award winners and commended titles are selected for their:

distinctive literary quality;

cultural contextualization;

exceptional integration of text, illustration and design;

potential for classroom use.

2010 Américas Award Winners

Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez (Knopf, 20090.

What Can You Do with a Paleta? / ¿Qué puedes hacer con una paleta? by Carmen Tafolla,  illustrated by Magaly Morales (Tricycle Press, 2009).

Américas Award Honorable Mentions

Gringolandia by Lyn Miller-Lachmann (Curbstone, 2009).

I Know the River Loves Me / Yo sé que el río me ama by Maya Christina González (Children’s Book Press, 2009).

My Papa Diego and Me: Memories of My Father and His Art / Mi papa Diego y yo: Recuerdos de mi padre y su arte by Guadalupe Rivera Marín and Diego Rivera (Children’s Book Press, 2009).

The full commended list can be found here. The winning books will be honored at a ceremony during Hispanic Heritage Month (15 September – 15 October 2010) at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

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Earlier today the American Library Association (ALA)  announced the top books, audiobooks and video for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, King, Newbery and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting in Boston.

A complete list of all the 2010 literary award winners can be  seen here. Highlights include:

Winner of the John Newbery Medal ( for most outstanding contribution to children’s literature):
When You Reach Me written by Rebecca Stead

Winner of the Caldecott Medal (for most distinguished American picture book for children):
The Lion & the Mouse illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney

Winner of the Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award (recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults):

Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Winner of the Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award
My People illustrated by Charles R. Smith Jr. and written by Langston Hughes

Winner of the Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award (honoring a Latino writer and illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience)

Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day; Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros illustrated by Rafael López and written by Pat Mora

Winner of the Pura Belpré (Author) Award
Return to Sender written by Julia Alvarez

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Far be it from me to argue with Simon Cowell, but as I watched the finale of American Idol and boy-next-door Kris Allen win the title I finalized a theory I have been brewing for the last few months. You see Simon has told Kris from the beginning that he had to be more confident, cockier, but I would argue that the boy’s humility and lack of cockiness is exactly what won the competition for Kris. And I’m wondering…does this represent a sea change in the arts, particularly in the music industry?


I actually began thinking about this when I attended a keynote speech given by brilliant Dominican author Julia Alvarez. The conference organizer who was doing the introduction stood before us and read a long list of all of Julia’s publications as people shifted in their chairs. She listed every award and accolade (of which there are MANY) whilst the author herself sat on the stage in her rebozo looking uncomfortable and anxious as we were for it to be over with. Finally Julia leaned over to the woman and told her, “You can skip through all that. Please.” She really wasn’t about all that and clearly wasn’t comfortable being fawned over. Now you could argue that the very fact that she would tell the woman to move on displayed a certain level of confidence, but being confident and being arrogant are two very different things. Ms. Alvarez is the former but not the latter. But that very afternoon I was on my elliptical listening to Latin Hip Hop and Reggaeton and it came to me… Perhaps with the current national climate, the time for arrogance is fading.


I was listening to Pitbull and Daddy Yankee and began counting how many times they repeated their names and their record labels as part of the “lyrics.” When I play Nicky Jam’s album “The Black Carpet” it has become a joke between my son and I how many times he says, “Nicky Jams, yo!” over and over and over throughout the recording, as well as the name of the album. I mean, I KNOW who it is and what it’s called, I bought the damn thing, didn’t I? I stopped and admitted that this had begun to seem arrogant and self-indulgent to me. Now I know it was begun as a way for a people who fought for recognition and a voice to represent themselves, a way for unrepresented people to demand to be heard, and I know this has played an important part in the culture of modern music. But though I am far from the usual demographic I think things are changing. I think in this Obamera (Obama-era…I just made that up!) and with the country struggling with the economy and survival we are turning outward rather than inward, confident rather than arrogant.


Now I know the average AI watcher is not going to be into Reggaeton, but I can guarantee that a large amount of those young girls who voted for Kris also paid 99 cents to download Fergalicious, which could not be more self-promoting if it tried, but it was hard not to respond to his total non-pretention and lack of slickness. Though I am a serious Adam fan I couldn’t help but be drawn in to Kris’s shock as they announced his name as the winner. He, like Julia Alvarez, comes across as someone you could be friends with who just happens to be talented and famous. They don’t need to repeat their names over and over again because we remember their names because we like them. We like them because they’re not obnoxious and constantly reminding us that they’re better or more famous. They’re one of us.


Am I just an aging idealist whose channeling her socialist mother, or do you think the “me generation” is now become an “us generation?” One can only hope.

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Press Release
The Américas Award is given in recognition of U.S. works of fiction, poetry, folklore, or selected non-fiction (from picture books to works for young adults) published in the previous year in English or Spanish that authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States. By combining both and linking the Americas, the award reaches beyond geographic borders, as well as multicultural-international boundaries, focusing instead upon cultural heritages within the hemisphere.The award is sponsored by the national Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP).

The award winners and commended titles are selected for their 1) distinctive literary quality; 2) cultural contextualization; 3) exceptional integration of text, illustration and design; and 4) potential for classroom use. The winning books will be honored at a ceremony (fall 2009) during Hispanic Heritage Month at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

2009 Américas Award Winners:

Just in Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book by Yuyi Morales. Roaring Brook Press (A Neal Porter Book), 2008.

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle. Holt, 2008.

2009 Américas Award Honorable Mentions:

The Best Gift of All:The Legend of La Vieja Belén / El Mejor Regalo del Mundo:La Leyenda de la Vieja Belén by Julia Alvarez. Illustrated by Ruddy Nuñez. Alfaguara/Santillana, 2008.

Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos.Atheneum, 2008.

The Storyteller’s Candle / La velita de los cuentos by Lucía González. Illustrated by Lulu Delacre. Children’s Book Press, 2008.

For additional information including a list of the 2009 Américas Award Commended Titles winners click here.

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Julia Alvarez, most well known for her novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, has just released her latest work, a middle grade novel entitled Return to Sender. The reader, thru the eyes of both farm boy Tyler and migrant child Mari, is able to look at the issue to illegal immigration from both sides, getting a very personal story from each perspective.

Tyler's father, a farmer his entire life, has recently been injured in a tractor accident and is in danger of losing the farm. He can't afford to hire a lot of help and is unable to continue doing the daily work he is used to, resulting in a decision to employ a migrant family, moving them into a trailer on the family property and putting them to work in the fields and the barn.

Tyler isn't quite sure what to make of these new people living and working on his family's farm. He has always been taught that those who enter the United States illegally are wrong and should be in trouble with the law, but now his family is housing these people and giving them work. Though he is conflicted as to whether or not to like these people and continue to protest them or to accept them as they are, Tyler ends up connecting with Mari and learning a lot about why her family has come to the United States and the troubles they are constantly facing.

Through Mari's letters to her mother, who attempted to return to Mexico when Mari's grandmother got sick, but never made it and is still missing, we get a unique glimpse into the lives of a family that came to this country illegally. She doesn't like the fact that she isn't an American like Tyler, that her Uncle has been placed in jail for coming here without papers, but Mari knows they had no choice. The family is simply desperate and the opportunity for that in Mexico is much slimmer than in America.

Through the friendship of two unlikely kids, the reader gets a chance to better understand the reasons so many people emigrate illegally to the United States and even gain some sort of compassion and peace with it. A constant fear, on both sides of the story, of the police finding them out and Tyler's dad getting in trouble and Mari's family being deported.

I was, I must admit, a tad bit bored with this book. I have a hard time seeing kids of the 9-12 age sticking with this, as there isn't much adventure or intrigue. A lot of explaining and describing without a whole lot of action. And that's ok, that's just the type of book it is, however I did find the word "boring" entering my mind several times as I was reading.

To learn more or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon.

Return to Sender
Julia Alvarez
336pages
Middle grade fiction
Knopf
9780375858383
January 2009

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We have deeply enjoyed hosting the Tiger’s Choice, the PaperTigers’ online bookgroup, over the past year–it introduced us to a number of interesting books, a group of authors whom we hadn’t read before, and a collection of new friends from around the globe who joined in our discussions.

Nancy Farmer, Uma Krishnaswami, Ken Mochizuki, Minfong Ho, Jane Vejjajiva, Julia Alvarez, John Boyne,  Katia Novet Saint-Lot are all authors whom we plan to return to again and again for reading that expands our cultural horizons. As their body of work increases, the Tiger’s Bookshelf will be there–to read, to praise, to cheer them on.

We will however be doing this in another form rather than through the Tiger’s Choice. As exciting and rewarding as it has been to explore books through this avenue, we have new plans for the Tiger’s Bookshelf that do not include our bookgroup. We thank all of you who have read this portion of our blog, and who have joined in the discussions, and hope that you will continue to be part of the ongoing conversation that will take place on the PaperTigers Blog, and through the Tiger’s Bookshelf!

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Within the opening chapters of Finding Miracles, readers soon realize that within a conventional high school setting, a young girl who does her best to appear conventional is under tremendous pressure to maintain that appearance. Milly is pretty, smart, popular, and plagued by a skin allergy that breaks out when “her real self” threatens to emerge.

Milly was born Milagros, adopted by her parents in an (undisclosed) country of Latin America where they served as Peace Corps volunteers. All that she has from her birth parents is kept in a handcrafted mahogany box, which was found with her when she was left at an orphanage as a newborn infant. Millie ignores these remnants from her origins, living her North American life with the only family she has ever known, until a handsome political refugee from her birth country, Pablo, comes to her high school as a new student.

At first this book seems as though it will be a typical high school “girl meets boy” story, but Julia Alvarez is far too skillful a novelist to stick to this well-worn territory. Swiftly the reader is drawn into Milly’s expanding world, as she reveals her adoption to her friends, begins to explore her origins through her friendship with Pablo and his parents, and learns that her most distinctive feature, her beautiful eyes, are inherited from the women of Los Luceros, a village in her home country.

As Milly returns to visit the country of her birth, Finding Miracles takes on a tone rarely found in young adult fiction, illuminating political repression, struggle, and rebellion through the stories of the women of Los Luceros, one of whom was Millie’s mother–but which one?  And does it really matter?

In her journey to learn how to be Milagros as well as Milly, this extraordinary young woman learns that her home can be in two countries and that family is an expandable concept, encompassing the parents she knows and loves as well as the parents who loved her and whom she will never know. The issues that she comes to terms with are presented in this novel as threads in a compelling story, examined thoughtfully while never overwhelming the plot, providing springboards for discussion between students and teachers, children and parents, or girls who read and enjoy the book together with their friends.

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Although the Tiger’s Choice, the PaperTigers’ online reading group, selects books that are written for children but can be enjoyed by adults as well, National Reading Group Month has brought to mind those books written for adults that younger readers might adopt as their own favorites, and that could launch impassioned discussions between parents and children, teachers and students, or older and younger siblings.

The books on this week’s list are books recommended for teenagers, with content that may be beyond the emotional grasp of pre-adolescents. All of them are available in paperback and in libraries.

1) Ricochet River by Robin Cody (Stuck in a small Oregon town, two teenagers find their world becomes larger and more complex when they become friends with Jesse, a Native American high school sports star.)

2) The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle (Alice is twelve, growing up on a modern-day Wyoming ranch with a mother who rarely leaves her bed, a father who is haunted by the memory of Alice’s rebellious and gifted older sister who ran off with a rodeo rider, and an overly active imagination.)

3) Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod by Gary Paulsen (The author of Hatchet tells the true story of how he raced a team of huskies across more than 1000 miles of Arctic Alaska in what Alaskans call The Last Great Race.)

4) Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (This autobiography of a young girl growing up in revolutionary Iran and told in the form of a graphic novel is rich, original, and unforgettable.)

5) From the Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo Thwe (An amazing odyssey of a boy from the jungles of Burma who became a political exile and a Cambridge scholar, this Kiriyama Prize winner is a novelistic account of a life filled with adventures and extraordinary accomplishments.)

6) In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez (The Mirabal sisters were beautiful, gifted, and valiant women who were murdered by the Dominican Republic government that they were committed to overthrow. Their true story is given gripping and moving life by their compatriot, Julia Alvarez.)

As the weather becomes colder and the days grow shorter, find your favorite teenager, choose a book, and plunge into the grand adventure of reading and sharing!

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Milly Kaufman is the typical American high school girl, pretty, popular, part of a happy family in a small town. So why, when asked to write two truthful details about herself, does she say, “I have this allergy where my hands get red and itchy when my real self’s trying to tell me something,”  “My parents have a box in their bedroom we’ve only opened once. I think of it as The Box,” and why does the appearance of Pablo, a new student from Latin America make her feel so uncomfortable? What is Milly’s secret–the one she has divulged only to her best friend?

Julia Alvarez, long acclaimed as an outstanding novelist for adult readers, turns her focus upon a young adult audience in Finding Miracles with the same skill that has made both In the Time of the Butterflies and How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents modern classics. While exploring Milly’s odyssey from the security of the family and community that she knows and loves to the unknown territory of a whole new world, Julia Alvarez creates a character and a novel that extends beyond age categories into the realm of fiction unlimited, while sensitively examining issues of identity and culture.

Please join us this month as we read and discuss Finding Miracles.

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During “Banned Books Week” in the US (Sep 28-Oct 4) people across the country celebrate their freedom to read. They display banned books and publicize the absurdity of allowing some to dictate what others are or aren’t allowed to read. Once you ban one book, banning season is open.

Julia Alvarez’s How the García Girls Lost Their Accents is an example of a book that was taken off the shelves for having “inappropriate language and sexual scenes. About a year ago it was banned from Johnston County’s libraries, in North Carolina, as a result of a formal complaint filed by the parents of a 15-year-old high school student. In García Girls, a semi-autobiographical novel for young adults, four sisters from a Dominican family recently arrived in New York face many challenges in adapting to American culture. The book is also the story of a family in search of freedom: they left their native Dominican Republic to escape a dictatorship.

The García Girls’ coming-of-age story was chosen by librarians as one of “21 classics for the 21st century.” It was also one of the four titles selected for “A Latino National Conversation,” a national project sponsored by the Great Books Foundation.

Alvarez, who received a Latina Leader Award in Literature in 2007 from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, remarked on the banning of her book: “This isn’t just an issue of my particular novel’s merit, but a bigger one about the curtailment of civil liberties.” Through her stories Julia Alvarez has quite masterfully created worlds that we all—but for a fearful few—cherish. In an essay titled “I, too, Sing América,” published before the ban on her book, she writes, “It was through the wide open doors of its literature that I truly entered this country, and that I began to dream that maybe I, too, could create worlds where no one would be barred.”

Check out The Kids’ Right to Read Project, a collaboration of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and the National Coalition Against Censorship which offers support, education, and advocacy to people facing book challenges or bans, and engages local activists in promoting the freedom to read. We must keep the doors of literature wide open, so that our children can enter whichever one is right for them.

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MR. SPIC GOES TO WASHINGTON
Ilan Stavans
September (Soft Skull Press)

Ilan Stavans' latest is a graphic novel that tells the story of Samuel Patricio Inocencio Cárdenas (Mr. Spic.) Soft Skull's website says: Weaving humor with social commentary, Stavans tells a tale of a Latino man taking Los Angeles' mayoral office by storm and refusing to stop there. Illustrated throughout by Roberto Weil, the story follows the life and political development of Mr. Spic as he upends the political machine by owning up to and embracing his rough-and-tumble past, refusing to bend to corporate pressures, and using his influence to promote pacifism and tolerance. The book can be ordered for $15.95 from the publisher.


CHEECH AND CHONG ON TOUR AGAIN
The comedy duo announced plans for their first comedy tour in twenty-five years. Light Up America (or is it What's That Smell?) kicks off September 12 in Philadelphia and continues through December 20 with a smokin' finish in Denver. You can see tour dates here.

Cheech is 62; Chong 70. That's funny by itself. We've gotten to the age where we don't feel like fighting anymore, Marin said, because the end is a lot closer than the beginning. I hope Dave shows up.

JULIA ALVAREZ IN DENVER
August 20, 2008 7:30 p.m.
Tattered Cover Colfax Avenue
Julia Alvarez, the bestselling author of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, will discuss and sign Once Upon a Quinceañera: Coming of Age in the USA (Plume). According to the Tattered Cover: The quinceañera, the fifteenth birthday celebration for a Latina girl, is quickly becoming an American event. The must-haves for a “quince” are becoming as numerous and costly as a prom or wedding, and yet, this elaborate ritual also hearkens back to traditions from native countries and communities, offering young Latinas a chance to connect with their heritage. In Once Upon a Quinceañera, Alvarez explores this celebration, offering an enlightening, accessible, and entertaining portrait of contemporary Latino culture as well as a critical look at the rituals of coming of age and the economic and social consequences of the quince parties.

MISS PROTHERO'S GRAND OPENING, GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE
Nan Wigington posted the news that she is closing the doors on her book store, Miss Prothero's Books at 1112 Santa Fe Drive, Denver. Sad news, for sure. A sign of the times? No future in books?

But Miss Prothero is going out in style. Here's her notice: Need a bookcase? Bookends? A bent wood rocker? We're selling it cheap -- books, furniture, fixtures and equipment! Starting August 1 at 6 p.m. Books will be half off. Bookcases will go at $20 per shelf full or $15 per shelf empty. We have stackable bookshelves and bookcases. The cases and shelves are all made of wood. The cases are approximately 7' tall, 2' wide, and 1' deep. The stackable shelves are 10" tall, 2' wide, and 1' deep. Furniture includes a book press, a bent wood rocker, an antique saddler stapler and an antique telegrapher's desk. Have too much stuff already? Bring a sturdy box and some bucks. Fill the box with some books. We'll use the bucks to ship the box to Biblio Charitable Works, an organization which supports literacy projects worldwide. If you can't make it on the 1st, we should be here until the 15th. Call 303-572-2260 for hours and information.



ROCKY MOUNTAIN BOOK & PAPER FAIR
The 24th Rocky Mountain Book & Paper Fair takes place August 1 (5 - 9 PM, $6) and 2 (10 AM - 5 PM $4) at the Denver Merchandise Mart, 58th and I-25.

More than 65 exhibitors from around the world will offer thousands of books, maps, prints, posters, art, postcards, photographs, and other ephemeral and collectible items. Questions or information about RMBPF 2008: [email protected].

The Rocky Mountain Antiquarian Booksellers Association (RMABA), sponsor of the fair, has been joined by the Book Arts League and the Guild of Book Workers for this year’s event, The Art of the Book. The fair will feature a Book Arts Row where members of these groups will present displays and demonstrations on the processes and art of bookmaking.

More info in this press release.


THE END OF THE BOOK
There's a certain irony in the above listing of people on the move. The news highlights a veteran writer and critic challenging his audience by producing a political book in an under-appreciated format, the graphic novel. A respected Latina writer promotes the paperback edition of her book that honors an old tradition presented as a new "American event." Then there's an event centered on collectible books and the ancient art of bookmaking set against the backdrop of yet another book store closing.

Meanwhile, the death knell has sounded for the Sunday book review section at The Los Angeles Times, and it's the talk of the blog world. Check out Daniel Olivas' letter to the editor.

The question of the day seems to be: Does it really matter that bookstores are closing and newspapers are giving up on book reviews? Because, after all, it's about the Internet, isn't it? The future is paperless, and books will float invisibly on electrical ribbons, always available for the magical "click" that will drop literature onto the computer screen of any teenager, housebound grandmother, caffeine-drenched housewife, bored student, and frustrated writer. Classic tales of love and courage, cold-blooded murder and supernatural fantasy, poetry and haiku and limericks will be at our fingertips, if not free, certainly easy, and the world will move into an eternal era of literacy and profundity and connection.

Or are we kidding ourselves? Are we about to drop off the edge into a chasm of pickled imaginations and dulled senses, carpal tunnel syndrome of the brain? Is this the final revenge of the nerds?

On the other hand, there is hope; don't give up on the future of the book, paper or otherwise. Just read the recent posts from Thania Muñoz about the great gathering of writing and writers known as Semana Negra. In straightforward, cogent prose, Ms. Muñoz narrates how dozens of writers converged in circus tents to dazzle audiences with words. How poets were celebrated. How a million people attended the party, and more than 50,000 books were sold - in ten days. How good versus evil monsters was the topic of debate. How respect was paid to writers who fought fascism with their sentences and paragraphs, and lives. How a labor of love by a writer and his family has created an annual wild festival built around the once-forbidden belief that reading is a necessity.

Good grief, she describes book riots!

As long as people are willing to get pushed and shoved and hit on the shins with chairs just to get their hands on a book, I think we are okay.

Later.

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