THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

   The Latina Book Club will feature "Author Cameos" every Wednesday -- brief bios of new authors to explore.  Join us and, as always, Read Latino. JIMMY SANTIAGO BACA Poet, author, artist, community leader Jimmy was born in New Mexico of Indio-Mexican descent.   He was a teen runaway and served five years in prison, where he learned to read and write, and “unearthed a voracious passion for poetry.”   His poems and short stories have earned him many honors including, the Pushcart Prize, the American Book Award, the International Hispanic Heritage Award and for his memoir A PLACE TO STAND the prestigious International Award.  Baca has devoted his post-prison life to writing and teaching others who are overcoming hardship.  In 2005, he created Cedar Tree Inc., a nonprofit foundation that works to give people of all walks of life the opportunity to become educated and improve their lives.  He is currently working on a novel, a play and more poetry.  To learn more abou

   Buenos Dias.  Hoy es Viernes Espanol.  Tambien es Dia de la Tierra y Semana Santa.  Muchas Felicidades. En honor al Dia de la Tierra, quiero compartir con ustedes mi "tierra bonita" -- Puerto Rico.   Mi familia es de Ponce, que esta en el sur oeste, y es una ciudad bella y alegre.  Si van de viaje, no se olviden de visitar la Perla Del Sur. Good day.  Today is Spanish Friday, as well as Earth Day and Good Friday for Catholics worldwide.  Happy Earth Day and Happy Easter. In honor of Earth Day, I'd like to share with you satallite photos of my beautiful "earth", my beautiful island of Puerto Rico.  My family comes from Ponce, which is on the southern tip of the island.  I hope you are able to visit us one day soon.    

  "Celebrando el Espaňol” “La primera Ferial del Libro en Espanol de California” Here at The Latina Book Club one of our goals is to promote literacy. Hence our motto: Read Latino . Book Fairs are a great way to promote literacy and I just read in LatinaLista about the first annual international Spanish-language book fair in Los Angeles, the city with the largest Latino population in the U.S.  LeaLA is an initiative organized by the University of Guadalajara USA Foundation and supported by the Guadalajara International Book Fair, Feria Internacional del Libro; and the University of Guadalajara in Los Angeles. There will be over 80 publishers present and high-profile authors such as, Isabel Allende, Francisco Martin Moreno and Sandra Lorenzano. Plus, celebrities such as, Dayanara Torres, former Miss Universe; actress Kate del Castillo; and singer Jose Jose. LéaLA, which translate to “Read L.A.”, will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from April 29-May 1,

      DOÑA FLOR: A TALL TALE ABOUT A GIANT WOMAN WITH A GREAT BIG HEART By Pat Mora Illustrated by Raul Colon Knopf Books Children’s Month continues. This week’s selection is a heartwarming, humorous “tall” tale, peppered with Spanish words and phrases, about a giant lady with a great big heart from the woman who founded “Children’s Day” 15 years ago. (See below.) BOOK SUMMARY: Doña Flor is a giant lady who lives in a tiny village in the American Southwest. Popular with her neighbors, she lets the children use her flowers as trumpets and her leftover tortillas as rafts. Flor loves to read, too, and she can often be found reading aloud to the children. One day, all the villagers hear a terrifying noise: it sounds like a huge animal bellowing just outside their village. Everyone is afraid, but not Flor. She wants to protect her beloved neighbors, so with the help of her animal friends, she sets off for the highest mesa to find the creature. Soon enough, though, the joke is o

    One day in April is "The Day of the Child."  I'm not exactly sure which day so I celebrate the whole of April as "The Month of the Child."  Here's a good book for the child in all of us. GET READY FOR GABI A Crazy Mixed Up Spanglish Day by Marisa Montes Third grader Gabi speaks Spanish at home and English at school and sometimes "Spanglish" everywhere.  Don't we all?   There are three more books in this adorable Spanglish Series.  Read and enjoy them all.              GET READY FOR GABI:  Who's That Girl              GET READY FOR GABI:  No More Spanish              GET READY FOR GABI:  Please Don't Go.    ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Marisa Montes is a Puerto Rican army brat.  She's also a writer, artist, lawyer, editor, humorist and activist among other things.  To learn more about her and Gabi's series, visit her at http://www.marisamontes.com/ . And as always, Read Latino.

   THE WINNER STANDS ALONE by Pablo Coehlo Harper Perennial In THE ALCHEMIST, what many consider Pablo Coehlo’s most famous work, a boy goes off in search of his dream. In THE WINNER STANDS ALONE, the protagonist has found his dream and will do anything…anything… to keep her. THE WINNER STANDS ALONE is the story of Igor, a successful, driven Russian entrepreneur who has everything but the perfect woman. Well, he did have her and now she’s gone. Igor will do anything to win back his ex-wife, Ewa, and no one, not even Ewa, will stand in his way. Set amid the frenzy of the Cannes Film Festival, the characters will mingle with the super rich, super famous, the has-beens and the wanna-bes. Glamour, fame and fortune are theirs for the taking, but behind this beautiful fairytale world is another -- a degenerate world of excess and depravity, where hunger and obsession can destroy so easily. COMMENT: Let us know your favorite Pablo Coehlo novel.       

     Our April Book of the Month is AS HAPPY AS LING by Carlos Aleman. The characters, some real, others mere illusions, have all made the same blunder. They have chosen to judge their lives. And in judging and labeling, they have eaten from the tree of good and bad, unaware that tragedy is often the greatest teacher of compassion and love. ----Unknown balsero A benediction: May you be as happy as Ling, rolling in the cool morning sand, shouting to the one you love, ‘te amo!’ ----Carlos Aleman, author AS HAPPY AS LING is surreal, passionate, disturbing and irresistible. It’s like Dante’s INFERNO and Garcia Marquez’ 100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE. I whole heartedly recommend it. AS HAPPY AS LING is about war, compassion, abuse, truth, faith, depression and most of all, about love -- Love of family, of lovers, of friends, of God… love of self. It’s the story of Adrianna and Octavio, whose marriage is torn asunder by war. He is deployed yet again and she enters into an abusive second m