THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

   The Latina Book Club is pleased to forward this special offer from author Dora Machado.  Happy Reading! ---mcf   Attention Romantic Fantasy Fans: For the first time ever, and for a limited time, Dora Machado's entire Stonewiser award-winning fantasy trilogy, published by Mermaid Press, is available FREE on Kindle . WHEN?   From Saturday August 31 to Monday September 2. To get your free download NOW from the Kindle store, click on each title below. It’s as simple as that!  Happy Reading! Stonewiser:The Heart of the Stone   Winner of the 2009 Benjamin Franklin Award for best Debut Novel Finalist for 2009 Foreword Book of the Year Award for SFF     Between truth and deception, between justice and abuse, a stonewiser stands alone with the stones. Or so begins the stonewiser's oath. But what happens when a rebellious stonewiser discovers that lies have tainted the stone tales?   BOOK SUMMARY:    Hunted, persecuted, and betrayed, Sariah must make

   “The only thing I knew for sure was that I had issues.   Lots of issues.   No wonder my mood ring kept changing!   It went from black for tense to pink for uncertain to white for frustrated. I kept waiting to see blue, the color for calmness and peace, but no such luck.   With all the craziness in my life, I couldn’t see blue, if I looked at the sky.”   --- Erica “Chia” Montenegro, age 14 If I had a mood ring, it would be blue for Happy!   I wish Erica was real so I could give her and the Robins hugs!   Author Diana Lopez has done an excellent job in capturing the spirit of the average American teen.   ASK MY MOOD RING HOW I FEEL is about teenagers, cancer, promesas , family, friendship and miracles.   When cancer invades the home, it changes everything and everyone.   Sometimes parents need to be taken care of, and sometimes children must become more responsible.   Family and friends are affected as well for no man is an island, or in this case, no Robin stands alone.  

The Latina Book Club is pleased to introduce the talented Liz DeJesus.  Born in Puerto Rico, Liz is a novelist and a poet, and has been writing since she was able to hold a pen.   She has published several novels, and has just started a new exciting fantasy series.   Please join me in welcoming her. Q:   Your writing is an “intriguing blend of fiction and fantasy” so I have to ask – Do you believe in magic?  If so, how do you know it’s real? How long have you believed? A:   I do believe in magic. But not the kind that’s described in my books. I don’t think people can control wind and fire or anything like that. I am a very spiritual person and I do believe that there is a very thin veil that divides the real world and the spirit world. I think that if you pay close attention you can see a lot of things, both good and bad. I have believed this my whole entire life. How do I know it’s real? Faith. Simple as that. Q: You wrote in journals as a young girl.  Do you think that ha

    I have always been a daydreamer. But I will not rest until one dream is made real: that we might reimagine what it is to be a man, that we reimagine what it means to say, 'man up.'   --- Carlos Andrés Gómez     MAN UP is a powerful book that challenges the traditional image of the Latino “macho man.”   Heck, it challenges the traditional images of “every man”, especially the American male.     It’s raw, honest and hopeful.   Gómez opens up to readers and exposes his greatest fears and vulnerabilities.   Nothing is off-limits.   He talks about his family, heritage, sexuality, and relationships.   This book is about growth and transformation, about courage and strength, about redefining the concept of masculinity.   Gómez is the son of a white mother and a Colombian father.   He is fair with green eyes, but with his last name and his heritage, people assumed his father was a drug dealer.   His father was a United Nations diplomat and the family lived all

      This year, the Pura Belpré Awards went to the younger sect.  written by Benjamin Alire Saenz Simon & Schuster   The 2013 Author Award Winner was ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE by Benjamin Alire Saénz .  It is the tale of two boys on the edge of manhood.   The Pura Belpré Award Committee Chair Charmette S. Kuhn-Kendrick, said the book was chosen because:   “Sáenz demonstrates superb use of language and character development, while gently exploring important aspects of identity without straying into gender or cultural stereotypes.” The Author Honor Award (honorable mention) went to THE REVOLUTION OF EVELYN SERRANO by Sonia Manzano (Scholastic Press), whom many will remember as “Maria” on Sesame Street.   Set in Spanish Harlem in 1969, this is the story of 14-year old Evelyn caught in the turmoil of the revolutionary Young Lords. The 2013 Illustrator Awards Winner was MARTIN DE PORRES: THE ROSE IN THE DESERT illustrated by David Dia

    The Latina Book Club's mission is to promote Latina / Latino authors, which we do through book reviews, author interviews, publicity announcements, book of the month selections, etc. A new feature we have added this year is " Writers Wednesdays ." The first Wednesday of each month we will feature a writer talking about ...writing. Happy Reading!     HOW TO PUT TOGETHER A SHORT STORY COLLECTION—IN ORDER TO SELL IT by Teresa Dovalpage You may have published a dozen or more short stories in magazine, e-zines, anthologies and literary blogs, and you are quite proud of them. “They are so good,” you tell yourself. “Heck, they are gems!” But what to do with them? Not many publishers are interested in short story collections and some say straightforwardly that they won’t even look at them. “They don’t sell well,” “Readers prefer longer works” are common excuses. Yet short story collections are not totally unsellable. I have published three of them (two in Spa

      The shadows that lingered in the corners of the large chamber were a reflection of what he felt inside—an empty shell of darkness. Of the last three decades of his punishment, this was the first time that he felt forsaken. Now, he truly knew what it felt like to be one of the fallen, without the light of having or giving love. – Lash Passionate. Captivating. Emotional. Brilliant. LASH is the first book in L.G. Castillo’s Broken Angel trilogy, one that will appeal to both romance and fantasy readers with its realistic characters, heightened sexual tension and action-packed scenes. This is a story about everlasting love, about losing faith, about family reunions, about obedience, about forgiveness, about second chances. Book Summary : Even angels have to obey the rules. When Lash disobeys a direct order without considering the consequences, he is banished from heaven. For three decades, he wonders the earth in human form torn between wanting to go home and hating everyo

Nowadays nobody is interested in miracles. They prefer to play the lottery, visit casinos or rob banks . – God   I’m tempted to believe that the history of mankind would have followed the same path if I had come to earth or not.   – Christ   In these times in which our people doubt their own abilities and at times seem to want to give up, it is vital that the person governing them shows with his own example that we can make it. –John F. Kennedy   History will absolve me. –Fidel Castro         THE TRAGEDY OF FIDEL CASTRO is satire at its finest.   It’s thought-provoking, sardonic, ridiculous, engaging, outragerous and hysterical.        This book is a humorous twist on the Cuban missile crisis of the 1960s.   Cerqueira has created an alternate universe where no one is who they seem, except Fidel.   And, yet all the characters are the same.     The irony.   Book Summary:    A war is certain between Fidel and JFK.  Fatima puts in a frantic call to God.