The Latina Book Club reserves Fridays for Book Covers.
Yes, we do judge books by their covers.
They are so much fun, and often give clues as to what the book is truly about.
Today we are looking at the cover of CRADLED BY SKELETONS:
A Life in Poems and Essays by Marta Miranda- Straub
Breathe, beat, swim, stretch, grasp, swallow. Your time is now.
–The Cradle poem
We are getting many mixed signals from this cover. The skeleton of a torso are a clear indication that not all the poems or essays in this book will be good or sweet natured. The skeleton bears all, literally. The emotions portrayed in this book go deeper than the heart; they go down into the very bones of this author. The vision is stark and bleak. However, there is hope! The flowers shout positivity, goodness, maybe kindness. They are colorful and in bloom. Moreover, the flowers both embrace the bones, and are in turned cradled by them. This reader is hopeful and inspired.
How did we do?
SUMMARY: CRADLED BY SKELETONS: A Life in Poems and Essays (Mecida por Esqueletos: Una Vida en Poems y Ensayos) is a raw expression of identity and place. This memoir relates Marta Miranda-Straub s experience of trauma, resilience, and transformation. The book also portrays how her life s work as a social worker, educator, leader, activist, advocate, and community organizer has been fueled by discernment, resistance, and transformation of individual, institutional, and societal systems of power. Miranda-Straub has a keen sense of awareness and she questions injustices with intention, compassion, humility and humor. There is a shared connection with both the victim and the perpetrator in her writings that exalts the grit and grace of humanity. –Foreword by Clarion Reviews
NOTE: This book is bilingual. Both versions are with. Spanish title: MECIDA POR ESQUELETOS: Una Vida en Poemas y Ensayos.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Marta Miranda-Straub is a poet and storyteller who has spent her life working towards equity and inclusion and creating systems change. Her activism has focused on advancing social and economic justice for marginalized communities. In Cradled by Skeletons: A Life in Poems and Essays, she explores themes of complex and multiple identities within the experiences of birth, childhood, family, exile, trauma, addiction, resilience, community, discrimination and social justice work. It is Marta s hope to expand readers capacity for love of the other, especially during these abhorrent political waves of hate, violence and scapegoating of those seeking asylum in the United States. She was inducted into the Affrilachian Poets by Frank X Walker in 2009. Marta has read and performed poetry and stories nationally at universities, literary venues, conferences, marches and rallies. Learn more about her here: https://smpbooks.com/authors/marta-m-miranda-straub/
We are getting many mixed signals from this cover. The skeleton of a torso are a clear indication that not all the poems or essays in this book will be good or sweet natured. The skeleton bears all, literally. The emotions portrayed in this book go deeper than the heart; they go down into the very bones of this author. The vision is stark and bleak. However, there is hope! The flowers shout positivity, goodness, maybe kindness. They are colorful and in bloom. Moreover, the flowers both embrace the bones, and are in turned cradled by them. This reader is hopeful and inspired.
How did we do?
SUMMARY: CRADLED BY SKELETONS: A Life in Poems and Essays (Mecida por Esqueletos: Una Vida en Poems y Ensayos) is a raw expression of identity and place. This memoir relates Marta Miranda-Straub s experience of trauma, resilience, and transformation. The book also portrays how her life s work as a social worker, educator, leader, activist, advocate, and community organizer has been fueled by discernment, resistance, and transformation of individual, institutional, and societal systems of power. Miranda-Straub has a keen sense of awareness and she questions injustices with intention, compassion, humility and humor. There is a shared connection with both the victim and the perpetrator in her writings that exalts the grit and grace of humanity. –Foreword by Clarion Reviews
NOTE: This book is bilingual. Both versions are with. Spanish title: MECIDA POR ESQUELETOS: Una Vida en Poemas y Ensayos.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Marta Miranda-Straub is a poet and storyteller who has spent her life working towards equity and inclusion and creating systems change. Her activism has focused on advancing social and economic justice for marginalized communities. In Cradled by Skeletons: A Life in Poems and Essays, she explores themes of complex and multiple identities within the experiences of birth, childhood, family, exile, trauma, addiction, resilience, community, discrimination and social justice work. It is Marta s hope to expand readers capacity for love of the other, especially during these abhorrent political waves of hate, violence and scapegoating of those seeking asylum in the United States. She was inducted into the Affrilachian Poets by Frank X Walker in 2009. Marta has read and performed poetry and stories nationally at universities, literary venues, conferences, marches and rallies. Learn more about her here: https://smpbooks.com/authors/marta-m-miranda-straub/
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