THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

    Ecco/ Harper Collins It was the kind of freedom you felt when someone was looking at you and finally saw what others couldn’t see because it had been bottled away for so long. ---Angel The Latina Book Club congratulates author Joseph Cassara on his brilliant debut, and we are pleased to choose THE HOUSE OF IMPOSSIBLE BEAUTIES as our Book of the Month for Pride Month. Inspired by the documentary Paris is Burning , and because he never found any books with “real” gay Latino characters, Cassara wrote his own story.   Set during the 80s and 90s when disco and AIDS reigned supreme, THE HOUSE OF IMPOSSIBLE BEAUTIES is the story of four Latino gay / transgender youths looking for the freedom to be true to themselves.   Angel, Venus, Juanito and Daniel become a family against all odds. Life is hard for them, but amid the abuse, violence and addiction, they find strength in each other. We love that THE HOUSE OF IMPOSSIBLE BEAUTIES is ab...

       Every Wednesday The Latina Book Club features excerpts from exciting novels by Latino authors.   Happy Reading and Happy New Year! Disco is making a comeback! And we are going to disco our way into the New Year with author Meg Medina.  She has provided a playlist to get us started and an excerpt from her book, BURN BABY BURN . Enjoy! Mini Interview with Meg: Q:   Your book is set in the 1970s, so do you dance disco? What's your favorite disco song to hustle to? Meg Medina: Boogie Shoes by K.C and the Sunshine Band. (The full playlist for the novel is listed after the excerpt.) Q:  What is your heroine's (Nora's) favorite Latino food? What is yours? Meg: More would probably love arroz con leche (rice pudding) because it’s sweet and cheap to make. But I like arroz con frijoles negros and a chunk of lechón. Don’t tell my doctor.  Q:  Where do you plan to be when the bell drops on 2017? Meg: ...