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Book Club Archive
May 2013 Book Club Selection
Teleconference: Monday, May 20
Rebozosby Carmen Tafolla
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2013 Book Club Selections
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January 2013
Have You Seen Marie?
ISBN-13: 978-0307597946
Sandra Cisneros
Ilustrated by Ester Hernandez
(Knopf/Random House Inc.)
The internationally acclaimed author of The House on Mango Street gives us a deeply moving tale of loss, grief, and healing: a lyrically told, richly illustrated fable for grown-ups about a woman’s search for a cat who goes missing in the wake of her mother’s death. . .
. . .Read more
Available in Spanish
¿Has Visto a Maria?
ISBN-13: 978-0307744708
Sandra Cisneros
Illustrated by Ester Hernandez
Translated by Liliana Valenzuela
(Vintage En Español)
La mundialmente aclamada autora de La casa en Mango Street nos brinda un relato profundamente conmovedor acerca de la pérdida, el duelo y la sanación: una fábula para adultos líricamente narrada y vívidamente ilustrada sobre una mujer que busca un gato extraviado tras la muerte de su madre . . . Read more
February 2013
8 Ways to Say "I Love My Life!"
ISBN-13: 978-1558857544
Josefina Lopez
(Arte Publico Press)
"If you don't do anything, nothing will happen." Nancy De Los Santos Reza learned this important lesson early in life. College wasn't an option, so she got a job as a secretary. A colleague, an older woman who had taken a liking to her, encouraged Nancy. . . Read more
March 2013
Ink
ISBN-13: 978-0615657813
Sabrina Vourvoulias
(Crossed Genres Publications)
What happens when rhetoric about immigrants escalates to an institutionalized population control system? The near-future, dark speculative novel Ink opens as a biometric tattoo is approved for use to mark temporary workers, permanent residents and citizens with recent immigration history—collectively known as inks . . . .
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April 2013 Dia de los Ninos
Man Up: Cracking the Code of
Modern Manhood
ISBN-13: 978-1592407781
Carlos Andrés Gómez
(Gotham Books)
Inspired by the award-winning poet and actor’s acclaimed one-man play, a powerful coming-of-age memoir that reimagines masculinity for the twenty-first-century male.
Award-winning poet, actor, and writer Carlos Andrés Gómez is a supremely gifted storyteller with a captivating voice whose power resonates equally on the live stage and on the page. In one of his most moving spoken-word poems, Gómez recounts a confrontation he once had after accidentally bumping into another man at a club. Just as they were about to fight . . .
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May 2013 Poetry Month
RebozosISBN-13: 978-0916727987
Carmen Tafolla
(Wings Press; Bilingual Edition)
Celebrating both the rebozo as a cultural icon of Mexico and the series of rebozo-inspired paintings by Mexican-California artist Catalina Gárate, this bilingual collection of poems gives voices of strength, endurance, joy, and sorrow to the women of Gárate’s paintings. The rebozo is considered a physical manifestation of Mexican womanhood throughout every stage of life and can be used as a tool of daily labor . . . Read more
June 2013 Dude Month
The Five Acts of Diego León
ISBN-13: 978-1400065400
Alex Espinoza
(Random House)
Growing up in a rural village at the height of the Mexican Revolution, Diego León has many first loves: singing, dancing, and hearing the stories of his ancestors,the P’urhépecha. But when tragedy strikes, young Diego is sent to the city to live with his aristocratic grandparents, who insist he forget his roots and groom him to take over the family business. Under pressure to enter a profession—and a life—he cares nothing for, and haunted by the violence once again erupting all around him, Diego flees his war-torn country to forge his own destiny. . . Read more
July 2013
Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina
ISBN-13: 978-1451635867
Raquel Cepeda
(Atria Books)
In 2009, when Raquel Cepeda almost lost her estranged father to heart disease, she was terrified she’d never know the truth about her ancestry. Every time she looked in the mirror, Cepeda saw a mystery—a tapestry of races and ethnicities that came together in an ambiguous mix. With time running out, she decided. . . Read more
August 2013
Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel
ISBN-13: 978-0316209960
Diana Lopez
(Little, Brown and Company)
It's summer before eighth grade, and Erica "Chia" Montenegro is feeling so many things that she needs a mood ring to keep track of her emotions. She's happy when she hangs out with her best friends, the Robins. She's jealous that her genius little sister skipped two grades. . . . Read more
September 2013
Every Broken Trust, A Mystery
ISBN-13: 978-1250030351
Linda Rodriguez
(Little Brown)
October 2013
Book Title TBA
ISBN-13: 978-0000000000
Author TBA
(Publisher TBA)
Realizing that a number of books that would have made excellent subjects for consideration for our book club are not yet being promoted when we ask for submissions, we have made a course change.
We are changing to a quarterly selection system. Deadline to select books for October, November, December: July 2013.
. . .Read more
November 2013
Book Title TBA
ISBN-13: 978-0000000000
Author TBA
(Publisher TBA)
Realizing that a number of books that would have made excellent subjects for consideration for our book club are not yet being promoted when we ask for submissions, we have made a course change.
We are changing to a quarterly selection system. Deadline to select books for October, November, December: July 2013.
. . .Read more
December 2013
Book Title TBA
ISBN-13: 978-0000000000
Author TBA
(Publisher TBA)
Realizing that a number of books that would have made excellent subjects for consideration for our book club are not yet being promoted when we ask for submissions, we have made a course change.
We are changing to a quarterly selection system. Deadline to select books for October, November, December: July 2013.
. . .Read more
2013 & 2014 Reading List Submissions
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Special Note:
Realizing that a number of books that would have made excellent subjects for consideration for our book club are not yet being promoted when we ask for submissions, we have made a course change.
We are changing to a quarterly selection system. The books submitted will be considered in the appropriate quarter. Deadlines for the 2013 and early 2014 are as follows:
Select books in January for: April, May and June
Select books in April for: July, August, September
Select books in July for: October, November, December and January, February, and March of 2014
Based on our experience in the coming year, there might be some adjustments in 2014. We also want to reiterate that this book club is a Latina book club but we also include our Compadres in special months and otherwise as appropriate within specific genres or topics.
We are in the process of selecting book titles through 2013 and are seeking submissions from publishers for 2013 or later.
Submission Guidelines:
- Publishers may submit a maximum of two (2) titles per imprint, not to exceed five (5) titles per publishing house
- One of the submitted titles may be a children's book
- Books must be scheduled for publication in 2013 or later
- The authors should be mostly Latina but we have select months for our Latinos
- The titles should be available in the English language but availability in the Spanish language is a great advantage
- Authors whose titles are selected also must be available for interviews for the monthly teleconferences—Las Comadres will work with publishers and authors to find the best date and month in which to feature respective selections
- For the teleconference, we will need from each publisher 40 books to be given as gifts to the first people who sign up for the call and to discussion leaders at the book club gatherings. If the publisher is a non-AAP member publisher, if selected, you must provide 40 gratis books and ship them to the discussion leaders and winners of early registration.
Deadline: October 28, 2013
Please email the following submission information to bworthington@publishers.org and mail a copy via post, with galleys if available or sample chapter and a synopsis, to:
Tina Jordan
c/o Becca Worthington
Association of American Publishers
71 Fifth Avenue, 2nd floor
New York, NY 10003
Title:
Author:
Publication date:
Format:
Retail Price:
Summary (50 words or less):
Please indicate if publisher will release book club discussion question guide (online/included in book):
History
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Association of American Publishers (AAP) have joined us in a partnership to promote reading of Latino authors by creating the first national level book club: Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club. Initially, select Borders stores in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Texas and Utah hosted the new book clubs. Membership is open to anyone. Most of the books also are available in Spanish. The initial launch of the Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club included 15 cities, and future plans called for expanding the book club to all network cities where Las Comadres members are located. If interested in starting a Las Comadres Network in your city, please fill out subscription form and indicate your interest.
The national book club has grown out of a series of highly successful monthly teleconferences which we host, with each teleconference featuring one book club-selected author. The first gathering of our New York comadres for book club was on July 21, 2004 at the apartment of comadre Maria Ferrer. When Maria's schedule became too demanding, the book club was put on hiatus and was re-started in March 2007 at the Borders Columbus Circle location in New York.
Comadre Johanna Castillo, national organizer of the book club and a Comadres former board member says, "We are launching the book club to promote the work of Latino authors to every book lover, to bring our community to bookstores, and to support our writers."
Esmeralda Santiago was our initial National Spokesperson for Las Comadres and Friends National Latino Book Clubs, she also is the best selling author of three memoirs: When I was Puerto Rican, Almost a Woman, and The Turkish Lover, and of the novel América's Dream. Her film adaptation of her memoir for Almost a Woman for PBS Masterpiece Theatre was awarded a Peabody Award. Esmeralda is also an essayist, anthologist, children's book author, and a guest commentator on NPR. She is a '92 alumna of the National Hispana Leadership Institute. Esmeralda lives in Westchester County, NY with her husband of 30 years, filmmaker Frank Cantor.