Beauty Shop/Barbershop Book Nooks: Combating Aliteracy

Children who don't have access to books or reading role models often become aliterate. Aliteracy is a state where someone is able to read but unmotivated or uninterested in doing so.

A couple of years ago, Dr. Sabrina A. Brinson, founded the Boys Booked on Barbershops/Girls Booked on Beautyshops project.

The project aims to encourage reading in local beauty shops or barbershops where families often frequent and usually sit around waiting for their turn. What I love about this project is that she suggests multicultural books, the donation of books to these local businesses and also how on point it is.

Most beauty shops I know of offer women's magazine and some even have signs posted about looking after your young ones on busy days. I think this project resolves a lot of issues in one shot.

Why not speak to your local shop manager and put forth idea and then ask for donations for children's books?

Learn more at Boys Booked on Barbershops/Girls Booked on Beautyshops project

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

10 Hottest Summer Reads from Latina.com

Latina Magazine posted a neat slideshow of their picks for The 10 Hottest Summer Reads in a cute slideshow, which includes:

The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón,

Names I Call My Sister by Mary Castillo, Berta Platas, Lynda Sandoval, Sofia Quintero,

A Happy Marriage by Rafael Yglesias,

In Between Men by Mary Castillo

America Libre By Raul Ramos Y Sanchez,

The Strain: Book One of the Strain Trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Absent A Miracle by Christine Lehner

Let it Rain Coffee by Angie Cruz

Amigoland by Oscar Casares

The Husband Habit by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

2009 National Book Festival: Save the Date

"Now in its ninth year, this popular event celebrating the joys of reading and lifelong literacy will be held on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009,on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., between 7th and 14th Streets from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (rain or shine). The event, for which the Honorary Chairs are President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, is free and open to the public. More than 120,000 people attended the festival last year."

Authors slated to make presentations at the 2009 National Book Festival include: Julia Alvarez, Junot Diaz, Colson Whitehead, Ana Menendez, Asar Nafisi, Walter Mosley, Carmen Agra Deedy and more!

More info. available at www.loc.gov/bookfest

New Book: Vigil by Cecilia Samartin

I was recently contacted about Vigil: A Novel by Cecilia Samartin.

Ana, is the protagonist who from her husband's deathbed reminisces on her "story that takes her from war-torn El Salvador, to a convent in the United States, and finally to a wealthy California estate where she is employed as the nanny for a dysfunctional family caught up in the throes of a decadent life.

Despite Ana's own emotional wounds, she is able to bring love and healing to her affluent yet spiritually bereft employers -- gifts that no money could ever buy. "

The author, Cecilia Samartin, a Cuban American, won the "prestigious Mariposa Award for best first book (English) by a Latina or Latino for her stunning debut novel of 2007, Broken Paradise."

As someone, who worked her way through college as a nanny, I look forward to reading it and hope you will check it out.

For more information, visit www.ceciliasamartin.com

Flan v. Tembleque

I am reading Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell in preparation to see the Julie and Julia movie next month.

For those of you, who aren't familiar with the book, it's based on a blog created by Julie Powell.

The book is sumptuous; it's written superbly, intelligent and funny. While reading about Powell's fear of eggs (sorry, you will have to read the book) it reminded me of my dislike of Flan.

Flan, "Crème caramel, or caramel custard is a rich custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top, as opposed to crème brûlée, which is custard with a hard caramel top."

Some might consider this Latina blasphemy, but the runny texture makes my stomach flop.

I prefer coconut pudding or Tembleque as Puerto Ricans call the light coconut custard that shakes like Jell-O. Jiggle it, baby!



Here's an easy recipe: www.recipezaar.com/Tembleque

If you like to follow food blogs, here's a lovely one with awesome recipes and photos:
Laylita.com

Donate $3 for Literacy & Receive a Macy's Discount

Via www.bookabrighterfuture.com

Mas Fuerte

CuCu Diamantes

Spanish Bestselling Author Carlos Ruiz Zafon on Books

This article is so informative, I am posting it here in its entirety:

Author Says Success Opens Doors for Other Spaniards in U.S. By Concha Carron

















MADRID – Spanish bestselling author Carlos Ruiz Zafon said he is overjoyed at the success his latest novel, “El juego del angel” (The Angel’s Game), has enjoyed in the United States because it will open doors for other writers from his homeland.

In an e-mail interview with Efe from Los Angeles, the author best known for the international phenomenon “La sombra del viento” (The Shadow of the Wind) said it is “a great satisfaction” for him that “The Angel’s Game” topped the American Booksellers’ Association’s Indie Bestsellers List for Hardback Fiction late last month.

Ruiz Zafon said he is “overjoyed” that 5 million copies have been sold worldwide of his latest novel, which is a long awaited follow-up and prequel-of-sorts to the wildly successful 2001 novel “The Shadow of the Wind,” both of which are atmospheric thrillers set in Barcelona that also serve as odes to literature.

According to the author, a native of Barcelona who has lived in Los Angeles since 1993, the difference between the U.S. market and other markets has to do “above all with scale.”

The United States is “a huge territory with very contrasting areas,” he said, adding that although the American market is “the toughest and most competitive,” it has aspects in common with other big markets, such as those of Britain and Germany.

With respect to the praise he has received in the United States, where some critics have compared him with “The Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown, Ruiz Zafon said a writer must take praise and criticism “with great respect and the proper perspective; an author must be his own judge and know if he’s doing what he set out to do.”

Following the success of his previous two novels, Ruiz Zafon said the reception for “The Angel’s Game” has exceeded all of his expectations, adding that “you can never take for granted that previous success will necessarily translate into future success.”

Ruiz Zafon said that even though there have been many offers to bring “The Shadow of the Wind” and “The Angel’s Game” to the big screen he remains firmly opposed to making any film adaptations of his novels.

“Not because I have anything against the cinema, but for many reasons that would take too long to explain,” said the author, who has not ruled out “returning to the fold” and writing screenplays, as he did at the start of his career.

He stressed that he “wouldn’t change anything” about his career because that is the road that has been “walked and traveled” but would correct “some of the mistakes” he has made over the years, just as he supposes everyone would do if they could go back in time.

Although he said he expects one day to finish his supposed quartet of novels – thus far consisting of “The Angel’s Game” and “The Shadow of the Wind” – centered on the “Cemetery of Forgotten Books,” he plans in the immediate future to “explore other paths,” saying he has different, unspecified “things on the table.”

Regarding the possibility of exploring new genres, Ruiz Zafon said “you’re always looking for new challenges that allow you to keep exploring the possibilities of the novel,” although in the end “you end up falling in love with a story and some characters and trying to do them justice.”

He also said he is not ruling out returning to his beginnings as an author of youth literature, saying that young people “are the most demanding, sharpest readers a writer can have” because “they haven’t yet acquired prejudices or pretenses and are as or more intelligent than adult readers and much more honest with themselves and with the work.”

via www.laprensasa.com

Submissions for Latina/o Reader Blog Carnival Reminder

See original blog post for details to participate: Call for submissions

I will collect all submissions until July 30th.

Call-in at 4:30pm: Live Interview w/Las Comadres Book Club Founder

Today 7/16/2009 at 4:30 PM

Join or just listen live to an exciting discussion between GCP Editor Selina McLemore and Las Comadres Book Club Founder Nora Comstock about Latino literature, book clubs and much more.

Call in with your opinions!
If you want to call in live, be sure to dial (646) 378-0047.

Or listen and watch online at

www.Blogtalkradio.com


You can learn more about the book club here: www.lascomadres.org

Want to Know More about the Book Industry & Book Retail?

On FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2009 at the Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe is having a Workshop: 5:30 and a Book Lovers’ Meet & Greet at 7:00 (complete with wine & cheese, gift bags, and important people from the world of media and publishing)

Meet author, highly accomplished entrepreneur, and nationally respected bookseller, MARVA ALLEN shares the inside scoop on the retail side of book publishing. At this event, you will learn: “must know” info for any author who wants their books sold in bookstores; the latest trends and changes in the retail side of book publishing; why some books make it to the shelves and others don’t; and much more!

Part 1: WORKSHOP [5:30p - 7:00p]

A specialized workshop designed for writers who can benefit from learning the tricks of the trade…from the retail side of the book publishing industry. Bring pen, paper and plenty of questions.

Part 2: Book Lovers’ Meet & Greet [7:00p - 8:00p]

A room full industry movers and shakers…at your fingertips. As an added treat, all participants receive gift bags, take home materials, and light fare (wine & cheese sponsored by Cabot Cheese and Naked Winery).

The Meet & Greet is an exclusive networking environment designed for writers who want to enter or expand within the world of publishing. Come mix and mingle with:

Author, entrepreneur MARVA ALLEN (CEO, Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe);
Author, Exec. Director of The Center for Black Lit., DR. BRENDA M. GREENE.
Dr. Greene is also the Executive Director of The National Black Writers Conference;
MONIFA MAHT (Exec. Prod. & Host on WHCR 90. 5 FM);
JULIA SHAW (Shaw Literary Group), pr & marketing specialist to authors;
Published authors KHALIL ALMUSTAFA,
MO BEASLEY,
APRIL R. SILVER,
and JLOVE CALDERON

Friday, July 17, 2009
Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe
2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd (off 125th St.)
New York, NY 10027
(A, B, C, D trains to 125th Street in Harlem)
212.665. 7400
info@huemanbookstore
www.huemanbooktore.com

REGISTRATION INFO:
All this for $125
(The Workshop with MARVA ALLEN and the “Meet & Greet”)
For all registration inquiries, contact Terrell Davis at tdavis1390@gmail.com or 347.707.5348.

For alerts and new info, join the email lists of JLove Calderon and/or AKILA WORKSONGS, Inc.

This book publishing seminar series created and produced by JLove Calderon. For info on previous or upcoming workshops, email jlove@jlovecalderon.com. To learn more about JLove, visit www.jlovecalderon.com. Media Relations & Lecture Management for JLOVE CALDERON handled by AKILA WORKSONGS: 718.756.8501 or pr@akilaworksongs.com


Also starting on Friday, July 17th:

Harlem Book Fair 2009: Re-Inventing 21st Century Culture

Join us as we come together in the celebration of literature & culture on July 17-19th, 2009. In honor of Barack, community, and ourselves, this year celebrates Black People Re-Inventing 21st Century Culture. Please visit www.qbr.com for more information and schedules. This year the Harlem Book Fair will also work in conjunction with its partners to launch the New Rochelle Festival of Books in May 2009 and The Westchester & Rockland Counties African American Book Fair (West/Rock) in June 2009.

Schedule of Events
Friday, July 17th, 7pm
The Wheatley Awards Honors Our Poets
Location: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Program and Awards – $10.00 Awards Dinner Reception, Program & Awards – $20.00 (By reservation only)

Invited Awardees: Cornelius Eady Yusef KomunyakaaNikki GiovanniThe Last Poets
Posthumous Award: John Hope Franklin, Author and Historian Flora Mwapa African Literature Award: TBA
Masters of Ceremony: Haki Madhubuti and Helena D. Lewis
Program: (Per) Verse Poets: Spoken Word On Center Stage (Performances by Invitation Only)Music by: Atiba Wilson & Songhai Djeli

Saturday, July 18th
Harlem Book Fair Outdoor Exhibits & Author Panel Discussions
Time: 11am-6pm
Locations: West 135 Street btw Malcolm X & Frederick Douglass Boulevards; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; Countee Cullen Library; & Thurgood Marshall Academy
ALL PROGRAMS ARE FREE. Check the QBR websites for updated, detailed program information.

Sunday, July 19th
Schomburg Panel Discussions
Time: 11am-4pm
Location: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
ALL PROGRAMS ARE FREE. Check the QBR websites for updated, detailed program information.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Free Tonight, NYC Riverflicks

Don't miss this chance to watch Vicky Cristina Barcelona, directed by Woody Allen. With Penelope Cruz,Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, and Javier Bardem, riverside, under the stars for free tonight with free popcorn thrown in too @ pier 54 @ 14th st.

www.hudsonriverpark.org

On Being Black & Asian

If you didn't have the opportunity to meet Poet and author, Staceyann Chin at the NAACP's free Author Pavilion event where she was signing yesterday, I think you should take the time to read her work.

Before I met my boyfriend, who is also Jamaican and Chinese, I was unaware of how large this particular community is within the Caribbean (the population in Cuba is second to the Jamaican one) since many of the Chinese who came to the region as indentured slaves were not permitted to marry Caucasians. When I traveled to visit his family there it was really interesting to say the least. I've always found his ancestry extremely fascinating as well any narrative that relates to being of a mixed heritage or "race."

When I heard about The Other Side of Paradise: A Memoir by Staceyann Chin, I was thrilled because she delves into what it was like being both Black and Asian (Afro-Asian, Blasian) in Jamaica (in the real Jamaica - not the the tourist version) and then her experience as an immigrant to the US. She expands even further into that experience as she narrates what it is also like to be a gay woman in Jamaica - a place and culture known to be highly homophobic.




I am thrilled when I see books like this that tell the (often common yet marginalized) story and experience of those who often are left out of the mainstream realm. This sounds like required reading to me.

Visit www.staceyannchin.com or read an interview at www.theroot.com/blogs/books

Being Latino at an Ivy League

The memoir, A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano by Ruben Navarrette Jr., was brought to my attention via a tweet: @andersoncooper: Latino in the Ivy League http://bit.ly/9qIFJ. It sounds like an interesting and timely read:

From Kirkus Reviews

A young man's appraisal--Navarrette is only 25 now--of his turbulent years as a Mexican-American undergraduate at one of the nation's most prestigious universities. Navarrette starts with a declaration of independence, spurning the labels ``people of color'' (offensive) and ``Hispanic'' (too general), preferring ``minority'' and ``Latino.'' The man thinks for himself. That trait, along with a superb intellect (straight A's, valedictorian), gets him into Harvard--but you wouldn't know it from most of his teachers and classmates, who assume that affirmative action is his ticket.

Confronting that particular bigotry and others becomes Navarrette's job. He darts his barbs at two chief targets: the old Wasp elite that stifles the university with exclusive rules and expectations, and the new Mexican-American contingent, equally exclusive, that tries to shoehorn him into an ironclad rad-chic ideology. Friendship with Mexican-American essayist Richard Rodriguez; the arrest of a Harvard Latino chum on armed- robbery charges; and a provocative question posed to Cesar Chavez when the labor leader visits Harvard--all are milestones in Navarette's process of self-definition.

And that, in fact, is what this book is, for the gripping ethno-political issues ride atop a very conventional coming-of-age tale, replete with new buddies, homesickness, adolescent rebellion, loss of virginity, love affairs--familiar fare and ho-hum reading for those indifferent to Navarrette's emotional life. Powerful, though, for its two-fold message: that America must do more to educate Latinos (our fastest growing minority), and that freedom of thought belongs to everyone. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Visit Rubennavarrette.com to learn more.

UPDATE: My friend from HS wrote to me to say this: "This book has a deep personal meaning for me. I was going through a rough time at college (Wellesley) and felt so isolated and out of place. Ruben Navarrete spoke to my experience and to that of many other Latin@s at ivy schools and he normalized my feelings and gave me language to express my feelings: that of straddling two different worlds. Wonderful book."

It Takes a Village

"I change myself, I change the world."

- Gloria Anzaldua

"Take care of your family first.

But then reach out to your neighbor,

your block,

your city,

your country.

Everybody wants change,

but they want it to come by way of somebody else…

If you wait for the government,

you’ll wait a long time."

- Edward James Olmos