PRESS RELEASE
Las Comadres and Friends National Latino Book Club
Launches First Annual 2015 Summer Reading List
“Connecting Latinos all over the world through Literature”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 2015 CONTACT: Maria Ferrer, Media Relations Coordinator
mferrer.lcbookclub@gmail.com
Austin, TX — Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club announces its first annual Summer Reading List to launch on Sunday, June 21, 2015, the first official day of Summer.
“We are launching a Summer Reading List,” said Edith Milagros Reyes, Book Club Project Manager, “to complement our monthly Book Club meetings and Teleconferences. Plus, it’s in line with our mission to promote the work of Latina/o authors.”
The Book Club’s Summer Reading List has something for everyone. It’s comprised of five fiction books, three young adult books, three memoirs, two classics, one bilingual children’s book and one cookbook. Authors include Marjorie Agosin, the 2015 Pura Belpré Award Author Winner; Richard Blanco, the 2013 Inaugural Poet; Sonia Manzano of Sesame Street fame; and legendary authors Sandra Cisneros and Oscar Hijuelos.
Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club
2015 Summer Reading List
1. A Decent Woman by Eleanor Parker Sapia (fiction)
2. Ana of California: A Novel by Andi Teran (YA)
3. Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx by Sonia Manzano (memoir)
4. The Distant Marvels by Chantel Acevedo (fiction)
5. The Lady Matador’s Hotel by Cristina Garcia (fiction)
6. Empanadas: The Hand-Held Pies of Latin America by Sandra Gutierrez (cookbook)
7. The Heart Has Its Reasons by Maria Dueñas (fiction)
8. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (classic)
9. I Lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosin (YA)
10. Just One Night by Caridad Pineiro (romance fiction)
11. Letters From Heaven/ Cartas del Cielo by Lydia Gil (children, bilingual)
12. The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos (classic)
13. The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood by Richard Blanco (memoir)
14. Shutter by Courtney Alameda (YA thriller)
15. Stepdog by Mireya Navarro (memoir)
The Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club was started in 2007 in partnership with the Association of American Publishers to promote reading of Latino authors. All books are written in English by Latino authors. Membership is free and open to all readers. The Book Club is currently in 15 cities, with more cities to follow.
Las Comadres Para Las Americas is the parent organization of the Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club. It was started in Austin in 2000 and just celebrated its Quinceañero. Today, Las Comadres has over 15,000 members worldwide, and is on a mission to connect and empower Latinas everywhere through community building, networking, culture, learning, technology and literature.
The Pura Belpré Awards are named after the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library, and presented annually to a Latina/o writer and illustrator. The award is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children and REFORMA.
For more information on Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club and the 2015 Summer Reading List, email Maria Ferrer, Media Relations Coordinator, at mferrer.lcbookclub@gmail.com or visit www.latinolit.com.
For more information on Las Comadres Para Las Americas, visit www.lascomadres.com.
For more information about the Pura Belpré Awards, visit http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/belpremedal.