Book of the Month
THE WITCHES OF EL PASO / LAS BRUJAS DE EL PASO
Author: Luis Jaramillo
Publisher: Atria/Primero Sueno Press
ISBN-10:1668033216 / ISBN-13: 978-1668033210
SUMMARY:
1943, El Paso, Texas: teenager Nena spends her days caring for the small children of her older sisters, while longing for a life of freedom and adventure. The premonitions and fainting spells she has endured since childhood are getting worse, and Nena worries she’ll end up like the scary old curandera down the street. Nena prays for help, and when the mysterious Sister Benedicta arrives late one night, Nena follows her across the borders of space and time. In colonial Mexico, Nena grows into her power, finding love and learning that magic always comes with a price.
In the present day, Nena’s grandniece, Marta, balances a struggling legal aid practice with motherhood and the care of the now ninety-three-year-old Nena. When Marta agrees to help search for a daughter Nena left in the past, the two forge a fierce connection. Marta’s own supernatural powers emerge, awakening her to new possibilities that threaten the life she has constructed.
About the Author:
Luis Jaramillo is the author of The Witches of El Paso and the award-winning short story collection, The Doctor’s Wife. His writing has appeared in LitHub, BOMB Magazine, Los Angeles Review of Books, and other publications. He is an assistant professor of creative writing at The New School. He received an undergraduate degree from Stanford University and an MFA from The New School. Find out more at LuisJaramillo.com.
Website: https://luisjaramillo.com/the-witches-of-el-paso/
Instagram: @lrjaramillo
Facebook: @luis.jaramillo.5454
Conversations With Book
I WILL GIVE YOU A REASON
Author: Annell Lopez
Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY
ISBN-10:1668033216 / ISBN-13: 978-1668033210
SUMMARY:
A shimmering debut story collection intimately exploring race, identity, and the pursuit of the American Dream.
The vibrant stories in I’ll Give You a Reason explore race, identity, connection, and belonging in the Ironbound, an immigrant neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. A young widow goes on her first date since her husband’s death and finds herself hunting a bear in the woods with a near stranger. An unhappy wife compares her mother’s love spells and rituals to her own efforts to repair her strained marriage. A self-conscious college student discovers a porn star who shares her name and becomes obsessed with her doppelgänger’s freedom and comfort with her own body.
Annell López’s indelible characters tread the waters of political unrest, sexuality, religion, body image, Blackness, colorism, and gentrification—searching for their identities and a sliver of joy and intimacy. Through each story, a nuanced portrait of the “American Dream” emerges, uplifting the voices of those on its margins.
About the Author:
Annell López is the winner of the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize and the author of I’ll Give You a Reason, a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for best debut short story collection. Named a best short story collection of 2024 by Electric Literature, I’ll Give You a Reason was longlisted for the Maya Angelou Book Award, the Reforma Latinx Book Award, and shortlisted for the Clark Fiction Prize. López’s work has appeared in Guernica, American Short Fiction, The Common, Brooklyn Rail, and TIME Magazine. López received her MFA from the University of New Orleans, where she was awarded the Joanna Leake Fiction Prize. She is working on a novel.
Website: https://annell-lopez.com/
Instagram: @annellthebookbabe
