Posts Tagged ‘Prairie Lights Books’

Latin American Heritage Camp

Monday, June 27th, 2011

I’m sitting in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, en route to Iowa for my reading at Prairie Lights books on Tuesday, June 28 at 7  p.m.

Tim and the kids have returned to California after our family participated in our fourth annual Latin American Heritage Camp. As Olivia said, I wish it didn’t have to end.  

Because I’m about to board the plane to Cedar Rapids,  I’ll copy here what I posted about the camp on my Mamalita Facebook page. 

I realized this week why I believe in Heritage Camp. It’s not so much the “heritage” as it is the shared adoption experience. To hear the high school students speak about the meaningful, unique, essential friendships they formed as preschoolers –and continue as teens–convinces me that this experience is vital. I hope for the same, for our children.

Got to go catch my flight. To be continued…

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Summer Vacation

Monday, June 20th, 2011

No lunches to make, no bus to run for, no shoes to find, no  totes to pack. The kids are sleeping late.

Yes, today is the first Monday of summer vacation.

Last night, Olivia and Mateo rode bikes and scooters until dark while Tim and I shot hoops–as in basketball. When’s the last time we did that?

This week, we head for Colorado and Heritage Camp, where Mamalita is the book club selection–available on Kindle and Nook for easy downloading–and then I go to the fabulous Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City to read on Tuesday, June 28 at 7 p.m. My friend, Gretchen B. Wright, will meet me there–Gretchen and I met at a writing workshop at Lake Atitlan, Guatemala–as will other friends through adoption.

But first, a few photos. The playground at Mateo’s school, alive with students and teachers dancing to the Slumdog Millionaire anthem, Jai Ho. Olivia and Mateo presenting Tim with his Father’s Day gift, a miniature skateboard handmade by Mateo in a woodshop class, against a backdrop of their own design. And finally, Mateo drawing during his last day as a kindergartener.

Another year, gone.

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Magazine issue dedicated to Guatemala; readings in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and elsewhere

Thursday, January 6th, 2011

The current issue of Harvard University’s ReVista magazine is dedicated to Guatemala. Thanks to Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, the magazine is available online and free of charge, although donations are welcome. Here is the mission statement:

ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America, published three times yearly, focuses on different themes related to Latin America, Latinos/as, and the Iberian peninsula. The magazine-length publication brings together different voices on each theme, highlighting the work of Harvard faculty, students, alumni and Visting Scholars.

In her introductory Editor’s Note, titled “Legacies of Violence,” June Carolyn Erlick talks about reading the contributors’ manuscripts, and the complex portrait they paint of Guatemala. She concludes with this observation:

“…as I read the incoming articles, I wondered, is the glass half full or half empty? Guatemala is exploding with projects and ideas and filled with brave men and women intent on transforming society. It is also filled with sadness and corruption and underdevelopment and inequalities and all the legacies of violence that it has inherited over the centuries. I don’t know. Dear reader, I leave it to you and these pages to decide about Guatemala and the proverbial glass.”

For anyone interested in Guatemala, each article is profound in a different way, whether it speaks to the country’s present or past, textiles or languages. The author of a fascinating article on Peten is Mary Jo McConahay, co-producer of the documentary Discovering Dominga. Do yourself a favor and take a look at the issue. Better yet, order yourself a copy. It’s sure to come in handy when your child asks questions about Guatemala or announces she has a social studies project on her ethnic heritage, due tomorrow.

A quick note: Next week, I’ll be reading in New Mexico, and the week after that, in Durham, North Carolina; and Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Washington, DC is also on my itinerary this month, but that event is at a private home. If you live in the D.C. area, and are really, really interested in coming, please send me an email and I’ll ask the host if she can fit one more. The date is Thursday, January 20.

Meanwhile, here are my dates in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and elsewhere. For my full schedule, including summer readings in Iowa and at the Squaw Valley Writers’ Conference, click on the EVENTS tab. Hope to see you somewhere soon! (more…)

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“Mamalita” Book Tour goes to Bryn Mawr. “Mamalita” now in San Diego Public Library

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

I grew up at the Jersey shore and went to college in Delaware, which is why I’m so happy I get to read from Mamalita: An Adoption Memoir at the Borders Bookstore in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Many of my friends still live in the area, and already have promised to come. If you’re reading this, I hope you’ll consider attending, too!

Here are the details:
Friday, January 21, 2011 at 7 p.m.
Borders Bookstore–Bryn Mawr, PA
Rosemont Shopping Center
1149 Lancaster Avenue
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
610-527-1500

My other wonderful news is that my friend, Penny (the San Diego librarian who arranged for me to read at the Santee Branch on December 3, 2010, at 10 a.m.) just informed me that Mamalita: An Adoption Memoir is now catalogued into the San Diego library system and will begin to circulate. Over the course of my lifetime, I have spent countless hours in libraries—in Mamalita‘s “Acknowledgments” section, I even thank my local Marin County system for “quiet space and needed resources”—so I’m delighted and honored to know that my book is part of San Diego’s permanent collection.

If you live in San Diego, and haven’t yet read Mamalita, get thee to your local library and check it out. (Afterwards, please buy multiple copies for everyone you know!)

Looking forward to hitting the road soon, seeing old friends, and meeting new ones.

The Mamalita Book Tour:

Saturday, November 13, 2010 at 7 p.m.
Book Passage
51 Tamal Vista Blvd.
Corte Madera, CA 94925
1-800-999-7909

Please join me for my Book Launch reading at Book Passage.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010 at 7 p.m.
Upstart Crow Bookstore
Seaport Village
835C West Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92110
619-232-4855

Reading and signing in San Diego.

Friday, December 3, 2010 at 10 a.m.
Santee Branch Library
9225 Carlton Hills Boulevard
Santee, CA 92071
619-448-1863

Reading in San Diego’s East County.

Sunday, December 5, 2010 at 6 p.m.
Writing Mamas Salon
Book Passage
51 Tamal Vista Blvd.
Corte Madera, CA 94925
1-800-999-7909

Reading and signing with fellow Writing Mamas Cindy Bailey, Jennifer Gunter and Dawn Yun.

Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Beverly Public Library
32 Essex Street
Beverly, MA 01915
978-921-6062

Reading on Boston’s North Shore.

Sunday, December 12, 2010 at 6 p.m.
Borders Bookstore-Back Bay-Boston
511 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116
617-236-1444

Reading and signing books in Boston.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011, at 7 p.m.
Bookworks
4022 Rio Grande Boulevard NW
Albuquerque, NM 87107
505-344-8139

Reading and signing in Albuquerque.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 7 p.m.
The Regulator Bookshop
720 Ninth St.
Durham, NC 27705
319-337-2681

Reading and signing books in Durham.

Friday, January 21, 2011 at 7 p.m.
Borders Books-Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Rosemont Shopping Center
1149 Lancaster Avenue
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
610-527-1500

Reading and signing books in Philadelphia area.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at 7 p.m.
Prairie Lights Books
15 South Dubuque Street
Iowa City, IA 52240
319-337-2681

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The “Mamalita” book tour goes to Durham, NC and Iowa City

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

One of the best outcomes of publishing a book about adoption is hearing from and connecting with so many other people in the adoption community. Today I received an email from a woman I met in Guatemala City in 2002. Reading Mamalita brought up many memories for her, and she wanted to let me know about her strong reaction. For both of us, sharing our experiences felt healing.

That’s why I’m so excited to add two new venues to the “Mamalita Book Tour”: I’ll be at The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, NC on January 19, and at Prairie Lights in Iowa City on Tuesday, June 28. I’m honored to be reading in these outstanding independent bookstores.

And please remember my Book Launch at Book Passage in Corte Madera, California, on Saturday, November 13 at 7 p.m.

The Mamalita: An Adoption Memoir Book Tour:

Saturday, November 13, 2010 at 7 p.m.
Book Passage
51 Tamal Vista Blvd.
Corte Madera, CA 94925
1-800-999-7909

Book Launch! At Book Passage, Corte Madera.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010 at 7 p.m.
Upstart Crow Bookstore
Seaport Village
835C West Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92110
619-232-4855

Reading and signing books in San Diego.

Friday, December 3, 2010 at 10 a.m.
Santee Branch Library
9225 Carlton Hills Boulevard
Santee, CA 92071
619-448-1863

Reading and signing books in San Diego’s East County.

Sunday, December 5, 2010 at 6 p.m.
Writing Mamas Salon
Book Passage
51 Tamal Vista Blvd.
Corte Madera, CA 94925
1-800-999-7909

Reading and signing books at Book Passage with fellow Writing Mamas Cindy Bailey, Jennifer Gunter and Dawn Yun.

Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Beverly Public Library
32 Essex Street
Beverly, MA 01915
978-921-6062

Reading and signing books on Boston’s North Shore.

Sunday, December 12, 2010 at 6 p.m.
Borders Bookstore-Back Bay-Boston
511 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116
617-236-1444

Reading and signing books in Boston.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011, at 7 p.m.
Bookworks
4022 Rio Grande Boulevard NW
Albuquerque, NM 87107
505-344-8139

Reading and signing books in Albuquerque.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 7 p.m.
The Regulator Bookshop
720 Ninth St.
Durham, NC 27705
319-337-2681

Reading and signing books in Durham.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at 7 p.m.
Prairie Lights Books
15 South Dubuque Street
Iowa City, IA 52240
319-337-2681

Reading and signing books in Iowa City.

Hope to see you at one of these venues soon

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