A few recent books from a few "small presses" - well worth checking out.
New Books
Indigenous Quotient/Stalking Words: American Indian Heritage as Future
Juan Gómez-Quiñones
Aztlan Libre Press/November, 2011
[from the publisher]
We're very excited about the release of our new publication, Indigenous Quotient/Stalking Words: American Indian Heritage as Future, by the award-winning Chicano scholar from U.C.L.A., Juan Gómez-Quiñones. Already three schools have adopted the book as one of their texts for their Chican@ Studies/American Indian Studies courses: San Diego State University, the University of Minnesota, and the Institute of American Indian Arts in New Mexico. Rodolfo Acuña, acclaimed historian and author of Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, says: "Indigenous Quotient/Stalking Words is an original, complex work that will influence future generations of scholars. Juan Gómez-Quiñones combines an excellent narrative with shrewd analysis of the construction and distortion of native American identity by Western/American scholars, and he makes a compelling case for a reexamination of Indigenous history."
The Secret of a Long
JourneySandra Shwayder Sánchez
Floricanto/January, 2012
[from the publisher]
The Secret of a Long Journey is the story of a cherished and dangerous secret, passed along from generation to generation through many lands and many perils: from Spain to Flanders across the ocean to Vera Cruz and up through the desert to what is now New Mexico. In magical realist style, this chronicle takes the characters through the terrors of the Inquisition, shipwrecks and hurricanes, sandstorms and wars, lost loves and illness, all culminating when Lois Gold, a passionate court advocate for the disenfranchised, discovers the legacy of her lost grandfather.
"In The Secret of a Long Journey, Sánchez moves effortlessly through time and place with a mesmerizing plot. Generations come and go and each one propels the next. Her fascinating characters are solidly grounded in vivid natural or urban environments. Whether it is 16th century Flanders or 20th century Denver, you never lose the thread of the story, thanks to the author’s mastery of craft and her powerful imagination. The characters will lodge in your mind long after you’ve read the book . . ."
Prof. Juan Gómez-Quiñones represents one of the best scholars in the U.S. As one of his former students at UCLA, I am honored to call him a friend and colleague.
Cordially,
Alvaro Huerta, Ph.D.
UCLA Visiting Scholar,
Chicano Studies Research Center