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A few weeks ago author Shannon Hale blogged about showing up for a school visit and learning that only the girls would be attending her lecture. The assumption that boys don’t want to see a “girl book” author is wrong in a million ways, but enough people have responded to this outrage, and I don’t need to add to the chorus.

I know Shannon Hale is popular with young readers, as her name always comes up when I poll groups of kids on their favorite books, but I’d fallen into the same benign sexism as the school: assuming that something that looks like this had no interest to me.

But in following this story, I read a synopsis of Princess Academy and was intrigued. It sounded far more interesting than I would have guessed from the title and cover. Now, after reading it, I know it a thoughtful critique of the “princess” ideal with a strong feminist theme. Its popularity with girls shows that they are quite ready for this message.

Hale’s way into this topic is intricate: girls competing against one another, tempted by materialism, made to feel ashamed and undeserving. Every element feels natural in the story but could lead to rich discussions about how own culture treats girls. It could even be assigned reading in a college class on women’s studies or gender issues. But the sociopolitical aspects are so well integrated with a good story, it doesn’t feel like the whole book is just a frame for a lecture. I’ve read few children’s books that are as deceptively simple on the outside and run as deep.

After a childhood of Disney princesses, girls really need books like Hale’s. I think boys should read it too: because it’s an enjoyable book, and to have an idea of what girls are going through. We know many men arrive at college belligerent and hostile to feminism; why not begin those discussions sooner?

Besides that, few quote/unquote “boy books” show heroes as reflective and conscientious as Miri. Boys steeped in the personal exceptionalism and power fantasies that often shape “their” stories will be ill-equipped for the real world; Miri is a much better role model for all children.

How do we make the leap to a world where boys can read a book called Princess Academy without fear of bullying and scoffing? Men need to read books by and about women, showing that it’s expected of men to care about women, and boys about girls. And schools need to encourage boys to see brilliant authors like Shannon Hale when they’re lucky enough to have her instead of keeping them in class.

Filed under: Miscellaneous Tagged: boy books, girl books, princess academy, shannon hale

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If. You Liked. Stephenie Meyer's Twilight. There. I said it.

I have put together this list I don't know how many times in the past couple of years, and I guess I just have to bite the bully (get it? like Twilight shoves all the other books around?) and admit that: 1) People want to read Twilight and 2) People LIKE Twilight.

I mean, why am I such a snob about these books anyway? What was I reading when I was eleven? I'll tell you what I was reading when I was eleven. No wait, read this book - Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading by Lizzie Skurnick - and you will know what I was reading when I was eleven. And I turned out ok. Reasonably ok. Ok shut up - am I exploring my nascent sexuality with my twin brother or luring my arch-enemy into a leech-infested pool? No. I am not. That was a rhetorical question by the way.

And maybe that's setting the bar kind of low, but I think it is some kind of proof that young readers of Twilight are not going to grow up and fall in love with pale, stalker-y older men. Pale, stalker-y older men are in fact CREEPY in real life, and almost all young women are viscerally and instinctively aware of this. We can trust our girls. (Hi, Olivia! We can trust you, right?)

There's still the issue, recently pointed out by someone at the Princeton Romance Writers Conference (and I am too lazy to go looking for it so I am going to paraphrase), that these paranormal romance novels represent something of a throwback to the old doctor/nurse kind of power differential that turned so many of us against romance novels to begin with (think Mr. Rochester and his employee - Jane - in Jane Eyre). Nowadays, romance novels feature women who are just as strong as, and on equal social footing with, the men, but in Twilight et al, the male character is by definition more powerful than the girl - he's immortal! he can change into an animal! or, uh, sparkle!

But that I don't know what to do about. EXCEPT. To recommend the following pretty good books as follow up reads for people who enjoyed the romance, the drama, the imaginative world of Twilight. Some of these books feature characters with supernatural powers or are set in alternate or future worlds, but some do not. There's at least one cute boy in each, but none of them has a female protagonist as wimpy as Bella.




The Luxe by Anna Godberson. Soapy and irresistably fancy, dripping with drama. Look at that dress!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I reviewed it here earlier. Catching Fire, the next book in the series, has just been published.

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater. An extremely cute boy, some psychic torment, a well-written, lovely setting, and a harp. It's all good.



Prom Nights from Hell. Stories by Stephenie Meyer, Meg Cabot, Lauren Myracle, and other writers who are all about what it is to be a girl.

Prom Dates from Hell (Maggie Quinn: Girl vs Evil, Book 1) by Rosemary Clements-Moore. Good-looking teens, more dramatic than it looks, snappy dialogue. I reviewed the third book in this series a couple weeks ago.



Tithe by Holly Black. Anything by Holly Black, in fact.

Margo Lanagan's Black, White, and Red books. Dark, with a side of strange, drizzled with a stylish-sexy port wine reduction.



The somewhat overlooked Troll Bridge by Jane Yolen and her son, Adam Stempel. Music, magic, peril, attitude.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. The first in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, about drama and magic in a Victorian boarding school.

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. Ms. Klause has been writing about the allure of the supernatural boy for longer than anyone, and in this one, the boy's a werewolf. Grrr!




Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith



Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

Graceling by Kristin Cashore. Horses, swords, special powers, a fiery heroine, and a gorgeous guy. The sequel, Fire, will be out in early October.


and what the heck... you know what else any red-blooded reader of the Twilight books will like?



Flowers in the Attic, by V.C. Andrews. It's wrong. It's hot. It's so hot that it's wrong and it's so wrong that it's hot. And you just know "V.C. Andrews" is a pseudonym. Who do you think it is really? Wonder if that's what Salinger's been up to all this time.

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I am woefully behind in my YA reviewing. I have been reading YA books all summer - in part because I like YA books, partly because I got so many YA ARCs at BookExpo, and of course, partly because I like to be able to recommend books to teenagers.

But I haven't been able to bring myself to review them. Sure, Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Steifwhatever was fine, with romance and uncertainty and music and telekinesis, and the similar but less romance-y Troll Bridge: A Rock'n' Roll Fairy Tale I would recommend without hesitation.

The forthcoming Sphinx's Princess, in which Esther Friesner imagines the pre-royal life of Nefertiti (King Tut's wife) the same way she did Helen of Troy's in Nobody's Princess, was perfectly serviceable clean teen historical romance fiction. The Goldsmith's Daughter, about an Aztec teen who crosses gender lines to protect her family, was terrific - right up until she fell in love with a conquistador. Hey, doesn't everybody love a good-Nazi love story?

I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and I have independent confirmation that YES it is a good choice for young adult readers. Wondergirl, my favorite middle schooler, read it over the summer at my suggestion, then rented the movie and laughed all the way through it. Hee hee hee!

But WHYYY have I not reviewed all these things? What is the MATTER with me? Have I lost my joy in reading and nowadays I am just plowing through these novels for the sake of getting them done? WOE!




Cough. That was probably a little more melodramatic than the situation warrants. Anyway. I am, by contrast, supernaturally excited about this book, the most recent in the Maggie Quinn, Girl vs. Evil series. I am a newcomer to Maggie, her friend D&D Lisa the evil genius, her paladin of a boyfriend, and the trouble - EEEVIL trouble - that seems to dog their footsteps. I picked up the book because I liked the coolio Craig Phillips cover, and because on it, Maggie wears aviator sunglasses while motoring along in her Jeep with no doors.

And now I've just finished it and I'm happy, I'm happy happy happy. Maggie and Lisa are geeky plus good-looking, but in a believable, Kristen-Bell-in-Fanboys kind of way. Their banter is witty but not so witty that it sounds fake. They call each other "moron" with regularity. They are aware that together, they make up Bart Simpson's sisters, and if you point it out, they will roll their eyes so hard they'll almost knock themselves over.

Maggie is psychic and Lisa is a witch, and BF Justin has the looks, the good manners, and the physical competence of a Riley Finn without all the whining. Seriously, I'll never forgive Whedon for what he did to that character. Make him evil, kill him off, but emasculating him like that was just mean.

The plot is TIGHT. There's enough going on that the author could be forgiven for letting a detail or two go unexplained, but she does not. Furthermore, answers are not hurled into the text at the end in any old "Have this droid's memory wiped" manner. They are woven in, sometimes not even overtly. My new pal Rosemary Clement-Moore doesn't seem to think it's necessary for a character to say, "Oh so that's why the demon absorbed that shotgun blast without injury." If it's not a major plot point, she'll let you make that connection yourself, which, I have to say, is extremely generous. If I'd written anything half so clever, you can bet I would be showing off all my tied-off ends like a Boy Scout who just earned his Knots merit badge.

PLUS. Maggie is petite and powerful, and sassy and cute. I'm a geek. But I didn't think of Buffy until page 270, when she tells a giant amalgamated demon who is doing a good job of intimidating her, "You are so full of crap." Of course, now I can't stop.

The book is, somewhat refreshingly, not without God. I am a little weary of the dances that many authors do in order to keep their teen demon-fighting free of any actual discussion of faith. As when Buffy runs into a high school classmate in the cemetery and he asks (about God), "does he exist, by the way? Is there word on that?" and Buffy answers, "Nothing solid."

In this book, Lisa, in particular, is quite concerned about going to Hell after having summoned a demon in a previous book. There are Catholic characters who participate in the Back Demon Back, saying prayers and swinging branding irons.

Our setting is the fictional Dulcina, TX, right down in the foot of Texas, near the Gulf of Mexico. Lucky for us, Clement-Moore knows her Texas. She writes the landscape - its smells and sky, its few features, the effect livestock has on it, and most of all its subtle rises and falls - really well, with unstrained, natural imagery. You get the feeling she's spent some time on a horse.

(I briefly became a little concerned that the "Moore" in "Clement-Moore" was as in Christopher Moore, which would make sense, kind of like when I found out Justine Larbalestier and Scott Westerfeld are married, but looks like not. Apparently, though, she and I are the same person, because she lists Television Without Pity and Go Fug Yourself as good wastes of time, and Susan Cooper and Meg Cabot - whose blog writing I thought of more than once while reading this book - as hero authors. Plus she liked Firefly. Awww.)

Funny and smart, exciting and hip, Highway to Hell was just the squirt of lime I needed to cut through my midsummer complacency.

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Fanny by Holly Hobbie
Rare is the book that manages to be both girly and empowering. Many are the books that try. Fanny is the real deal.

Fanny's mom won't buy her a glamorous Connie doll ("I don't like the way Connie dolls look," says Mom. "They're just too... much," and don't you know that feeling!). So, resourceful Fanny cuts up a pair of pink pajamas and makes her own doll - a doll that, despite her blonde hair and big blue eyes, is not... quite... like the Connie dolls her friends are so obsessed with.

There's a lot of pink, and there are dolls, and Fanny feels the pressure of wanting what the other girls have, but she is sweet and creative and loyal, and comes up with her own solutions.

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Chiggers by Hope Larson
I read this sweet-but-not-too-sweet graphic novel at the same time, and for the same reason (it's a Cybils nominee), as Betsy, Ms. Fuse #8, did, and I pretty much have to say... what she said.

Is that a cop-out? Yeahhh... but no! She just happens to have written just exactly what I'd've written (except, hrm, more words, 'cause of the part about me being lazy and sometimes being content to just go like, "ME LIKE," and I guess you'd have to say this current review would be an example of that).

Except that, unlike Betsy, I do have some memorable summer camp experiences, both as a camper, at Girl Scout camp and orchestra camp (I played oboe) and, if I'm not mistaken, some G&T camp where we read Walden Two and discussed behavior modification... and as a counselor, at a beautiful hippy-dippy camp up in Maine where I taught candle-making and fencing to Manhattan preteens wearing Echo and the Bunnymen t-shirts (in 1984). And reading Chiggers took me right back to camp, especially to Maine, and I found myself trying to remember the names of the girls in my cabin: tall Allison, shy Betsy, bubbly Deenie, and a girl we called Titsy, whose personality traits you may intuit all on your own.

Chiggers is terrific that way - the art, the plot, the characters all ring true. Even the trees look just right. Why, I remember the morning I found a dead mouse in a trap, and since I didn't have my glasses on I had to bring it right up to my face to see what it was, and then... but I guess that's a story for another blog.

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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I do approve of science fiction for teenage girls - too much fiction aimed at young women is vapid and self-fulfilling. And I habitually enjoy post-apocalyptic worlds. Also, nothing wrong with a little ultra-violence of the type the kids in this book must engage in. Plus, it's Suzanne Collins, my go-to gal in the children's section - I have yet to meet a kid (boy OR girl) who didn't thank me for introducing them to Ms. Collins's friend Gregor.

So why am I now jumping up and down about The Hunger Games? Let me break it down.

1.
If I think young adult fiction has a mission, and sometimes I think it does, I think it should be to cause young people to question things that have been presented to them - truths (Not the End of the World by Geraldine McCaughrean), values (Uglies), government (Little Brother), commerce (So Yesterday), etc. Ok, yeah granted, books can be just fun too. That's fine. But speculative fiction particularly has this opportunity - because the context of the story is so different, the elements of the book's world that are the same as ours stand out in higher relief.

And to make a long sentence short, I don't think The Hunger Games takes that opportunity. There's no one element that is terribly similar to our world. Even the 'reality show' that is the titular Hunger Games is so dissimilar to our reality shows - watching it is mandatory - that it's hard to tell what, if any, comparison Ms. Collins is inviting.

2.
I found the insertion of a little romance to be tedious. It felt like it was jammed in there to make the book more palatable to the teen girls. I'd like to think that not all teenage girls NEED romance for a book to be relevant to their interests.

I thought when the romance became a major part of the Uglies series, that's where it bogged down. God knows if the next Hunger Games books are all about Katniss choosing between Baker Boy and Hunter Guy, I will be disappointed.

3.
I thought the very best parts of the book were the chapters that described Katniss's home town and the capital city. Suzanne Collins does wonderful detail, as we know from Gregor, and her alternate worlds are richly and roundly imagined and full of dirt and vistas and infrastructure.

I am hoping that Katniss takes a tour of all the districts of her world in the next two books, and leaves both those boys behind.

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Magic Trixie by Jill Thompson
Oh, I love Halloween. It's got to be my favorite time of year. The weather is getting nippy but not too cold yet, and there's nothing more satisfying to me than kicking though the dry leaves on the sidewalk. Plus, the iconography is exciting and adaptable - black cats can be adorable or scary, witches can be gruesome or slinky, spiders can be big and hairy and icky... or tiny and delicate and fascinating. Let's not forget the color scheme. Does not orange and black beat red and green any day? Christmas takes one tone: heartwarming... while Halloween has endless variations. Your Halloween might be all naughty nurse-y; Martha Stewart's Halloween is classy; and my Halloween is... well, it's different every time.

Which might be why I loved Magic Trixie so much. Jill Thompson has drawn up a set of monsters, witches and ghosts that are hip and fabulous, from Trixie's grandma Mimi, with her green fishnets, peacock-feather broom, and wide purple snakeskin belt cinching her coy black minidress... to Trixie's goofy school friend Stitch, who looks just like any cool second-grade boy, with unruly black hair and long cargo shorts, except for the fact that he's stitched together from parts of corpses and can unzip his head and show off his brain when it's his turn for show and tell.



(Or it might be the pink hair.)

This first book in the Trixie series glories in introducing these characters. There's a nice little plot involving Trixie accepting her baby sister, but the real joy is in learning about spitfire Trixie and finding out what fresh visual fun is waiting on the next page. Jill Thompson, a multiple Eisner winner, knows her craft. Page layouts flow seamlessly, making this one of the smoothest graphic novel reads I've ever seen. Colors balance, with Trixie's wild orange / pink hair and acid green hatband contrasting beautifully with her black clothes and generally subdued backgrounds.

And every page holds a treat, whether it's a glimpse of Grandpa's dragon tattoo or Trixie's fly backpack.

I am delighted to find that Trixie has her own blog, full of extra pictures and Trixie's own observations.

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My big pink book of everything by Chez Picthall & Christina Gunzi - review
Ok, how can I not review this book? The blog is called Pink Me, for gosh sake, and, even though I don't automatically gravitate toward everything pink, there is the hair to consider. I get a lot of respect from little girls because of the hair. So I owe it to those kids to check this book out and decide whether it is offensive in its traipse through the gender-specific minefield, or whether it is largely innocuous, and will not set little girls off down the path that leads to brand-name materialism and low math scores.

Because that's what we're talking about. I don't care if some young thing ends up reading the It Girl books or the Clique novels, as long as she keeps reading something, and keeps coming to the library. As long as there are enough other messages in her life telling her that she is for more than gossip and shopping.

So, what does My big pink book of everything tell a girl that she is for? First of all, she is certainly a person who can learn her numbers, her colors, and her shapes. That's what this book is: an early learning book not unlike many others. Pinker. Populated entirely by girls. But perfectly serviceable. The "name the foods" page has lots of healthy things like cherries and tomatoes and cheese, but also cupcakes and a doughnut, which I think is nice. I always felt preached-at by the books that only showed healthy foods. The little girls are black, white, Latina, mixed-race, Asian. Like a box of doughnuts themselves, actually.

And then there's page 18. "My busy day." All the activities pictured on this page are domestic duties: cooking, sweeping, washing clothes, gardening, pushing a doll carriage. What, no ironing? The very next page, ok, is about playing, and the little girls take a break from their chores by dancing, playing soccer, fishing, reading, drawing, etc. So I should probably relax. After all, my two boys did lots of pretend cooking in their day. Although not so much pretend clothes washing - that's a new one on me.

Bottom line: My big pink book of everything is an appealing, colorful book with lots of interaction. Will it fry your retinas? You bet. Look up from this book after only a few pages and you get a big green splotch in your field of vision. But will it fry your daughter's brain? Nope. Leave that to Barbie.

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The adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Interesting. The adoration of Jenna Fox is many things. It is:

• a young adult speculative fiction novel for girls who don't like science fiction

a coming-of-age novel for people who eschew the touchy-feely (me!)

a medical thriller, fully as suspenseful as early Robin Cook

a meditation on choices nearly as profound as Walden, which it frequently quotes

And I think it is, very subtly, a pro-life statement.

Now, I, like the reviewers at SLJ, Publishers Weekly, The Horn Book, etc., and my colleague Other Paula, who recommended it to me, enjoyed this book. I liked Jenna, who has awoken from a coma with no memory, and who struggles to assimilate information that will help her interpret her world and make sense of her often conflicting impressions. I enjoyed watching her evaluate her former life, explore her new life, and forge a new identity from the best pieces of both. The near-future world that Pearson has invented, full of genetically engineered species and antibiotic-resistant bacteria and oxygenated transplant gel loaded with neurochips, is both believable and intriguing. And I thought that "waking from a coma" was a serviceable metaphor for teenagers just beginning to realize that they are not merely extensions of (or reactions against) their parents, and that they can choose what kind of person to be.

But although this book is a suspenseful, thrilling read, I went through it slowly, because there's a lot going on in it beyond the mystery of Jenna's past. Specifically, the frequent ethics discussions merit very close attention.

In Jenna's world, "Science" (it almost wears a capital S in this book) is responsible for the disappearance of native species and an epidemic that killed a quarter of the world's population. In response, the federal government has enacted laws and created an ethics board that controls access to and application of advanced medical treatments. To ensure equitable access, a point system is in place, under which every person is assigned 100 points. Medical procedures use up those points: physicians decide whether a person 'needs', say, biofeedback software for their prosthetic limbs, or a kidney, or a heart transplant, based on how many points they have left.

Jenna is the daughter of a biotechnology billionaire, and she has recovered from a truly devastating car accident. I don't think I'm giving away too much of the plot when I say that Jenna has exceeded her points.

This fact, along with various revelations pertaining to what was lost and what recovered from Jenna's body after the crash, as well as a quadruple amputee whom she meets at school, and the fate of her best friends from before the accident, leads Jenna to question her right - and desire - to be alive.

I was skating right along with Jenna, feeling her dilemmas, rejoicing in her rebellions, all the way up to the book's ending, an artificial-feeling happy coda set two hundred and forty years later. 240 years is a long time: long enough, presumably, for a character to gain complete perspective. And 240 years later, Jenna is content with her choices, and the world's society backs her up. She muses on faith and science, and thinks that they are two sides of the same coin. At this point, I thought to myself, "'Faith'? Was this book about faith?" Earlier in the book, Jenna wondered if she had a soul, and her grandmother is Catholic... and then I realized that Jenna's post-coma memories include events that happened before she could talk: a near-drowning as a toddler, her baptism, and... being in her mother's womb. This made me re-examine all of the science and ethics in the book.

I feel sure that Mary Pearson did not write The Adoration of Jenna Fox (although, if that title isn't Jesus-y enough for you, I'll write the sequel, and call it Ecce Jenna) as Christian or pro-life propaganda. Up to that ending, I would even say that her presentation of the ethical issues faced by the characters is basically balanced - though that point system thing rather reeks of pro-life rhetoric. If the book had been left open-ended, I would recommend it without reservation. It could be used in many terrific science-class discussion topics (some of which are listed in the discussion guide, some, not). Teen literature should challenge convictions, should poke holes in the status quo.

But resolving Jenna's ethical conflicts - presenting her choice as the one right choice - damages the credibility of the book. Sure, "it's just fiction," but I'd like to give this book more credit than that. You quote Walden that much, you kind of better be prepared to defend your choices.

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Ladybug Girl by David Soman and Jacky Davis
Well, I'm just in love with Ladybug Girl. She's about four, I'd say, too little to play baseball with her big brother, and too little to read. She could easily be any of my friends' little daughters. Left to her own devices for the morning, she at first declares that there's nothing to do, but then travels through the back yard with her faithful dog Bingo, rescuing ants, building a fort, braving the shark that probably lives in the big puddle.

I feel like you can never have enough make-your-own-fun books, and you certainly can never have too many books illustrated as winningly as Ladybug Girl.

Endpaper bonus: Lulu in a variety of costumes and poses, from astronaut to unicorn.

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The apple-pip princess by Jane Ray
Here is a lovely folk tale for spring. Three princesses, each must try to demonstrate to her aging father why she would be the best successor to the throne. One sister is grandiose, one is vain, and the third, Serenity, is little and shy. Ok, sure, it's predictable. But it's lyrical and it has strong but delicate illustrations that incorporate collage, and it has an underlying message about leadership by example. Plus, the beautiful princesses have brown skin, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that will influence my purchase decision.

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Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ok, I'm all for pink, but this is too much! I think my gums are bleeding! There's glitter! A padded cover! Pink laser-printed hearts! A kid who won't eat anything that's not pink! Parents driven to distraction! And at the end, Posey decides she's now into purple, which I suppose means all that pink - has got to go.

But you know what I like about this book? There's no lesson here, no consequences for Posey as she declines her peanut-butter-and-banana lunch, although she gets a time out when she throws a fit about wearing red pajamas. Posey Prefers Pink is kawaii as all get-out, and does not apologize for it.

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Manuel Ramos


CHICANO MAGIC

Business of Art Center
Hagnauer Gallery,
515 Manitou Avenue
Manitou Springs, CO
719 - 685-1861
September 21-November 3, 2007 Opening Reception:
Sept. 21, 2007, 5-8pm
Exhibition Dates: Sept. 21 - Nov. 3, 2007

In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Business of Art Center (BAC) in Manitou Springs, Colorado, in partnership with Museo de las Américas Executive Director Patty Ortiz, is hosting an exhibition of contemporary Chicano artwork. Ms. Ortiz also served as a guest curator of this spectacular exhibition of Denver area and New Mexico artists.

Chicano Magic explores how contemporary Chicano art has held close its surrealist roots. From the influence of the fanciful imagery of the Mexican muralists to Carlos Castaneda's Mesoamerican shaman study, artists have found it easy to describe the Chicano experience through magical realism and surrealist imagery. With an added fine layer of social activism, the artists presented in this exhibition build a story mixed with tradition, struggle, creativity, and magic.

ARTISTS: Jerry De la Cruz, Meggan Deanza, Carlos Fresquez, Quintin Gonzalez, Ismael "Izzy" Lozano, Stevon Lucero, Sylvia Montero, Tony Ortega, Daniel Salazar, Maruca Salazar, Santiago Perez, Jerry Vigil, and Frank Zamora.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
New Madrid, the literary journal associated with Murray State University's low-residency M.F.A. program, announces its intention to dedicate its Winter 2008 issue to the theme of Mexico in the Heartland. The purpose of the issue is to acknowledge, investigate and celebrate the degree to which Mexico influences those living in the central United States , especially those in Kentucky and bordering states. Submissions may include fiction, non-fiction, poetry, interviews, translations from Spanish, etc.

The main criterion for acceptance, aside from literary excellence, is how well the submission addresses the theme of the issue. Submissions read between August 15, 2007 and November 15, 2007 .

All submissions must be sent via Submissions Manager. Submissions should be in MS Word format with a 12-point font, such as Times-Roman or Ariel. The attachment should end with ".doc" in the file name. The author's name and contact information should appear on the first page of the submission. Please include a brief bio of the author in the "comments" section of Submissions Manager. Prose submissions should be double spaced and paginated (20-pages maximum). Poetry submissions should be single spaced (6 poems maximum). Simultaneous submissions acceptable.

URREA AND CASTILLO AT WISCONSIN BOOK FESTIVAL
Luis Alberto Urrea and Ana Castillo will be among several critically acclaimed writers appearing at the Wisconsin Book Festival on October 10-14. Urrea's and Castillo's event is entitled Border Crossings, and will take place on October 14 from noon until 1:45 PM in the Promenade Hall of the Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State St. Madison, WI. There are numerous events at this Festival, and many that readers of La Bloga should appreciate. Check out the list of presenters, the schedule, logistics, and much more at the Festival website.

LAUGHIESTA
The 2007 class of the Circle of Latina Leadership presents: Laughiesta, a Latin Comedy Night, October 11. 5:30 PM Reception; 7:00 PM Show at the Comedy Works, 1226 15th Street, Denver. $25. 303-595-3637. Laughiesta benefits the Circle of Latina Leadership, a program of the Denver Hispanic Chamber Education Foundation.

Later.

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