Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Blog Tour: Gringolandia

Gringolandia by Lyn Miller-Lachmann
Published by: Curbstone Press

Daniel’s papá, Marcelo, used to play soccer, dance the cueca, and drive his kids to school in a beat-up green taxi—all while publishing an underground newspaper that exposed Chile’s military regime.

After papá’s arrest in 1980, Daniel’s family fled to the United States. Now Daniel has a new life, playing guitar in a rock band and dating Courtney, a minister’s daughter. He hopes to become a US citizen as soon as he turns eighteen.

When Daniel’s father is released and rejoins his family, they see what five years of prison and torture have done to him. Marcelo is partially paralyzed, haunted by nightmares, and bitter about being exiled to “Gringolandia.” Daniel worries that Courtney’s scheme to start a bilingual human rights newspaper will rake up papá’s past and drive him further into alcohol abuse and self-destruction. Daniel dreams of a real father-son relationship, but he may have to give up everything simply to save his papá’s life.

This powerful coming-of-age story portrays an immigrant teen’s struggle to reach his tortured father and find his place in the world.



Lyn Miller-Lachmann is the Editor-in-Chief of MultiCultural Review, the author of the award-winning reference book Our Family, Our Friends, Our World: An Annotated Guide to Significant Multicultural Books for Children and Teenagers (1992), the editor of Once Upon a Cuento (2003), a collection of short stories for young readers by Latino authors, and the author of the novel Dirt Cheap (2006), an eco-thriller for adult readers. For Gringolandia, she received a Work-in-Progress Grant from the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators.

CONTEST TIME!

Leave a comment with your e-mail address for a chance to enter to win a copy of Gringolandia. If you don't leave an e-mail address you will be disqualified.

+1 for each time you post about this contest with a link in your comment for each mention.
+2 start following my blog.
+4 if you already follow my blog.

Please type your extra entry winnings in your one comment.

Tour put together by Jo Ann Hernandez. For more information on future tours e-mail her at bronzeword1[at]yahoo[dot]com.

hope.

10 comments:

Lyn Miller-Lachmann said...

You're welcome to ask questions about the book and about writing, and I'll try to answer them.

Bleuette said...

Sounds like a great book!:)
tirachii@yahoo.com

http://fantasysink.blogspot.com/

+4 already a follower.

? for Lyn Miller-Lachmann:
How did you get the idea for your book & who's your favorite character?

Lyn Miller-Lachmann said...

Thanks for the questions, Maria. I got the idea when I lived in Madison, Wisconsin and organized concerts of musicians from Chile and elsewhere in Latin America. One of the musicians had been imprisoned and then forced into exile after the 1973 military coup, causing him to be separated from his children for many years. When his son turned 18, he left Chile to live and perform with his father, and while they were on tour, they stayed with us. That's where I got the idea of writing a novel about a father and son separated for many years due to a dictatorship and their efforts to reestablish their relationship after each of them had changed so much.

My favorite character is Daniel because he never gives up on his father after everyone else does. He doesn't think he's an exceptional person, but in his own quiet way, he is.

ilonga said...

María already asked what I wanted to ask, so...

+1 link to this contest:
http://twitter.com/_ilonga_/statuses/5633183530

+4 already a follower.

This sounds like a really good book ^^

ilonga.81(at)gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Wow this is great! Good Job Hope!!! You're amazing. I really enjoyed working with you. Outstanding!
Jo Ann Hernandez
BronzeWord Latino Authors
http://authorslatino.com/wordpress

Lyn Miller-Lachmann said...

Thank you, ilonga. If you think of any questions later on, I'll still be around tonight and some of tomorrow.

jpetroroy said...

Sounds very powerful.

jpetroroy (at) gmail (dot) com

+4 already a follower

Anonymous said...

Please enter my name in your draw. Thanks.
wandanamgreb(at)gmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

I just became a follower of your blog.
wandanamgreb(at)gmail(dot)com

Gaby317 said...

This sounds like an interesting read. Please count me in!

+4 I'm an old follower

gaby317nyc at gmail dot com