Love YA Books: local author

Last night, I was very fortunate to have attended Stories of El Paso, an fundraising event for the El Paso Public Library Foundation. For those of you who aren't familiar with El Paso, we are a large city (the 19th most populous city in the U.S, according to Wiki) located on the Rio Grande, right on the Western edge of Texas, bordering Las Cruces, New Mexico and Juárez, Mexico.

The exciting thing about living in El Paso is that it is filled with culture, is centrally located, and is constantly changing and expanding. Sadly, however, we do not have that many literary events for a city of our size. We almost never have authors do signings here (unless they are local, or have ties to El Paso, like Rachel Caine), we don't have any indie bookstores, and if you'd like to join a book club, the pickings are very slim and narrow. This event in particular also featured local authors (no surprise!), but the main point of the event was to benefit the El Paso Public Libraries' after school programs, so each author chosen told stories that showed the "spirit of El Paso." Here's a look at the authors that spoke last night:

Rus Bradburd // Former UTEP basketball coach

Author of: Forty Minutes of Hell, Paddy On The Hardwood and Make It, Take It

Joe Hayes // Renowned storyteller

Author of: The Day It Snowed Tortillas, Ghost Fever and La Llorona

Linda Francis Lee // New York Times bestseller

Author of: Emily And Einstein, The Glass Kitchen and The Devil In The Junior League

Sergio Troncoso // Premio Aztlan winner

Author of: From This Wicket Patch of Dust and The Last Tortilla and Other Stories

Dan Wetzel // Renowned sports writer

Author of: Glory Road, Death To The BCS and Sole Influence

All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening. Each speaker had an interesting story to tell, and not only were they able to enthrall people with their writing, but with their spoken words, as well. It was a magical event, and I'm glad I was able to attend. I had never before been to Ardovino's Desert Crossing, but it was a really beautiful location, and the ambiance was made complete with the alluring Mexican folk music performed by Maria and Yahvi.

I even got to take home a spoil of war by snagging one of the last available copies of The Devil In The Junior League, which Linda Francis Lee happily signed for me! Funnily enough, I had spoken to her before the program outside in the parking lot, when she asked for directions to the venue entrance & I had to apologize, as I had never been there before and didn't know where I was going, either!

So yes, it was rather embarrassing to go up to her after the event to ask for a signature, but she was very cheerful about it and we ended up laughing about our earlier encounter. The best part? She said that she's working on a series that is set in El Paso! I am always on the lookout for a good fictional novel set in my home city - so far I've only read Benjamin Alire Sáenz's Aristotle and Dante Discover The Universe (which I loved, by the way!) I'm excited to see what she comes out with, and will be reading her other works in the meantime.

One of the many changes that I will slowly be introducing to this blog will be "regularly" posting about either literary events in El Paso or features on local authors. I use quotations on that since, as I've said, there really aren't that many here, but I will definitely keep my fingers crossed! El Paso could definitely use some more lovin'!

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Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common.

But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

I was so excited to find a YA fictional novel that was set in El Paso that I didn't even bother much with the synopsis beforehand - and I'm glad I read it, too, as this is such a beautiful story! As the synopsis describes, this is a novel about the growing friendship between two teenage boys who have always felt like outcasts.

One of the main themes of the novel is the heritage struggle - both Aristotle and Dante come from Mexican-American families, and grew up on the border, but neither feel that they truly fit in with their cultures. Dante doesn't speak Spanish, and doesn't consider himself to be a "real Mexican." He feels alienated from both his family and his culture - part of which is because he has light skin, and the majority of his extended family doesn't speak English. But Aristotle is dark-skinned, speaks Spanish, and still feels the same alienation towards his family and his culture that Dante feels.

Personally, I felt that I could really relate to Dante, because I, too, am a Hispanic El Pasoan who doesn't speak Spanish. It may not seem like a big deal, but growing up on the border I have often felt alienated because of the language barrier, especially since I, too, have family on my mother's side that I can't communicate with unless my mother acts as a translator.

I especially enjoyed reading about the camaraderie between Aristotle and Dante, however. It was great to see two "outcasts" with totally different personalities (Aristotle was more quiet and reserved, while Dante could charm the hell out of complete strangers) gain so much understanding of each other. I don't want to give any spoilers, but this novel is categorized as a coming-of-age LGBT novel, so I feel I can at least say that it was also very heartwarming to read about their growing relationship, in addition to their growing friendship, without really giving anything away.

I haven't read anything that was set in my hometown before, and it was a nice surprise that the first book I came across with an El Paso setting ended being so touching. This was truly a beautifully written novel and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author!