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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins
Kate’s 2¢: “American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins
“American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins
saying…
I downloaded “American Dirt” from BookShare. The story was read by synthesized speech and, I must admit, its Spanish pronunciationis even worse than my own.
My emotions ran from horror to elation and everything in-between as I listened to this gripping and compelling story. I can understand that each of the travelers has this/her own reason for leaving their homeland. Can they not understand that by flooding our borders, we may not be able to accommodate all of them without sinking our own ship?
A few take-aways:
–The author is more interested in stories of the victims, rather than the perpetraters…In characters who suffer inconceivable hardships.
— The violence presented in many stories can feed into the misconception about the Mexican people.
–How would you live in a place that began to collapse around you?
–At worst, we tend to see the migrants as resource draining criminals…at best, a sort of helpless, impoverished faceless, brown mass.
–We seldom think of them as our fellow human beings.
–After reading this story, when we see migrants on the news, we may begin to see these people as people.
–También de este lado hay sueños. On this side, too, there are dreams.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jeanine Cummins (born December 6, 1974)[1][failed verification] is an American author of Irish and Puerto Rican heritage. [2][3] She has written four books: a memoir titled A Rip in Heaven and three novels, The Outside Boy, The Crooked Branch, and American Dirt.[4] American Dirt was a notable success, selling over 3 million copies in 37 languages. However, it also gained controversy within the American literary community for its perceived cultural exploitation.
Early life[edit]
Cummins was born in Rota, Spain, where her father, Gene, was stationed as a member of the US Navy.[5] Her mother, Kay, was a nurse.[6] Cummins spent her childhood in Gaithersburg, Maryland and attended Towson University, where she majored in English and communications. In 1993 Cummins was a finalist in the Rose of Tralee festival, an international event that is celebrated among Irish communities all over the world; at each festival in Tralee, Ireland, a woman is crowned the Rose.[7]
Career[edit]
After university, Cummins spent two years working as a bartender in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before moving back to the United States in 1997 and beginning work at Penguin in New York City.[3] She worked in the publishing industry for 10 years.[8]
Her 2004 memoir, A Rip in Heaven, focuses on the attempted murder of her brother, Tom, and the murder of two of her cousins on the Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1991, when Cummins was 16.[1] She declined offers for film rights to the book.[9] She has said that her cousin Julie’s death specifically inspired her to become a writer, as Julie had been “a really gifted writer” and Cummins’s role model growing up, and Cummins felt a sense of responsibility to carry on her legacy.[9]
Her next two books were novels that explore Irish history. The Outside Boy (2010) is about Pavee travellers. The Crooked Branch (2013) is about the Great Famine of Ireland.[9] These books were published for the first time in Ireland in 2020.[7]
Cummins’ 2020 novel, American Dirt, tells the story of a mother and bookstore owner in Acapulco, Mexico, who attempts to escape to the United States with her son after her husband and her entire family is killed by a drug cartel.[10][11] In 2018 the book was sold to Flatiron after a three-day bidding war between nine publishers that resulted in a seven-figure deal.[12][3] From 2018 until its publication in January 2020, the book was heavily marketed, receiving many positive reviews and a coveted book release day endorsement by Oprah Winfrey as the 83rd book chosen for Oprah’s Book Club.[13][3] The novel eventually sold over 3 million copies, in 37 languages.[14]
Approximately one month prior to release of the book, a negative review from Latina author Myriam Gurba was published online.[15][16] Then, a week before release of the book, a string of critical reviews was published, including a review in The New York Times.[17][18][15] In these reviews and a letter signed by 142 writers, Cummins was accused of exploitation and inaccuracy in her portrayals of both Mexicans and the migrant experience.[19] Some also claimed that Cummins had previously identified as white but re-branded herself as Latina with the publication of the book, pointing to a line in a 2015 New York Times op-ed in which Cummins stated “I am white.”[16] Most did not refer to the entire statement in the op-ed, however, which was about the murder of Cummins’s cousins by a group of three black and one white men and included the line “I am white. The grandmother I shared with Julie and Robin was Puerto Rican, and their father is half Lebanese. But in every practical way, my family is mostly white.”[1] The controversy around Jeanine’s book was used to launch the organization and hashtag #DignidadLiteraria to highlight and address a perceived lack of diversity in the U.S. publishing industry.[20]
On January 30, 2020 Cummins’ book tour was cancelled. Flatiron Books’ President Bob Miller wrote, “Based on specific threats to booksellers and the author, we believe there exists real peril to their safety.”[21] The publisher later clarified that these were not death threats, but rather other threats made against Cummins, against booksellers hosting her, and against moderators participating in the events.[22]
Cummins has indicated that her next book might be set in Puerto Rico.[7]
Family[edit]
Cummins’ husband is an Irish immigrant who lived illegally in the U.S. for 10 years.[23] The couple have two daughters, and have also been foster parents.[24][25]
From BookShare:
Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.
Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with a few books he would like to buy—two of them her favorites.
Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.
Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia—trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier’s reach doesn’t extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to? American Dirt will leave readers utterly changed. It is a literary achievement filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity on every page. It is one of the most important books for our times.
A New York Times Bestseller
Copyright:
2020
Book Details
Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
Book Size:
400 Pages
ISBN-13:
9781250209771
Related ISBNs:
9781250209764, 9781250805461
Publisher:
Flatiron Books
Date of Addition:
01/31/22
Copyrighted By:
Jeanine Cummins
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Literature and Fiction, Parenting and Family
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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “Edge of valor: a Todd Ingram novel” by John J. Gobbell
Kate’s 2¢: “Edge of valor: a Todd Ingram novel” by John J. Gobbell
“Edge of valor: a Todd Ingram novel” by John J. Gobbell
This was a book chosen at random by NLS and sent to me on a cartridge that contained seven books.
Well, there certainly was a lot of action and intrigue in this story.
John J. Gobbell is an American author and former member of the U.S. Navy. He is best known as the writer of Todd Ingram series of books which began in 2019 with the release of The Last Lieutenant.
Gobbell joined the Navy after he graduated from the University of Southern California. He saw active duty and fought the battle of Yankee Station when they formed a protective destroyer screen around the carrier USS Hancock in the South China Sea. After his naval career, he worked as an executive recruit. In his free time, he sails in Southern California yacht racing regattas.
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
Edge of valor: a Todd Ingram novel DB110008
Gobbell, John J Reading time: 14 hours, 53 minutes.
John Haag
Historical Fiction
War Stories
“Todd Ingram has just saved his ship from a kamikaze raid. While seeking repairs in Okinawa, he hears news of the war’s end…and then receives mysterious orders to defuse an imminent Soviet attack. In the process, he is to rescue a Red Cross representative with irrefutable proof of Japanese war crimes. The assignment brings him face-to-face with a Soviet adversary from his past—and a Japanese garrison determined to stop him. Three weeks ago, Todd was fighting the Japanese, and the Russians were supposed to be his ally. Now he doesn’t know whom to trust…and as his shipmates prepare to return to their loved ones, Todd’s war continues.” — Provided by publisher. Some violence and some strong language.
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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “Every Last Secret” by A. R. Torre A R
Kate’s 2¢: “Every Last Secret” by A. R. Torre A R
“Every Last Secret” by A. R. Torre A R
saying…
Maggy Stacy did a good job of reading this for us. I love the ending.
from: www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm/author_number/x17026/a-r-torre
A. R. Torre is a pseudonym for New York Times bestselling author Alessandra Torre. Torre is an award-winning author of more than twenty-six novels. She has been featured in such publications as ELLE and ELLE UK and has guest-blogged for Cosmopolitan and the Huffington Post.
Author Alessandra Torre is very popular because of her works and often features in various publications along with Jenny McCarthy such as Dirty Sexy Funny and Elle UK. She considers herself to be an indie and traditionally published author. Her main focus lies mainly towards writing erotic suspense and contemporary erotic romance stories.
from NLS/BARD/LOC:
Every last secret DB103215
Torre, A. R. Reading time: 9 hours, 28 minutes.
Read by Maggy Stacy.
Suspense Fiction
Psychological Fiction
Cat and her husband William live in the privileged California community of Atherton. When new neighbors move in, Cat does the right thing and welcomes them to the neighborhood. But wife Neena soon sets her eyes on William and everything Cat has. Except Neena doesn’t know Cat’s secrets. 2020.
Downloaded: November 2, 2023
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