American Tumbleweeds by Marta Elva
American Tumbleweeds by Marta Elva
Thanks to Jean Huets of Circling Rivers, I am giving away one print copy of American Tumbleweeds by Marta Elva.
Description of American Tumbleweeds by Marta Elva
Set along the border between El Paso, Texas, and Juárez, Mexico, American Tumbleweeds tells the bittersweet story of a Mexican-American family’s struggle to stay together as tradition collides with the social upheaval of 1960s America.
Inez’s family threatens to fly apart when her father gets arrested smuggling marijuana into the U.S. Inez finds refuge from the turmoil in the old ways cherished by her beloved Mexican grandmother. But life in El Paso is far more exciting, as the explosion of rock music and new personal freedom shatter traditions on both sides of the border.
American Tumbleweeds captures poignantly the growing pains of a young girl and of all immigrant families whose dual cultural identities lend them both strength and strife. From Amalia, the matriarchal grandmother, to Inez, woman-child of the 1960s, these “American tumbleweeds” portray every family: loving and clinging, wounding each other deeply while comforting each other in the soul-deep ways that only families can reach.
Praise for American Tumbleweeds by Marta Elva
“With AMERICAN TUMBLEWEEDS, Marta Elva pulls us into the minds of a half-dozen members of a border family in crisis, dramatizing the state of living ni aqui, ni alla—neither here nor there geographically and emotionally. A moving frst novel. — John Sayles, flm director, author, and MacArthur fellow Te aptly named AMERICAN TUMBLEWEEDS depicts the balancing act some bi-cultural families must undertake to live in America. Te characters indeed “tumble” back and forth over our southernmost border, forced to live in two worlds at once. Tis is an experience all Americans should know about.” – Sonia Manzano, author of Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx
“AMERICAN TUMBLEWEEDS is an engrossing, enlightening portrayal of life along the Mexican–American border in the late 1960s. Marta Elva’s sensitive insights draw a straight line to family and societal issues in today’s headlines.”- Annamaria Alferi, author of Strange God
About Marta Elva
Marta Elva was born in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and raised in El Paso, Texas. Her career as a writer, producer, editor and camera operator in television and independent flm spans over three decades and includes several Emmy-nominated shows, notably PBS WNET New York’s “Setting the Stage.”
Marta has served as council member for the Writers Guild of America East. She and her husband raised a son and a daughter together and now live on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Giveaway of American Tumbleweeds by Marta Elva
This giveaway is open to Canada and the U.S. and ends on May 27, 2016 midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.
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