Starred Publishers Weekly review for Queen!

May 9, 2011 Laura Resau

Maria Virginia Farinango (my co-author and me... happy!!)

Hey guys,

Nice news to start off my week: The Queen of Water just got its *third* starred review-- this one from Publishers Weekly! I'm over the moon!

* This compelling collaboration between Resau (The Ruby Notebook) and Farinango--who met while Resau was teaching English at a community college--is based on Farinango's tumultuous upbringing in Ecuador as part of an indígena (indigenous) family, forced to live under the thumb of the mestizos (the Spanish upper class). As is common for indígena girls her age, Virginia is sent to live with a wealthy mestizo couple--in her case, Niño Carlitos and his wife, Doctorita--and she babysits their children and serves as their maid for eight years. While the living conditions are an improvement over her family's small farm, she endures physical and verbal abuse and is denied an education.

Narrating in a singular, authentic voice, Virginia dreams of escape, but her broken identity leaves her directionless. Along the way, though, she employs her imagination, persistence, and hard-won wisdom to recover her strength and freedom. The authors' candid narrative richly depicts Virginia's passage from a childhood filled with demoralization to a young woman who sees her life through new eyes. Ages 12–up.

Yay! So happy about this... I didn't even know what starred reviews meant before my first book came out... Basically, it's a system for recognizing the book as having exceptional merit... and the happy consequence is that librarians, book sellers, teachers, and people in the publishing industry pay more attention to the book.... which ultimately gets the book into the hands of more readers... and this, as a writer, is one of my biggest goals... to connect with as many readers as I can.

Okay, I have to wade my way through the heaps of emails that have been building up since I left for Michigan. I'm in the midst of planning lots of author visits (virtual and actual) with schools and libraries in Colorado-- Broomfield, Boulder, Fort Collins, Basalt, Grand Junction, and more...

(If I owe you an email, don't worry, it'll be coming soon... my apologies!) Thanks for reading and keeping in touch-- I'm grateful!

xo
Laura

Back from Michigan!

May 6, 2011 Laura Resau

Hello everyone!

Just got back from author visits to Lansing and Ann Arbor, where I had a blast with students from Haslett High, Greenhills School, the International Book club at the East Lansing Library, and the folks at Ann Arbor Library... I loved meeting so many cool teachers and students and librarians and writers and readers... such a treat!

I also went to my dad's retirement party in Grand Rapids... Lil Dude was with me, which made things extra wild and crazy (he has so much energy he literally bounces off walls). He was great on the plane ride, but I still feel utterly exhausted at the moment... I'd like to sleep about 20 hours...

More good news has been coming in about Star in the Forest... the latest is that it's an Americas Award Commended Book! I love the Americas Award... Red Glass was a winner a few years ago, and What the Moon Saw was an honor book. You can read more about the award here.

I also found out that Star in the Forest is currently a finalist for the Colorado Book Award in the Juvenile category, and The Ruby Notebook is a finalist in the Young Adult Category... yay! Thank you, Colorado Humanities and Center for the Book!

So excited to go to Aspen again with Lil Dude and Ian for the awards ceremony in June... and the best part is that I'll get to be with my talented, fun friends who are also finalists:

Amy Kathleen Ryan for Zen and Xander (YA, another Fort Collins author and good friend!)

Todd Mitchell for The Secret to Lying (YA-- yet another Fort Collins author and good friend!)

Nancy Bo Flood for Warriors in the Crossfire (Juvenile, she's one of the brilliant authors behind The Pirate Tree blog!)

Congrats everyone! I can't wait to cheer each other on in Aspen...

I also wanted to let you know that The Pirate Tree (mentioned above)-- a wonderful new blog about social justice and children's literature-- is featuring The Queen of Water this week. There's a thoughtful review/article on domestic slavery and The Queen of Water and an interview with me... And next week it will be featuring Star in the Forest! A huge thank you to Lyn Miller-Lachmann and Nancy Bo Flood for their work on this incredible blog (and for their important books)!

Hmmm... I feel like there's more news, but my brain isn't cooperating now... I'll try to remember and write more soon! Hope everyone's enjoying springtime!

xo,
Laura

Good news

May 2, 2011 Laura Resau

Hey everyone!

I've been busy, busy, busy! Just got my latest revision of THE JADE NOTEBOOK into my editor-- whew! The release date is Feb 2012 (and a giant *thank you* to all of you who've been enthusiastically asking me about it...)

I'm in Michigan now, doing author visits to libraries and schools in Ann Arbor and East Lansing... fun, fun, fun! I'm especially excited because these are the first presentations in which I'll focus on THE QUEEN OF WATER! Speaking of Queen, here are some links to great reviews:

The Denver Post, which calls the book "tremendously potent" and told with "grace and complexity." Read more here. I did an interview with the reviewer, Claire Martin, a few years ago, for another book. She's actually been to the Otavalo region of Ecuador (the region the book is set)-- very cool!)

Scene Magazine-- which gives a really thoughtful analysis:

"The Queen of Water is at once depressing and inspirational, savage and innocent, and is all the more poignant since it is based on the true story of Farinango’s upbringing. The first-person narrative creates an intimacy between Virginia and the reader; it is a glimpse into the personal diary of a blossoming and resilient young woman." Read more here.

Okay, I have to go now... my Lil Dude wants me to watch him ride his bike around the track in the school down the block. *proud mama moment... Lil Dude just turned four and he's already a master at riding a bike without training wheels... he's actually been doing it since he was 3 1/2!*

(Okay, sorry, that's it for now.... bye!)

xo, more soon,
Laura

Interviews and articles for Queen!

March 7, 2011 Laura Resau

Hi dear readers!

I've been doing some interviews in anticipation of the release of THE QUEEN OF WATER (tomorrow, March 8!)

Lyn Miller-Lachmann (author of the great Gringolandia) did this interesting article and interview with me for her "Waging Peace" Column for the Times Union blog.

Here's the beginning of her article:

"For the next two weeks, my “Waging Peace” columns will focus on the plight of workers, particularly child laborers, throughout the world. This week’s column takes us to Ecuador, a country where for five centuries the indigenous people have faced systematic discrimination and exploitation at the hands of large landowners and the country’s political, economic, and social elite. Laura Resau, an anthropologist who lived and worked throughout Latin America before becoming an award-winning author of novels for young people, is most recently the co-author of The Queen of Water, a fictionalized account of her collaborator, María Virginia Farinango’s, life as a child domestic worker..."

Read more here. In the interview, I discuss why we decided to fictionalize the book, how I met Maria Virginia, the cycle of domestic violence, and more...

Another interview is up today over at Children's Publishing Blog. (Just go to the link and scroll down a little). This interview focuses on my writing/publishing journey, with advice to writers.

And another interview focuses on my creative space-- my little silver trailer. You can read about it on Jenn Bertman's blog here.

Finally, there's a very wonderful and thoughtful blog review of Queen on the SLJ blog, A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy (don't you love the name?!) Check it out here.

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow THE QUEEN OF WATER will be officially released! Yay! Maria Virginia and I are so excited! You can get it in bookstores, or on indiebound or amazon.

And if you live near me, please come to my release party this Saturday!

Saturday, March 12, 6:00 pm, Old Firehouse Books, Fort Collins

The Queen of Water Signing and Chatting - Come one, come all! Join me to celebrate the book release!

Hope you like our book!!!

xo,
Laura

Teatime and Stars!

February 8, 2011 Laura Resau

Hi dear readers!

I'm here in winter wonderland, having a spot o' tea (as Lil Dude calls it) and feeling happy about *more* good Queen of Water news... a second starred review, this one from Booklist!

* "A moving, lyrical novel that will particularly resonate with teens caught between cultures."
-- ALA Booklist

And we have official word that Queen is a Junior Library Guild selection... hooray! Maria Virginia and I are so, so grateful that all these nice things are happening with Queen... each bit of recognition helps get the book into the hands of more readers.

In the midst of this excitement of preparing for the book's release, I'm also waiting (nervously) for revision notes from my editor on The Jade Notebook. And I'm still trying desperately to catch up with all the (very patient) friends I neglected over the last few months of being completely absorbed in finishing the manuscript. (Sorry!) Tea n cake times with Lil Dude have become more frequent... bright, warm spots in wintertime...

Mmmm....

Yummm....

Hip hip cheerio! (as Lil Dude says...)

Wherever you are, I hope you're staying warm and cozy...

xo
Laura

Starred Kirkus review for THE QUEEN OF WATER!

January 30, 2011 Laura Resau

Hey guys,

So, after seven years (I started this book in 2004!), The Queen of Water will soon become a reality.... on March 8th, just over a month away! Maria Virginia (my co-author) and I have been doing lots of happy-dancing (her in Ecuador, me here in Colorado)... not to mention LOTS of happy squealing over the phone... The reviews have been lovely, lovely, lovely! This book is very special to me for so many reasons (which I'm going to write about and add to my website soon). For now I'll just say that Maria Virginia and I are incredibly grateful that the story feels special to readers, too.

Here's an excerpt of the ***starred*** review from Kirkus Reviews, which calls the book "riveting.":

"Bright spots of humor and warmth are woven throughout, and readers will agonize for Virginia while seething at her tormentors. The complexities of class and ethnicity within Ecuadorian society are explained seamlessly within the context of the first-person narrative, and a glossary and pronunciation guide further help to plunge readers into the novel's world. By turns heartbreaking, infuriating and ultimately inspiring. (Fiction. 13 & up)"

Thank you thank you thank you!!! (You can read the whole review here.)

And there's more! VOYA calls the book "a richly described coming-of-age story set in a culture both foreign and familiar... by turns, shocking and funny."

I'm so glad these reviews mention the humor... I really love this aspect of Maria Virginia's story, too. She was an incredibly spunky girl (and still is!), and she found all kinds of creative and funny ways to resist her oppressors. And although she went through very rough times, she wasn't a victim, not at all... her girlhood was indeed inspiring.

In case you're curious what I've been up to since I handed in my manuscript a couple weeks ago... I've been doing all the fun, relaxing things that I put on hold during that final push to finish: long walks by the river, NIA dancing and yoga (very helpful, since those long hours in front of the computer wreaked havoc on my neck and shoulders), tea parties with my Lil Dude, reading books, watching movies with girlfriends (saw I Love You Phillip Morris (weird and funny) on Friday and plan to see The King's Speech, Black Swan, and Blue Valentine soon). And, the ultimate in fun-creative-inspiring entertainment... went to the Cirque du Soleil show "Allegria"! Wow, wow, wow! Breath-taking and so worth the money (er, pretty pricey).