3.15.2011

Great News for A Good Long Way!

My most recent novel, A Good Long Way (Pinata Books, 2010), pictured at top left, has just been announced as a finalist (1 of 14 titles) for ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year award in the YA category. What an honor! They'll award gold, silver, and bronze prizes in each category. My book is in the Young Adult category. I'm overjoyed for the book and for Arte Publico Press/Pinata Books who took on the project. Check out the rest of the finalists at www.bookoftheyearawards.com/finalists/2010/category/young-adult-fiction.

5 comments:

Ashley Hope Pérez said...

Congratulations, René! This is fabulous news. I'm so glad your book and Arte Público are getting this (much-deserved) attention. Yay!

www.ashleyperez.com/blog

René Saldaña, Jr. said...

Thanks, Ashley. I have three titles with Random House, and though I did get some recognition for them, I've never been this excited for one of my books. Arte Publico is awesome to publish with. So now I've got two out with them, another in my Mickey Rangel Detective series due out in the fall, and another collection of short stories due out sometime next year. And working on another novel for RH, hopefully.

Nancy said...

Mr. Saldana,

I'm looking forward to reading A Good Long Way. I am a Chicago Public School teacher and have been using your short story collection Finding Our Way in my 7th and 8th grade reading classes. The students love the stories and look forward to each time we read.
I have about 27 copies of the book, but I am having a hard time finding a place to buy them. Do you know if the book is still in print or where I might be able to buy more copies.
Thanks so much.
Stella

René Saldaña, Jr. said...

Stella: thanks for supporting short stories. It's a difficult form to publish nowadays. About FOW and its availablity: the hardback version is, indeed, out of print, but the paperback version should be easily available through order and any local bookstore, the indies first. But for sure online at the bigs' sites. If I can ever be of service in any other way, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Nancy said...

Dear Mr. Saldana,

Our 7th grade reading class has enjoyed reading and discussing your stories from Finding Our way. We have a few questions and comments for you. We hope to hear from you soon.

What connections do you have to all of these stories?

What is the hardest part about becoming an author?

What was your motivation for becoming an author?

What do you do when you run out of ideas?

Are the characters real?

Did these events happen to you? Did you deal with it better than the characters did?

How do you know when your stories are completely perfect?

If you ever come to Chicago could you visit our school?

What age were you when you wrote a book?

How did you come up with some of your characters?


Comments:

This book is really good.

Manny Calls showed me that you should appreciate those you love. I sometimes tell my mom, “I hate you!” but when she left for my grandpa’s funeral I was lost. I was helpless. I realized this is what I’d be if my mom was gone.

I like your short story collection. You should keep making these types of stories because I think they really do connect and help teens.

I found it easy to connect/relate to the stories you wrote.

It would be great for you to come and explain to us some questions we have about the stories. P.S. Come to Chicago ASAP!

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