Iowan wins 2012 Int'l. Latino Book Award for Young Adult Fiction ebook about Teenage Migrant Worker

June 15, 2012 - PRLog -- AMES IA -- Author Rebecca Burke received a top award for her Latina-themed Young Adult novel WHEN I AM SINGING TO YOU at the 14th Annual International Latino Book Awards in New York June 5, 2012.

The largest and most important Latino book awards in the USA, the 14th Annual International Latino Book Awards were held at the Instituto Cervantes in New York City and honored 148 authors and publishers. This year the awards were sponsored by Libros Publishing, Scholastic and Atria Books with additional support from the University of Arizona Press and Arte Público Press.

The International Latino Book Awards are held during BookExpo America, the largest publishing trade show in the US. Authors and publishers come together from across the USA and 14 countries in Latin America and Spain. The awards were presented by Latino Literacy Now in partnership with Instituto Cervantes and other national Latino groups. Latino Literacy Now was founded to promote literacy in the Latino community in all forms: educational, financial, reading, and community awareness.

Burke’s novel received first place in the Young Adult fiction/ebook (Spanish/English) category. Her book is about a Mexican teenager who works in the Iowa farm fields with her family until a terrible misunderstanding provokes her mother to kick her out. She finds her way to a city homeless shelter for teens, where worse trouble awaits. WHEN I AM SINGING TO YOU is a coming-of-age story about a daughter’s fierce determination to return home.

According to one book reviewer: “There are very few novels I can think of whose main character stayed in my thoughts for weeks after finishing the story. This novel was one of them.  . . . This story gives a rich and vivid portrayal of the struggle of migrant workers and hardships (everything from racism to abuse) they face. To say a character touched your heart is a testament to how well the book was written.”

An Iowan, Burke has traveled widely and lived in other countries, including Mexico and Spain. She is the author of two other books of fiction, THE AHIMSA CLUB (middle grade and young adult) and WHAT IF THE HOKEY POKEY REALLY IS WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT? (humor), available as ebooks on Amazon, Smashwords, and elsewhere. A former university writing instructor, she was a writer and editor for over two dozen language arts anthologies and textbooks during her decade in the educational publishing industry. Now she writes from home in Ames, where she lives with her husband, two teenagers and dog.

Contact information:
Rebecca Burke, ramburke at yahoo.com
amazon.com/author/rebeccaburke


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