Red Glass by Laura Resau

One night Sophie's family is called to a hospital, where five-year-old Pablo is recovering from dehydration. He was the sole survivor of a group of Mexican immigrants crossing the border. Sophie's family takes him in and comes to love him. A year later, Sophie must take a roadtrip with an unlikely group of people to Pablo's hometown in Mexico. Full of fears at first, she ends up opening herself to adventure and growing closer to Angel -- a boy her age with a secret. When Sophie dares to travel alone into Guatemala to save Angel, she explores whether love is worth the risk of loss.

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"I was very excited to discover Laura Resau's Red Glass which garnered multiple starred reviews. This exquisite literary work brings a story to light that will touch our rgz and possibly broaden worldviews. We are so happy to be celebrating Latina Book Month with Laura!" - Lorie Ann Grover, readergirlz diva "Rich, poetic language . . . a captivating read." - School Library Journal starred review "A vibrant, large-hearted story." - Publishers Weekly starred review International Reading Association Young Adult Book Award Winner Americas Award Winner Cybils Award Finalist 2007

  Laura Resau

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On the nightstand: Orange ChapStick, notebook to record dreams, The Hunger Games (amazing book!)

Favorite drink while you write: Hot tea with lots of honey and milk

Favorite bookstore: All my local independent ones - especially The Tattered Cover.

Favorite library: The Northwood Enoch Pratt library in Baltimore City, where I spent countless hours as a kid. Still remember exactly how it smelled . . .

Pets: Half-corgi-half-lab named Luli. She's short and long and bratty - she gets lots of laughs.

Place to write: My *sweet lil fifties rig* - a cozy silver trailer in my driveway

Inspiration: Places I travel, people I meet there, caves, waterfalls, rivers, leaves, sunshine, the moon . . .

Dream book tour: How about a series of candlelit readings in remote caves around the world? Getting there would be an adventure for everyone.

Writer buddies: The fabulous Colorado crowd - Todd Mitchell, Ingrid Law, Lauren Myracle, Victoria Hanley, Denise Vega, Teresa Funke, and many more...

Cure for writer's block: Walking along a river, sitting under a tree, dancing (to kumbaya, meringue, salsa), reading poetry

Favorite outfit: A très chic strapless silk dress I discovered last summer at a street market in Aix-en-Provence, France. Always looking for excuses to wear it — not easy here in Colorado -- the land of Polarfleece and Tevas.

Laptop or longhand? Laptop unless I'm in a forest, on a beach, or under my apple tree - then it's a small spiral notebook.

Stilettos or Uggs? Uggs. I'd destroy stilettos in two minutes flat (and be sprawled on the ground moaning in pain).

Next up: The Indigo Notebook (in October 2009) - the first novel in a travel-adventure series.

Author idol: There are so, so many! Lately I've been discovering the wonders of Jerry Spinelli.

Other YA Novels: What the Moon Saw

Other Interviews: TeensReadToo, Yat-Yee Blog, SCBWI (scroll to part 8)

Website: lauraresau.com

Audio clip: Listen to a clip of Red Glass, read by Emma Bering - Full audio download or CD available from Random House

Roundtable: readergirlz divas and postergirlz discuss Red Glass

 

rgz LIVE!

Discuss the book with the author herself. Laura Resau will be chatting live at the readergirlz blog on Wednesday, May 20th at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST. The chat will last for about an hour.

All over the country, young students are being forced to give up on their dreams of a college education because of their immigration status. Many states deny in-state tuition benefits to students who entered the U.S. illegally, even if they've been here since they were young and have spent their entire school lives in America.

Right now, Congress is considering The Federal DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act), which would provide undocumented immigrant youth in America with conditional residency and a chance for citizenship if they came to the U.S. before they were 16, graduated from high school or obtained a GED, attended two years of college or joined the military, and have no criminal records.

If the act doesn't pass, "another entire class of outstanding, law-abiding high school students will graduate without being able to plan for the future, and some will be removed from their homes to countries they barely know," says DreamACTivist.org on its site, which is dedicated to the passage of the DREAM Act. "This tragedy will cause America to lose a vital asset: an educated class of promising immigrant students who have demonstrated a commitment to hard work and a strong desire to be contributing members of our society."

Throughout May 1st and 2nd, there will be several "May Day" marches across the country to help raise awareness of the DREAM Act. To participate in a city near you, visit United We Dream for the complete schedule.

These tunes were hand-picked by the author to accompany her book.

Siguiendo la Luna by Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Mis Ojos by Mana
La Camisa Negra by Juanes
En el Muelle de San Blas by Mana
Perdoname la Vida by Los Inquietos del Vallenato
Guantanamera by Buena Vista Social Club
Bracero Fracasado by Lila Downs
Ojala by Silvio Rodriguez
A donde vas amor by Banda XXI
El Relampago by Lila Downs

 

Sophie's trip to Mexico and Guatemala makes her see herself - and her life - differently. Have you ever taken a trip that changed you or your life somehow? Is there a trip you want to take someday? How do you think it might change you?

The main characters of Red Glass have to overcome past traumas or fears on order to connect with each other. For example, Sophie has to get over her fears in order to become close to Angel and ultimately, to help him. Have you had any fears that you feel proud of overcoming? How has your life changed now that you can deal with the fears? Do you have more fears that you hope to overcome one day?

One theme in The Little Prince quotes in Red Glass is that what's essential is invisible. Can you think of a time in your life when you had to look past surface appearances to find what was most important? Have you ever made an assumption about a person, and then, after you've gotten to know him or her, had a different impression?

Sophie's new white dress and coconut jewelry make her feel like a different person. Do you have any special clothes or jewelry that makes you feel different somehow?

Each of the characters has an eccentric behavior - Dika holds her red glass, Angel carries his box, Sophie squeezes lime juice . . . Do you or someone you know have unusual behaviors? What might be some deeper reasons behind the behaviors?

Sophie encounters an extremely gross bathroom on her solo trip into Guatemala. She runs outside and ends up laughing hysterically. Why do you think she does this? What's the most shocking (or grossest!) place you've encountered? How did you react? Have you ever had a completely unexpected reaction to something?

What do you think will happen to Sophie, Angel, Pablo, Dika, and Mr. Lorenzo after the story ends?

 

Invite: Star-shaped invitations with The Little Prince quotes Under the Same Moon, Like Water for Chocolate, El Norte, The Motorcycle Diaries

Food: Mangos, fruitcake (um, if you're not into fruitcake, how about quesadillas?), red Jell-O - and lime juice squeezed over EVERYTHING!

Décor: Scatter around little white flowers and hard corn kernels, red glass beads or marbles, chicken feathers, a map of the US, Mexico, and Guatemala (to trace Sophie's route)

Movies: Under the Same Moon, Like Water for Chocolate, El Norte, The Motorcycle Diaries

Craft: Learn to dance salsa, meringue, or cumbia; make corn tortillas

Recommended by postergirlz, the readergirlz advisory council

Fiction
Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa by Micol Ostow
Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Surrender Tree by Margarita Engle
Estrella's Quinceañera by Malin Alegria
Sofi Mendoza's Guide to Getting Lost in Mexico by Malin Alegria

Non-Fiction
Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States edited by Lori Marie Carlson

 

Get ready for summer reading! In the coming months, we'll be discussing:

June: Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
July: The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg
August: Kendra by Coe Booth