Proudly presenting the best memoir I have ever written.

I am thrilled to report that We Visit Colombia, by book about Colombia for upper elementary school children, has been published.
I lived in Colombia with my two sons for the 2007-2008 school year and although it is a country with a lot of problems, I really loved it there.
The book covers Colombia's history, economy and political system, as well as other aspects of Colombia, such as the amazing wildlife and the wonderful festivals.
It is part of a series called Your Land and My Land.

Oh the joy of books sales during a recession! Our library's annual book sale ended this week. And on the last few days, you could fill a big shopping bag with books and pay only $10. I picked up some Frank McCourt books I've always wanted to read, as well as one of the few Dick Francis books I haven't read. Now I just need to go and buy another book shelf.

I just finished a very depressing but very necessary book, The Buying of Congress: How Special Interests Have Stolen Your Right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, by Charles Lewis.
It's really sad to think that this book was written in the 1990s, BEFORE the floodgates of cash were opened by the Supreme Court's ridiculous decision that limits on political contributions abridged corporation's free speech rights.
I'm trying to figure out how to write a book on the Congress for children. I want it to be accurate and and yet clear about the fact that we are far away from the Founders' vision.

Bilingual Books!
When my sons were little, I spent hours in the bilingual and Spanish sections of libraries and book stores. Sometimes it was delightful, like when I discovered Bobbie Salinas' hugely-entertaining classic Three Little Pigs: Nacho, Tito y Miguel and other times it was disappointing. Sometimes the translations were awkward or error prone. Now that my first two bilingual books are coming out, I'm excited to see how they look and read. They are What Is It Like to Be Marta and What Is It Like to Be Shakira. Both books are in English and Spanish, and designed and written for pre-schoolers and kindergarteners. The Marta book was fun to write. I loved watching videos of her dribbling around defenders, although unfortunately sometimes those defenders were U.S. players. Shakira is amazing, and also had a strong connection to soccer this summer with her Waka Waka World Cup song. Unfortunately that all happened after the book went to press. Maybe I can include the phenomenon that was Waka Waka in a sequel.
Here's where you can find out more about one of my all time favorite bilingual books:

I'll add the links for my two new books, too:

Red Hot Patriot starring Kathleen Turner
I'm so glad I made it to the world premiere of Red Hot Patriot, a great play starring Kathleen Turner as the late Texas writer, Molly Ivins. The playwrights are two sisters, Margaret and Allison Engel. Ivins, who died of breast cancer at 72 in 2007, certainly gave them plenty to work with. She was forever whipping off one liners and jokes about George W. Bush and other Republicans who earned her ire. I don't know how I got through it without crying. It really did not seem as though Turner was acting in the role of Molly Ivins. For me, she was Molly Ivins, in all her rowdiness, wit and great liberal spirit.

More Terrible Than Death: Drugs, Violence and America's War in Colombia
By Robin Kirk
I picked up Robin Kirk's book with a little trepidation. I lived in Colombia for a year and read the newspaper every day, so I felt as though I had a pretty good understanding of the violence. But Kirk, who worked for Human Rights Watch in Colombia for four years, does an amazing job of describing Colombia's history, the reasons for the violence, the victims, and the United States' involvement. If every cocaine user in the United States, Canada and Europe had to read this book before they "enjoyed" their white powder, things might actually change. It is long past time that North American drug users took responsibility for the mayhem in Colombia.