February 19, 2010 – On Feb 23rd an award winning novelist Lyn Miller Lachmann will speak at the college. She will read from her latest novel Gringolandia. The reading will take place in Westminster's Art Gallery at 8 PM. It is free and open to the public.

A 2010 American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults
GRINGOLANDIA
by Lyn Miller-Lachmann
When history calls your name, how will you answer?

Daniel's father used to play soccer, dance the cueca, and drive his kids to school in a beat-up taxi…while publishing an underground newspaper that exposed Chile's military regime.

After Papá's arrest in 1980, Daniel's family fled to Wisconsin. Now Daniel has a new life, playing lead guitar in a rock band and dating Courtney, a minister's daughter.

When his father is released and rejoins the family, Daniel sees what five years of prison and torture in a brutal police state have done. Papá is partially paralyzed, haunted by nightmares, and bitter about exile in "Gringolandia." Daniel worries that Courtney's scheme to start a human rights newspaper could bring back Papá's past and drive him further into alcohol abuse and self-destruction. Daniel dreams of a real father-son relationship, but he may have to give up everything to save his papá's life.

"This impressive novel....is a rare reading experience that both touches the heart and opens the mind." —School Library Journal

"...riveting reading. This poignant, often surprising and essential novel illuminates too-often ignored political aspects of many South Americans' migration to the United States." —Kirkus Reviews

"this novel covers crucial historical events that have been too long ignored. Most compelling are the teens' non-reverential narratives about living with a survivor." —Booklist

"Miller-Lachmann credits teen readers with the capacity to appreciate hard truths about international politics, the consequences of torture, complex family dynamics, and first loves…. the nuanced relationship between Daniel and his father is beautifully delineated, and the overarching exploration of injustice and its costs gives the novel memorable heft."—Horn Book

Lyn Miller-Lachmann is the Editor-in-Chief of MultiCultural Review, author of the award-winning reference work Our Family, Our Friends, Our World: An Annotated Guide to Significant Multicultural Books for Children and Teenagers and the eco-thriller Dirt Cheap, and editor of Once Upon a Cuento. To find out more, visit her online at http://web.mac.com/lynml or www.lynmillerlachmann.com.

Curbstone Press was established in 1975 as an independent non-profit publisher of literature that reflects a commitment to social change, human rights, and intercultural understanding. It became an imprint of Northwestern University Press in January 2010.