Texas Author’s Debut novel Recognized

HOUSTON, TX August 2019— Alex Temblador’s debut novel for teens, Secrets of the Casa Rosada, has been named the Middle Grade / Young Adult Discovery Prize Winner in the 2018 Writers’ League of Texas Book Awards. Established in 1991, the awards recognize the year’s outstanding books published by Texas authors.

The recipient of the 2019 Tejas Foco Young Adult Fiction Award and named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2018, Secrets is an engaging novel for young adults that follows a family of women and the secrets they hold. Reviewers have enthusiastically recommended it:

 

“Debut novelist Temblador has created an unforgettable character in Martha, a girl whose gifts are greater than she could have imagined, in part because they belong to a world she never could have imagined. A suspenseful and fascinating glimpse into a Mexican-American world.”                                                                                      —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Alex Temblador’s magical Secrets of the Casa Rosada follows Martha George, a sixteen-year-old girl whose rootless and impoverished life with her mother shifts. [It] is a fascinating story with a strong protagonist and a glimpse at some unique aspects of traditional Mexican culture.”                                                                                     —Foreword Reviews

“Temblador depicts Martha as a frustrated teenager who loves and respects the people around her while finding a newfound feeling of purpose and belonging when she assimilates into her community as her highly respected grandmother’s apprentice. It addresses the hard reality that nobody is perfect, even our guardians, and the slightly ambiguous conclusion is tantalizingly open to interpretation.”                                                                                                                            —Booklist

 

Alex Temblador, a freelance travel writer, is a graduate of the University of Louisiana at Monroe and received an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Oklahoma. Born and raised in Wichita Falls, Texas, she lives and works in Dallas.

With over 1,200 members statewide and growing, the Writers’ League of Texas is a vibrant community that serves to educate and uplift Texas writers and offers valuable service to communities across the state with free programming in libraries and local schools.

Arte Público Press is the nation’s largest and most established publisher of contemporary and recovered literature by U.S. Hispanic authors. Its imprint for children and young adults, Piñata Books, is dedicated to the realistic and authentic portrayal of the themes, languages, characters and customs of Hispanic culture in the United States. Based at the University of Houston, Arte Público Press, Piñata Books and the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage project provide the most widely recognized and extensive showcase for Hispanic literary arts and creativity. For more information, please visit www.artepublicopress.com.