About this item
From U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera comes the story of one teen's emotional journey in the days after 9/11, and a personal look at the culture of Loisaida, the Lower East Side of Manhattan. This emotional and stirring novel won the Amricas Award and is written in a unique and arresting style.When the Twin Towers fell, New York City was blanketed by dust. On the Lower East Side, Yolanda, the cinnamon girl, makes her manda, her promise. She vows to gather as much of the dust as she can. Maybe if she can return it to Ground Zero, she can comfort all the voices. Maybe that will help Uncle DJ open his eyes again. As tragedies from her past mix in the air of an unthinkable present, Yolanda searches for hope. Maybe it's buried somewhere in the silvery dust of Alphabet City.
About the Author
Juan Felipe Herrera was initiated into the Word by the fire-speakers of the early Chicano Movimiento and by heavy exposure to various poetry, jazz, and blues performance streams. He is the Tomás Rivera Endowed Chair in the Department of Creative Writing at the University of California - Riverside. His published works include Border-Crosser with a Lamborghini Dream, Mayan Drifter: Chicano Poet in the Lowlands of the Americas, and Thunderweavers / Tejedoras de Rayos.
