Best Young Adult Nonfiction Book: International Latino Book Awards
Professor Alma Garcia’s memoire Club Oasis: Childhood Memories (2020) has been honored with the "Best Young Adult Nonfiction Book” Award for 2021 from the International Latino Book Awards organization. This award is particularly meaningful to Professor Garcia as Club Oasis is her first creative writing publication that covers her childhood/early years growing up in El Paso, Texas during the 1960s.
Please see Professor Garcia receive her award (time stamp approximately 18:25:
Professor Garica’s work was reviewed by Norma Elia Cantú is Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Trinity University and the author of Cabañuelas. She is the recipient of the Luis Leal Literature Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature and the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Modern Language Association’s Chicana and Chicano Literature Division.
"Alma M. García's Club Oasis is a series of linked coming-of-age stories that harken back to an almost idyllic time in El Paso. Now and then, glimpses of the racist and discriminatory border world tell a more nuanced and complicated narrative than the apparent calm existence gleaned from the child's perspective. Pinky García, the main character, is smart, spunky, outspoken, a keen observer, and loves a good joke! She publishes a newspaper, has a radio program, hosts parties, and otherwise engages in adventures that set this childhood apart and is a testament to the ways family can empower young people to develop and be all they can be. Nama, her maternal grandmother, imparts life lessons and Pop and Mom allow her imagination to thrive and encourage her exploits. All in all, the delightful stories makes this reader wish life were so for all children who live on the border."
The International Latino Book Awards recognize “greatness in literature. Honoring authors, translators, and illustrators for their books written either in English, Spanish and Portuguese. About a third of our entries come from major publishers, medium sized publishers, and small publishers or self published books.”