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Inprint Cool Brains! Inprint Readings for Young People: René Saldaña, Jr.

Presented by Inprint at TBH Center (Talento Bilingüe de Houston)

June 27, 2010

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Cool Brains! Inprint Readings for Young People celebrates summer reading with a presentation by bilingual children’s writer René Saldaña, Jr.  Sunday, June 27 at 3pm at Talento Bilingüe de Houston.  Saldaña will read from and talk about his work, followed by an onstage interview with mystery book aficionado David Thompson of Murder By The Book. Audience members will have a chance to visit with the author afterwards at the book sale and signing.

René Saldaña, Jr., grew up in Nuevo Peñitas in deep South Texas, a stone’s throw from the Rio Grande. The humdrum of his everyday life became fodder for his semi-autobiographical first novel for young readers, The Jumping Tree, described by The New York Times Book Review as a “warm coming-of-age novel.”

His second novel, The Whole Sky Full of Stars, is, according to a starred Booklist review, “about the perils of friendship and the burdens of parental expectations.” Saldaña is also the author of Finding Our Way: Stories, which explores the many ways teens can feel lost. School Library Journal says, “With a deft touch, the author creates a clear, concise picture of time and place (along the Texas border or Georgia) with characters who sound and think like today's teens . . . These powerfully written, provocative selections have universal appeal and subtle, thoughtful themes.”

Saldaña will read from his newest book, The Case of the Pen Gone Missing: A Mickey Rangel Mystery. A longtime fan of detective stories, Saldaña recalls the stories of his own fascination—first Encyclopedia Brown, then the Hardy Boys, and then Nancy Drew. Of these last two, he preferred the latter: “I mean really, with Nancy Drew, it takes one chick to do the work it takes two guys to do in their series.” In this book Saldaña develops his own spin on detective stories through the character of Mickey Rangel, a web-licensed kid detective protagonist. Kirkus Reviews writes of the book: “it will engage intermediate readers in both languages, English and Spanish, and offers multiple possibilities for school projects, group discussions and read-aloud sessions.” The Case of the Pen Gone Missing is the first in this bilingual series.

Saldaña graduated from Georgia State University (Ph.D.) with degrees in English and creative writing. He and his family live in Lubbock, Texas, where he teaches English and writing at Texas Tech University.