{"id":1170,"date":"2018-12-31T16:02:02","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T16:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1170"},"modified":"2018-12-31T16:02:02","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T16:02:02","slug":"lone-star-book-reviewsby-michelle-newby-nbcccontributing-editor-121","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1170","title":{"rendered":"Lone Star Book ReviewsBy Michelle Newby, NBCCContributing Editor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/span><\/span><\/span>Michelle Newby<\/span> is a reviewer for Kirkus Reviews<\/span> and Foreword Reviews, <\/span>writer, blogger at TexasBookLover.com, member of the Permian Basin Writers’ Workshop advisory committee, and a moderator for the Texas Book Festival. Her reviews appear in Pleiades Magazine, Rain Taxi, Concho River Review, Mosaic Literary Magazine, Atticus Review, The Rumpus, PANK Magazine,<\/span> and The Collagist.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lone Star Book Reviews
of Texas books appear weekly
at LoneStarLiterary.com<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n
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Xelena Gonz\u00e1lez<\/span> has roots in San Antonio, Texas, but has stretched her wings to fly all the way to Guangzhou, China, where she works as a librarian in an international school. She studied journalism at Northwestern University and library science at Texas Woman\u2019s University, but her true training as a storyteller has come from getting to know other living beings\u2014including plants, animals, and people who happen to speak different languages or see the world in unusual ways. All Around Us<\/span> is her first book.<\/p>\n

Adriana M Garcia,<\/span> an award-winning artist, muralist, and scenic designer was born and raised on the west-side of San Antonio. She received her BFA From Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and studied fine arts in Valencia, Spain.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/a><\/span>12.24.2017<\/h1>\n

PICTURE BOOK<\/p>\n

Xelena Gonz\u00e1lez<\/span>, illustrated by Adriana M. Garcia<\/span><\/p>\n

All Around Us<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Cinco Puntos Press<\/p>\n

Hardcover, 978-1-9410-2676-2, (also available as an e-book), 288 pgs., $16.95<\/p>\n

October 17, 2017<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you see, my grandchild? We have new life with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the most basic level, <\/span>you could say All Around Us<\/span> is a children\u2019s book about shapes. \u201cGrandpa says circles are all around us. We just have to look for them.\u201d A young girl and her grandfather take a walk and identify circles: the sun, a clock, bicycle wheels. On a whole other level, All Around Us<\/span> is still about circles, but these are the circles of life. \u201cHere is another circle,\u201d [Grandpa] says as they tend their vegetable garden. \u201cWhat we take from the earth, we return.\u201d These circles are thunderstorms and rainbows, planting and harvesting, birth and death. As above, so below.<\/p>\n

All Around Us<\/span> is the first picture book from Xelena Gonz\u00e1lez<\/span> and Adriana M. Garcia. <\/span>Gonz\u00e1lez is a journalist and librarian; Garcia is an award-winning artist and scenic designer. The women are childhood friends, born and raised on the Westside of San Antonio. All Around Us,<\/span> benefiting from a grant by the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, celebrates relationships with a sense of infectious joy.<\/p>\n

Gonz\u00e1lez and Garcia are inspired by their memories and regular visits (with tacos) to their childhood homes. Gonz\u00e1lez\u2019s prose is inspiring, but sweet and simple for the recommended ages of three to seven (preschool through second grade). Garcia\u2019s illustrations are striking, uniquely beautiful. The neighborhood is recognizably San Antonio; the laughter in the eyes of grandfather and granddaughter is palpable.<\/p>\n

All Around Us<\/span> is all about connections, graced by ethereal images\u2014the perfect children\u2019s book for this season of celebrating endings and new beginnings.<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michelle Newby is a reviewer for Kirkus Reviews and Foreword Reviews, writer, blogger at TexasBookLover.com, member of the Permian Basin Writers’ Workshop advisory committee, and a moderator for the Texas Book Festival. Her reviews appear in Pleiades Magazine, Rain Taxi, Concho River Review, Mosaic Literary Magazine, Atticus Review, The Rumpus, PANK Magazine, and The Collagist. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}