I was a guest on July 1st’s Leonard Lopate show on WNYC…you can listen to the segment here. We discussed Mexican High, immigration, social class in Mexico, and meaning of the term “fresa.”

Check out my First-Person column on why I chose to write fiction rather than memoir on my publisher’s fun, interactive website.

I love independent bookstores. The event at Brooklyn’s own BookCourt last week was the perfect place for my first reading. It turned out that Guy, the events manager there, was an old friend of the writer’s liaison at the Kerouac Project of Orlando where I had a summer residency exactly a year ago.

Since I noticed a videocam lurking during the reading, I decided to see if a webcast had been put up. (I think it will go up here.)

But the best news I found on BookCourt’s website: Mexican High as a BookCourt Best Seller, coming in at #5 on the hardcover fiction list!