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Paula Brook's avatar

New to this group, I love the book-review-as-memoir. Love how you weave together your insights, memories and reflections on these challenging times. Kudos Jennifer, and belated happy Canada Day to my new honorary Canadian friend.

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Jennifer Silva Redmond's avatar

Thanks Paula! We are so excited about seeing Vancouver.

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Mikel K Miller's avatar

Hey Jennifer - Very good article with great insights into poor children in Western USA. I grew up in poverty in rural Missouri, wore hand-me-down clothes, went to a one-room country school with 13 students in all eight grades, had hot cornmeal "mush" for breakfast many days, ate a butter and bread sandwich for lunch, and had the cold leftover mush for supper at 6 p.m. Heat in the minus-zero winters was from one wood stove and the fire went out before dawn. It made me determined to get away and get a college education. Best regards.

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Jennifer Silva Redmond's avatar

Your story sounds like a memoir! I know that my upbringing wasn't that tough, it's just different than the "normal" thing we read about--life in suburban hell!

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Mikel K Miller's avatar

Thanks for the feedback, Jennifer. Everybody who was relatively poor has a story. Keep writing, amiga!

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Raul Ramos y Sanchez's avatar

Thanks for your support of fellow authors, Jen. Although our nation faces dreadful days ahead, it's good to know we can still inspire each other.

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Jennifer Silva Redmond's avatar

I've thought of you so often lately. You are quite the inspiration, too, but hoping the world in your Class H Trilogy doesn't come true.

Timothy Snyder warning of concentration/work camps for the undocumented in his Substack today.

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Jeanine Kitchel's avatar

Hola Jennifer! Definitely not so "Happy 4th of July." What goes through my head on a regular basis is this: in a country of 330 million, how could the populace manage to pick these 535 losers to represent the country? What are the odds?? Other than horrible. 50 crummy senators; 217 congress. It's deplorable. On to another topic. The YA series sounds really good. Do you subscribe to Anita Perez Ferguson's Substack? Diverse Voices - Bravo? Weekly roughly she previews new YA books by Latino authors. This author's fare is right up Anita's alley. I'm sending her a message w/ a couple of paragraphs from your stack today. You may already know her. She does panels at SBWC occasionally. And she too is a YA author!! Saludos and buen viaje!

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Jennifer Silva Redmond's avatar

I'll check out her Substack. Gracias!

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David W Reed's avatar

I am so conflicted about July 4 this year. And the poor and the children and the forgotten masses will suffer deeply. Thanks for your words.

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Jennifer Silva Redmond's avatar

The current administration will try to hide the cuts to the social safety net for as long as possible--at least until many peeps get a bigger tax return--hoping that will stop us from revolting in the streets. I hope they are wrong.

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