Courtesy image.
OXNARD — Mona Alvarado Frazier, Oxnard author of “The Garden of Second Chances,” a novel inspired by her career at the California Youth Authority, brings her passion for storytelling and advocacy to her second novel, “A Bridge Home,” a YA historical novel published by Arte Público Press, University of Houston. The story is inspired by the community of La Colonia, where the author grew up, and the establishment of the Third Street Bridge in the early 1970s.
Readers will meet Jacqui Bravo, a determined 17-year-old Mexican American whose journey is marked by the tragic loss of her father in Vietnam. The subsequent financial and emotional hardships unfold against the backdrop of a barrio filled with community, hope, and resilience.
As Jacqui strives to secure a scholarship to UCLA, she uncovers unsettling truths about the café where she works. Faced with the harsh realities of drugs and danger, Jacqui embarks on a perilous quest to protect her loved ones and carve out a better future for herself and her community.
The American Library Association gave “A Bridge Home,” a starred review: “Many of the issues Jacqui is experiencing will resonate with readers—family and community relationships, social activism, systemic racism, gender roles, poverty, and the pressure of family expectations. Jacqui’s a sympathetic, authentic, and resourceful character worth rooting for. Readers will find themselves swept up in this compulsively readable and engaging story of a teenager struggling to make a better life for herself.”
Kirkus Review says: “Frazier highlights elements of California history that are often overlooked, portraying the strength of a community in giving its people a bridge to a better life. With its honest teenage voice and a gritty realism that evokes what life would have been like for a Mexican American teenager in California in the 1970s, this novel stands out. An excellent example of historical fiction that teaches and also transports.”
As a member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators and Macondo Writers, Frazier is dedicated to fostering literary diversity and inclusion. Her co-founding of LatinxPitch, an annual X event, demonstrates her commitment to amplify marginalized voices in literature and championing the stories of young women like Jacqui. A Santa Clara High School graduate and UCSB, Mona makes her home in Oxnard.
On Jun 6, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. Mona will be in conversation with author Dr. Silvia Rodriquez Vega, a professor at the UCSB Department of Chicano/Chicana Studies, at Timbre Bookstore in Ventura, (805-628-3370). On May 29, 2024, at 7:00 p.m., she will be in conversation with author Cara Lopez Lee, discussing her first novel. Books are available from Timbre, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org.