Book Tour for "Meet Me Halfway" Targets Nation’s Ten Most Segregated Cities
Facing race through fiction, author hopes to inspire dialogue for change.
Chicago, IL, April 04, 2015 --(PR.com)-- Author Jennifer Morales will be coming to Chicago on April 18-19 to talk about "Meet Me Halfway," her collection of nine interconnected short stories about life in hyper-segregated Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Chicago events are part of Morales’ book tour to the nation’s 10 most segregated cities – Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. The book will be published by University of Wisconsin Press in April.
"Meet Me Halfway" tells the story of Johnquell, an African American teen living in Milwaukee and attending school in a white suburb through the voluntary integration program. When Johnquell suffers a serious accident in the home of his white neighbor, Mrs. Czernicki, his family and friends must find ways to bridge divisions in a community with a tumultuous past.
Morales gives life to multifaceted characters—white schoolteachers and senior citizens, Latino landlords, black and Puerto Rican teens, political activists, and Vietnam vets. As their lives unfold in these stories, we learn about Johnquell’s family—his grandparents’ involvement in the local Black Panther Party, his sister’s on-again, off-again friendship with a white classmate, and his aunt’s identity crisis as she finds herself falling in love with a woman. We also meet Johnquell’s mother, Gloria, and his school friend Taquan, who is struggling to chart his own future.
Booklist called "Meet Me Halfway" a “compelling debut collection” and “a candid and powerful book of Midwestern stories.”
Gayle Brandeis, author of "The Book of Dead Birds," winner of the Bellwether Prize for Fiction of Social Engagement, said, “Jennifer Morales does nothing halfway—she throws herself full-force into the heart of Milwaukee, into the lives of her characters, and demands that the reader meet them with just as much empathy and respect. This is a stunning, stirring collection, one that will inspire dialogue and maybe even change.”
While visiting each of the 10 Most Segregated Cities, Morales will also spend time in conversation with local residents about the state of race and interracial dialogue in their communities. She will sit with a sign that says “Talk to me about race” in parks and other public places to invite conversation.
“America’s got a race problem. One part of making change is getting people talking — and listening — about race, about who they are, about their fears, misunderstandings, and dreams,” said Morales. “I hope that, in addition to being a good read, Meet Me Halfway will raise questions about the notion of a ‘post-racial’ society and contribute to the discussion about how we move forward together.”
Morales will be in Chicago on April 18th at Powell’s Books Chicago at 4:00pm and April 19th at 57th Street Books at 2:00pm.
Jennifer Morales lived for nearly twenty-five years in Milwaukee, where she raised children and served on the Milwaukee Board of School Directors—the first Latino/a elected to it. She earned her MFA from Antioch University–Los Angeles. She now lives in Viroqua, Wisconsin, and is a board member of the Council for Wisconsin Writers and the Driftless Writing Center.
Contact Info:
Mary Zinn, Publicist
marylzinn@gmail.com
www.moraleswrites.com
1jemorales1@gmail.com
ISBN 978-0-299-30364-8
“Meet Me Halfway portrays powerfully the silences and blind spots, the ways of hesitating, questioning, baiting, and confronting that comprise the daily playing-out of racism. This [book] brings a chill of recognition: yes, I’ve been there.” — Milwaukee civil rights activist Margaret Rozga, author of Justice Freedom Herbs
“Morales fully inhabits the astonishingly diverse voices of her characters, allowing us to connect with them and their linked stories as they struggle to connect with each other in an ever-shifting cultural landscape.” —Jenn Crowell, author of Necessary Madness and Etched on Me
“Written with a sharp eye and a warm heart, Meet Me Halfway brings us into a multicultural community where people are trying to do the right thing, even when the wrong thing happens and a child dies. Richly textured, funny, and wise.” —Kelly Cherry, author of A Kind of Dream
“Jennifer Morales does nothing halfway—she throws herself full-force into the heart of Milwaukee, into the lives of her characters, and demands that the reader meet them with just as much empathy and respect. A stunning, stirring collection, one that will inspire dialogue and maybe even change.” —Gayle Brandeis, author of The Book of Dead Birds, winner of the Bellwether Prize for Fiction of Social Engagement
"Meet Me Halfway" tells the story of Johnquell, an African American teen living in Milwaukee and attending school in a white suburb through the voluntary integration program. When Johnquell suffers a serious accident in the home of his white neighbor, Mrs. Czernicki, his family and friends must find ways to bridge divisions in a community with a tumultuous past.
Morales gives life to multifaceted characters—white schoolteachers and senior citizens, Latino landlords, black and Puerto Rican teens, political activists, and Vietnam vets. As their lives unfold in these stories, we learn about Johnquell’s family—his grandparents’ involvement in the local Black Panther Party, his sister’s on-again, off-again friendship with a white classmate, and his aunt’s identity crisis as she finds herself falling in love with a woman. We also meet Johnquell’s mother, Gloria, and his school friend Taquan, who is struggling to chart his own future.
Booklist called "Meet Me Halfway" a “compelling debut collection” and “a candid and powerful book of Midwestern stories.”
Gayle Brandeis, author of "The Book of Dead Birds," winner of the Bellwether Prize for Fiction of Social Engagement, said, “Jennifer Morales does nothing halfway—she throws herself full-force into the heart of Milwaukee, into the lives of her characters, and demands that the reader meet them with just as much empathy and respect. This is a stunning, stirring collection, one that will inspire dialogue and maybe even change.”
While visiting each of the 10 Most Segregated Cities, Morales will also spend time in conversation with local residents about the state of race and interracial dialogue in their communities. She will sit with a sign that says “Talk to me about race” in parks and other public places to invite conversation.
“America’s got a race problem. One part of making change is getting people talking — and listening — about race, about who they are, about their fears, misunderstandings, and dreams,” said Morales. “I hope that, in addition to being a good read, Meet Me Halfway will raise questions about the notion of a ‘post-racial’ society and contribute to the discussion about how we move forward together.”
Morales will be in Chicago on April 18th at Powell’s Books Chicago at 4:00pm and April 19th at 57th Street Books at 2:00pm.
Jennifer Morales lived for nearly twenty-five years in Milwaukee, where she raised children and served on the Milwaukee Board of School Directors—the first Latino/a elected to it. She earned her MFA from Antioch University–Los Angeles. She now lives in Viroqua, Wisconsin, and is a board member of the Council for Wisconsin Writers and the Driftless Writing Center.
Contact Info:
Mary Zinn, Publicist
marylzinn@gmail.com
www.moraleswrites.com
1jemorales1@gmail.com
ISBN 978-0-299-30364-8
“Meet Me Halfway portrays powerfully the silences and blind spots, the ways of hesitating, questioning, baiting, and confronting that comprise the daily playing-out of racism. This [book] brings a chill of recognition: yes, I’ve been there.” — Milwaukee civil rights activist Margaret Rozga, author of Justice Freedom Herbs
“Morales fully inhabits the astonishingly diverse voices of her characters, allowing us to connect with them and their linked stories as they struggle to connect with each other in an ever-shifting cultural landscape.” —Jenn Crowell, author of Necessary Madness and Etched on Me
“Written with a sharp eye and a warm heart, Meet Me Halfway brings us into a multicultural community where people are trying to do the right thing, even when the wrong thing happens and a child dies. Richly textured, funny, and wise.” —Kelly Cherry, author of A Kind of Dream
“Jennifer Morales does nothing halfway—she throws herself full-force into the heart of Milwaukee, into the lives of her characters, and demands that the reader meet them with just as much empathy and respect. A stunning, stirring collection, one that will inspire dialogue and maybe even change.” —Gayle Brandeis, author of The Book of Dead Birds, winner of the Bellwether Prize for Fiction of Social Engagement
Contact
Jennifer Morales, Author
Mary Zinn
415-845-3410
http://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/5385.htm
Mary Zinn
415-845-3410
http://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/5385.htm
Contact
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