Shanthi Sekaran

"A heart-wrenching novel that gives voice to two mothers: a young undocumented Mexican woman and an Indian-American wife whose love for one lucky boy will bind their fates together Solimar Castro-Valdez is eighteen and drunk on optimism when she embarks on a perilous journey across the US/Mexican border. Weeks later she arrives on her cousin's doorstep in Berkeley, CA, dazed by first love found then lost, and pregnant. This was not the plan. But amid...

A twelve-year-old boy's life changes when his grandmother comes from India to live with the family in Mariposa, an island country known for its butterflies, that is becoming hostile to immigrants.

"Begins with some talking points about creating believable speech and then provides a series of prompts for exploring how dialogue is used to bring your characters and plotlines to life. ... This book is designed for practicing your creative writing a little bit at a time."--Page 4 of cover.