Our Read 2 Succeed college wide read book selection for fall 2016 is Always Running- La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. by Luis J. Rodriguez.
Luis J. Rodriguez is convinced that a writer can change the world. Indeed it is through education and the power of words that Rodriguez saw his own way out of poverty and despair in the barrio of East LA and successfully broke free from the years of violence and desperation he spent as an active gang member.
Achieving success as an award-winning Chicano poet, he was sure the streets would haunt him no more-until his young son joined a gang himself. Rodriguez fought for his child by telling his own story in his bestselling book Always Running, a vivid memoir that explores the motivation of gang life and cautions against the death and destruction that inevitably claim its participants.
Always Running earned a Carl Sandburg Literary Award and was designated a New York Times Notable Book; it has also been named by the American Library Association as one of the nation's top 100 most censored books.
*September 29, 2016: Book Discussion 12:50-1:50 PM in CSS 217
*October 27, 2016: La Puente Student Panel Discussion 12:50-1:50 PM in CSS 217
*November 17, 2016: Author Presentation and Book Signing 12:30-2:30 PM in CSS 217
*All events offer refreshments and exciting prize drawings including prizes from Starbucks and Barnes & Noble!