Melisa Hart, author of Gringa on tour!

Melissa Hart has embarked on a reading tour for her memoir Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood and she might be heading to a town near you! Tonite you can catch her entertaining reading in Seattle at Elliot Bay Book Company at 101 South Main St. at 7pm.

To get a sneak peak of Hart's engaging memoir listen to her interview on KBOO yesterday morning.

Set in 1970’s Southern California, Gringa begins with Hart’s mother leaving her father to begin a lesbian relationship and moving to Oxnard, CA. In this predominantly Latino community, Hart is exposed to a vastly different home life than her suburban upbringing. Hart spends a few blissful months soaking up her mother’s newfound bohemian lifestyle before a judge grants her father primary custody, deeming her mother’s lifestyle “unnatural”.

Hart weaves a powerful story of fleeting moments with her mother, her unfolding adoration of Oxnard’s Latino culture, and the ways in which she’s molded by the polarity of her parents’ worldviews. Gringa offers a touching, reflective look at one girl’s struggle with the dichotomies of class, culture, and sexuality.

Hart will be reading at the following cities:

Thursday, October 29th at 7:30pm
Books Inc, Castro
2275 Market Street
San Francisco, California 94114

Saturday, November 8th at 2:00pm
Book Soup
8818 Sunset Blvd.
W. Hollywood CA 90069

Wednesday, November 11th at 6:00pm
Latitude 33
311 Ocean Ave.
Laguna Beach, CA 92651

And for your Friday viewing pleasure, enjoy Hart cooking up a batch of Annie's special chili from her book.

A Mother and Daughter Find the Road to Recovery

Today, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's Drug and Alcohol Scene News Source, posted a great review of Addicted Like Me: A Mother-Daughter Story of Substance Abuse and Recovery, written by Karen Franklin and Lauren King. They've said that "[It's] a story full of advice and inspiration from two women made wise from their experiences, 'Addicted Like Me,' aims to help others view addiction in a new way."

Karen Franklin and Lauren King have also been blogging regularly for the Partnerships' Intervene Blog, which is a part of the brand new Time To Act website. The site acts as a first response destination for parents worried about their children experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Read Karen Franklin's post "The Second Parental Deadly Sin: Enabling, here, and Lauren King's post about the fact that her parents never talked with her about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, here.

For more information visit the authors' website.