Cisneros Cafe

This Christian tween book follows twelve-year-old Lena Daniels through the adventure of making her first movie in Hollywood. She’s a hopeful and Christ-filled girl who writes letters/prayers to God each night. She must learn to juggle her home life and her life as a rising Hollywood star; she didn’t think movie-making was quite what it turned out to be.

Her advice is informed by her own experiences in college. Trowbridge states this is the book she wanted to read when she was twenty-two. Ash is every young woman who identifies with the character – going off to college, making her way through reality, and searching for more than what is presented to her.

I’m a messy Christian, the kind that’s mismatched
Flash danced, grooves scratched – too much vintage on blast

Through my questions, I learned that God gave my sister a miracle. He provided my family with one too. He allowed us to know this incredible woman. He gave her the gift of salvation and eventually brought her to Heaven. And He showed me that it was okay to grieve, and that it made me a real woman with real emotions.

All five generations of us alive
in one small bleached, concrete room
filled with prayer beads and penance
alive with the death of things
Not one of us allowed by our full names

On the outside, there wasn’t a girl closer to God than me. But on the inside, I was full of doubt. I begged for salvation at every altar call, repenting for being broken and traumatized.

When the war is over and the ground tilled
a new bloom will make home in her spirit

Ma reminds me of struggle and strife
Take care of your own and to God the rest.

As a young girl, my grandmother would speak to us grandchildren in Spanish. She would always ask us to respond to her in the same language. It was her way of preserving home for us. …

Throughout my whole life, I’ve felt unwanted. When I was a young child, those closest to me threatened to give me up. These individuals were supposed to be my safe place- my home. In reality, …

What a gorgeous book of connection with our dreams, and our knitting together of reality. I love how this book knit together a story of dreams and overcoming unknowns.