Southwest Book Reviews

Writer Sergio Troncoso graduated from Harvard, studied philosophy at Yale, and was a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico.  But he started in a Texas barrio.  In his latest novel, he tells the story of upward mobility in a family much like his own. 

By Ann Cummins

Flagstaff, AZ – When Beth Alvarado was a child in the Fifties, her parents moved to Grand Junction, Colorado at the time, a uranium hotbed. They came with a proud legacy: They were from a line of people who had seized opportunity and done well.

By Ann Cummins

By Ann Cummins

By Ann Cummins

By Ann Cummins

By Ann Cummins

Flagstaff, AZ – In 1932, Eleanor Roosevelt was working hard to get Franklin elected president. She was hoping for an early endorsement from Arizona. She wrote her friend Isabella Greenway, who was on the verge of being elected Arizona's first congresswoman. But Isabella advised soft-pedaling. Her instincts were sound. FDR carried Arizona, but the delegates emerged from community efforts not a hard push from the national organization.

By Ann Cummins