amazon, barnes and noble and powell’s books
Bea and Manito are curious and sensitive “little mocos” from Southern Colorado who must face the reality of dead fathers, absent mothers, and the notorious murderer Ray “Cornbread” Vigil.
reviews: Jaramillo’s second novel in stories builds on his debut collection, and fans of that work will likely find much to enjoy here. His writing is crisp, concise, and realistic, with a gimlet eye for the details of his characters’ grim existences. —Kirkus Reviews
“Little Mocos, as the cover artwork suggests, depicts a grey and hazardous world with only a flower of hope sprouting defiantly against all odds.” —Latino Book Review
chapter 1 excerpt–animales
Tio Neto sat on the bed shirtless and hungover, shaking his balding head at the reality of missing his father’s funeral service. He raised both arms to smell his pits and started digging into his jeans for a comb.
“There’s a lot of the old folks waiting on you upstairs,” I told him.
When he saw who it was, Neto stood up and kicked off his sneakers, coughed and spat at the basement’s concrete floor. He dropped his soiled pants and rolled up in the sheets.
“You the only Ortiz worth a damn left alive in this neighborhood,” Neto said. His clothes were in two great big garbage bags, and he stayed still a minute as I dragged his only collared shirt out from under his stash of nudie magazines and fungus-looking weed.
I put Neto’s clothes down deep in the washing machine and asked out loud about the whereabouts of my own father.
“Listen to what I say. I can tell you this, boy,” Neto lectured before collapsing back down. “Born into this world alone and die alone. Family will leave you. Women will leave you. All you have is your own damned self.”
bio:
John Paul Jaramillo’s stories have appeared in numerous publications, including the Acentos Review, Palabra, A Magazine of Chicano and Latino Literary Art and Somos en Escrito. He is the author of the collection The House of Order, named a 2013 Int’l Latino Book Award Finalist, and the novel in stories Little Mocos from Twelve Winters Press. In 2013 Latino Boom: An Anthology of U.S. Latino Literature listed Jaramillo as one of its Top 10 New Latino Authors to Watch and Read.
