The Girls in My Town - (River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize) by Angela Morales (Paperback)

About the Book

Girls in My Town creates an unforgettable portrait of a family in Los Angeles. Reaching back to her grandmother's childhood and navigating through her own girlhood and on to the present, Angela Morales contemplates moments of loss and longing, truth and beauty, motherhood and daughterhood.

Book Synopsis

Girls in My Town creates an unforgettable portrait of a family in Los Angeles. Reaching back to her grandmother's childhood and navigating through her own girlhood and on to the present, Angela Morales contemplates moments of loss and longing, truth and beauty, motherhood and daughterhood.

Review Quotes

"[Morales's] is the kind of writing that makes reading so rewarding."--Story Circle Book Reviews

"Beautifully written, sharply perceptive. . . . I love this writer's voice, the way she writes humor and sorrow and disappointment with such humanity and intelligence. These essays are wonderfully universal, for all of their intimacy. I never wanted to stop reading."--Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

"In this remarkable autobiographical essay collection, Angela Morales paints a stunning portrait of growing up and finding her voice in Los Angeles. . . . Morales is a home run-hitter of a writer, and she'll have you holding on to your seat with every page."--Bustle

"Morales has a strong, lyrical voice, and her essays and anecdotes can be humorous and loving and darkly meditative as they address family, beauty and violence, loss and love. In short, this collection is as varied, charming, stark, and inspiring as life itself, in Los Angeles or anywhere."--Shelf Awareness

"The twelve essays in The Girls in My Town take an honest look at the rich experiences of girls trying to make space for their intelligence and imaginations. . . . An auspicious debut."--Rigoberto González, NBC News Latino

"It's Morales's ability to explore the complexities that lie beneath the surface of the seemingly mundane, her patient and unflinching handling of her story, and her drive to expose larger truths that makes this such an elegantly crafted collection."--Los Angeles Review of Books

About the Author

Angela Morales lives in Pasadena, California, and teaches at Glendale Community College. She holds an MFA from the University of Iowa and is a recipient of the San Francisco Foundation's James D. Phelan Award for nonfiction.