VR Resident Braniff's New Book To Be Released Monday

The publication of Vista Redonda resident Marty Braniff’s new Book Step Over Rio will be celebrated at Collected Works Bookstore Monday, March 26, at 6 PM. Many residents have already sampled the work as Braniff did a well-attended reading from the manuscript a while back.

    Inspired by her work with underprivileged and abused children, Braniff has written a novel that follows a young Guatemalan boy's triumphant odyssey to find a better life in the United States.
    At night, death squads roam the slums of Guatemala City, where no homeless child is safe. Alex Sifuentes lives in an orphanage, where his dreams of a better life are dashed when a murderous gang targets him. Forced to leave, he flees with a coyote that smuggles him into Houston, Texas.  There, Alex is indentured to a cantina owner who will use him however she pleases, but during a police raid he escapes. Alex eventually forms relationships with a hard-nosed reporter and a federal agent, both of whom are committed to ending youth sex trafficking; they convince Alex to assist with their investigation by joining a gang involved in the crime.  Thus begins another treacherous journey, this time in the United States, a place Alex once considered to be the Promised Land.
    Braniff will be presenting in conversation with Charlie Romney Brown, founder of Defining Destiny, a Woman's Literary Forum.
    If you cannot make the event, you may also order the book directly from the publisher.