Contemporary Authors

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Aceves, Fred

February 13, 2018 by admin

WORK TITLE: The Closest I’ve Come
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://fredaceves.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY: Mexico
NATIONALITY: American

Agent: Louise Fury, FURYQUERIES@THEBENTAGENCY.COM; 19 W. 21st St., #201. New York, NY 10010.

RESEARCHER NOTES:

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PERSONAL

Born in NY; married.

ADDRESS

Agent - Louise Fury, Bent Agency, 19 W. 21st St., Ste. 201, New York, NY 10010.

CAREER

Writer. Worked as teacher of English as a second language and as freelance translator and editor.

WRITINGS

The Closest I've Come (young adult novel), HarperTeen (New York, NY), 2017

SIDELIGHTS

Fred Aceves has traveled the world, but the setting of his first novel is the place he most wanted to escape when he was young. Born in New York to a Mexican father and a mother of Dominican heritage, the Latino youth was raised in poor working-class neighborhoods from coast to coast. He spent several years in a poverty-stricken section of Tampa, Florida. The teenage Aceves spent so much time hustling spare cash at odd jobs that he ended up dropping out of high school. “Too much happened … to summarize here,” he wrote at his website, “but bits of that time tend to creep into my writing.” When he discovered reading at age nineteen, escape from his cycle of poverty became a reality.

Aceves attended college and found work wherever he could, as a cook and food server, a car salesman, or a delivery person. He worked sometimes as an editor or translator, and often as a teacher of English as a second language. Aceves traveled around the United States, then ventured abroad to live in Europe–from France to the Czech Republic–and Latin America. In Buenos Aires he joined a group of expatriate North American writers, with the notion of becoming an author himself. Eventually Aceves settled permanently in Mexico, but it was his adolescence in Tampa that inspired his first novel: “that difficult period … of first experiences and profound transformations,” he explained at his website.

The Closest I’ve Come is the story of Marcos Rivas, a teenager stuck in a hopeless situation in inner-city Tampa. His home life is miserable, shared with an indifferent mother and her abusive boyfriend. His scattered menial jobs prevent him from striking out on his own, or even finding a girlfriend. His flawed Spanish marks him as an outsider in the greater Latino community, and he is the product of a harsh environment that discourages him from expressing his true feelings in any language. School offers no haven from the racism and violence of the streets–and no hope for a better life. Marcos resigns himself to failure, until a teacher notices the potential behind his poor grades and prankster facade.

Marcos is enrolled, unwillingly at first, in an after-school mentorship program for under-achieving students like himself. Slowly he begins to recognize that he is no longer alone in the world. He might not end up delivering drugs for a living like his best friend Obie. He might even catch the eye of Amy, that resilient punk-music fan with the blue streaks in her hair. With the support of his new-found, non-traditional “family,” Marcos can finally envision a goal that is worthy of his effort.

The Closest I’ve Come is “a remarkable debut novel,” reported Charla Hollingsworth in Voice of Youth Advocates. Melissa Williams noted in School Library Journal that “the theme of finding family in unexpected places is valuable.” She especially appreciated the “nuanced character development” that Marcos experiences as he comes of age, and commended the author for balancing the “heavy subject material” with “ample doses of comedy.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor observed: “Aceves infuses the narrative with insight about class, ethnicity, and the intricacies of power” in a story that is “heart-wrenching, funny, hopeful, and not-to-be-missed.” A Publishers Weekly contributor recommended The Closest I’ve Come in a starred review as “a memorable, hard-hitting portrait of a teenager trying to shape his own destiny.” It is an “inspirational” novel, according to Kristina Pino’s assessment in Booklist, “about that kid readers all know … who deserves to have a shot at life.” At the same time, Hollingsworth noted, Aceves conveys the message “that being true to yourself can be the option that requires the most courage.”

BIOCRIT

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 2017, Kristina Pino, review of The Closest I’ve Come, p. 50.
Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2017, review of The Closest I’ve Come.
Publishers Weekly, October 9, 2017, review of The Closest I’ve Come, p. 69.
School Library Journal, October, 2017. Melissa Williams, review of The Closest I’ve Come, p. 102.
Voice of Youth Advocates, August, 2017, Charla Hollingsworth, review of The Closest I’ve Come, p. 52.

ONLINE

Fred Aceves Website, https://fredaceves.com (March 9, 2018).

The Closest I've Come ( young adult novel) HarperTeen (New York, NY), 2017

1. The closest I've come LCCN 2017943589 Type of material Book Personal name Aceves, Fred, author. Main title The closest I've come / Fred Aceves. Edition First edition. Published/Produced New York, NY : HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2017] ©2017 Description 310 pages ; 22 cm ISBN 9780062488534 (hardcover) 0062488538 (hardcover) Links http://firstsearch.oclc.org/WebZ/DECRead?standardNoType=1&standardNo=0062488538&sessionid=0&srcdbname=worldcat&key=d11112e2760dd3b3d92df9c9820e936e50a6877e0ebdeb173088414ae2fbab16&ectype=MOREINFO More Info CALL NUMBER Not available Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms

Fred Aceves Home Page - https://fredaceves.com/about/
About
author pic (2)
I’m Fred Aceves, the middle child between two sisters. My dad is a Mexican immigrant and my mom was born in New York, of Dominican parents who escaped Trujillo’s regime.

I grew up all over the U.S. so it’s hard to say with any conviction where I’m “from.” We moved a lot and brought our poverty with us. I’ve worked since I was twelve, and had six jobs by the time I was sixteen. I got held back in high school for missing too much school and later dropped out in order to work two jobs. <> in my adolescence <>

My life changed when I discovered books at 19. I became a voracious reader, trying to make up for lost time. I wanted a better life, so I got my GED and took some community college courses. But what I yearned for, more than anything, was to leave Florida.

Two years later I did. Since then I’ve lived in several countries in Europe and Latin America, working mostly as as English language teacher. The only constant in my life has been books—reading lots of them and hoping to one day write them.

My life changed again when I joined a writers’ group in Buenos Aires. Those weekly meetings with a group of expats from the U.S., Canada and UK are when I started taking myself seriously as an author.

My globe-trotting has given me much to write about, and I probably will, but I’m still obsessively drawn to adolescence, that time <>. So much of adulthood, I’ve learned, is about trying to overcome <>. I’m grateful to be able to occupy both worlds, by attempting to be an adult and writing books with teenage characters.

Official bio
Fred Aceves was born in New York but spent most of his youth in Southern California and Tampa, Florida, where he lived in a poor, working class neighborhood like the one described in The Closest I’ve Come. At the age of 21 he started traveling around the world, living in Chicago, New York, The Czech Republic, France, Argentina, Bolivia, and Mexico, his father’s native land. Among other jobs, he has worked as a delivery driver, server, cook, car salesman, freelance editor, translator and teacher of English as a second language.

The Closest I’ve Come is his first novel.
Discover #OurVoces - https://ourvoces.tumblr.com/post/166290428633/ourvoces-presents-fred-aceves-debut-author
#OurVoces presents Fred Aceves, debut author of ‘The Closest I’ve Come’
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¡Qué bonita bandera! AKA what heritage(s) do you claim?
My father is a Mexican immigrant and my mother was born in New York, of Dominican parents. A bit of both heritages have trickled down to my sisters and I.

When was the first time you saw yourself represented?

In the hit 80s TV show CHiPs. It was filmed in southern California, where I was living. It’s hard to overstate the impact of dark-skinned Erik Estrada, accidental star of the show, on a little Latino kid. Miraculously, he didn’t portray a manual laborer or the bad guy. He played a charming cop who chased down criminals and hooked up with beautiful women.

How do you connect to your heritage through your books (if at all)?

In my first book, the main character has grown up in Florida without much family around. He’s a Latino kid who is sometimes rejected by his own for not speaking Spanish well. He doesn’t have a very strong connection to his heritage, which was my own experience growing up.

The book I’m currently writing features some culture from Mexico, where I’ve lived as an adult for many years. The main character has dual identities, Mexican and American. At times these identities overlap and at other times they clash. That sort of reflects my life now.

What do you hope for the future of Latinx books?
Diversity! Latinx people have different socioeconomic statuses, different struggles, and passions. Unfortunately, some people in publishing expect our characters to reinforce their conceptions of what it means to be Latinx. Authors are still told their characters aren’t Latinx enough.

What is the book that inspired you to write for kids/teens?

It might have been The Outsiders, which I’ve read five times. It a great story about the challenges of growing up poor and marginalized in an Oklahoma town. I’m always moved by the narrator’s authentic voice, how he observes the world and feels things deeply, as teenagers do.

What are you writing now?

A second novel. An uncool teenager with low self-esteem attempts to erase and recreate himself. It’s about the dangers of reacting to certain societal pressures, and the mistakes we sometimes make in the name of self-improvement.

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Fred Aceves was born in New York but spent most of his youth in Southern California and Tampa, Florida, where he lived in a poor, working class neighborhood like the one described in The Closest I’ve Come. At the age of 21 he started traveling around the world, living in Chicago, New York, the Czech Republic, France, Argentina, Bolivia, and Mexico, his father’s native land. Among other jobs, he has worked as a delivery driver, server, cook, car salesman, freelance editor, and teacher of English as a second language. The Closest I’ve Come is his first novel.

"The Closest I've Come." Publishers Weekly, 9 Oct. 2017, p. 69+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A511293407/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 3 Mar. 2018. Pino, Kristina. "The Closest I've Come." Booklist, 15 Oct. 2017, p. 50. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A512776213/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 3 Mar. 2018. "Aceves, Fred: THE CLOSEST I'VE COME." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A502192102/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 3 Mar. 2018. Hollingsworth, Charla. "Aceves, Fred. The Closest I've Come." Voice of Youth Advocates, Aug. 2017, p. 52. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A502000763/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 3 Mar. 2018. Williams, Melissa. "Aceves, Fred. The Closest I've Come." School Library Journal, Oct. 2017, p. 102. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A507950799/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 3 Mar. 2018.