Arturo Hernandez Sametier
My life has since been divided between dedication to troubled, marginalized youth, a need to tell stories and a love of music.
Of my current books, The Good Lessons recounts how gang-involved and troubled teens were transformed when an Indian reservation and a neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles adopted radical education strategies to win back their children. Luis Rodriguez, author of Always Running: gang days in L.A. wrote that an earlier version of this book was "...a necessary read for anyone serious about personal transformation and change in our communities..."
Shelter: Notes from a Detained Migrant Children's Facility is the first book written from inside U.S. immigration shelters for unaccompanied minors. These are the unforgettable journeys of individual children and a remarkable look at the daily workings of a large shelter, including the politics of release to family.
The Music of Jimmy Ojotriste is a lush Latin music novel that has been compared in reviews to the stories of Gabriel Marquez and Isabel Allende. The book was a labor of years and a love letter to family, faith, flamenco, mariachi, brujeria and the underground music scene in Los Angeles.