AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR TO SIGN BOOKS AT PRESENT TENSE

BATAVIA, NY – Author Naseem Rakha will be at Present Tense on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 5:30 pm to sign copies of her debut novel, The Crying Tree.

The book, which reaches into the heart of a family nearly torn apart by a mother’s act of forgiveness, has received considerable advance praise including being featured at the Emerging Voices series at BookExpo America and has been selected for the Barnes & Noble autumn Discover Great New Writers program.

In The Crying Tree, Nate and Irene Stanley’s 15-year-old son is murdered and they wait for the day his killer will face execution to bring closure. After years of waiting, Irene is faced with a growing sense that Robbin’s death won’t stop her pain, and she takes the extraordinary step of reaching out to her son’s killer. The two forge an unlikely connection that remains a secret from her family and friends.

Then Irene receives the notice that Daniel Robbin has stopped his appeals and will be executed within a month. This announcement shakes the very core of the Stanley family and as the execution date nears, the Stanleys must face difficult truths and find a way to come to terms with the past. Dramatic, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting, The Crying Tree is an unforgettable book about the unbreakable bonds of family and the transformative power of forgiveness.

Naseem Rakha is an award-winning journalist whose stories have been heard on NPR’s All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Marketplace Radio, Christian Science Monitor, and Living on Earth. Prior to journalism Naseem taught Holistic Resource Management to farmers, ranchers and tribes throughout the US and Canada. Naseem is a graduate of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale where she received her degree in Geology. She now lives in Oregon with her husband and son. 

The book signing on July 29 is free and open to the public. Present Tense, a locally-owned, independent bookstore, is located at 101 Washington Avenue, Batavia, NY. For more information call (585) 815-7640, or visit www.presenttensebooks.com.