Angel Park Wins 'Best Book' Award

CALIFORNIA - A novel about school, suicide, transformation, and rescuing the American Dream--Angel Park by author Patricia Kokinos--has been named an award-winning finalist in literary fiction as one of the "Best Books of 2009" by national publishing magazine, USA Book News.

The annual awards recognized outstanding books in 140 categories, drawing entries from both mainstream and independent publishing houses. Angel Park was submitted in its new 2009 iUniverse Star edition, which includes a Reading Guide for book groups as well as an Interview with the Author.

"A book for the ages" is the way one critic characterized the novel, which has previously won a Silver Seal from Nautilus Book Awards for promoting "positive social change" and is now part of the Nautilus Library of Imagination and Possibility. Angel Park was also recognized with awards in Fiction from ForeWord Magazine, the American Authors' Association, Indie Excellence Awards, and Book Publicists of Southern California.

Kokinos, a former high school teacher and administrator at the school and district level, has created a companion website for the book, www.ChangeTheSchools.com, which offers her free reports on the state of public education, "Exploding the Paradigm: Five Ways Schools Must Change to Rescue the American Dream," and "Exploding the Paradigm 2010: A Visionary Look at New Schools for a New Century." Her monthly newsletter offering commentary on emerging trends in school reform is available from the site as well as direct links to Amazon and Barnes&Noble.com for ordering Angel Park.

Among the rave reviews for the book is a comment from Ventura bookstore owner Clarey Rudd, whose quote in the 2009 edition says, "Of the million-plus books we own in our bookstore operation, Angel Park is easily in the top ten of the most important books to read at this point in our nation's history. I highly recommend it...."

The author is currently profiled in both the print and online versions of Affinity magazine, the new publication of the California Community College system, where Angel Park is featured. Called an "edgy, entertaining mystery," the novel tells the inside story of a "corrupt and bureaucratic system that is stifling kids, teachers, and parents."

Kokinos talks about her book and speaks to the major issues of school reform for parent, teacher, and community groups. She appeared last spring as a featured speaker at the Black Business Expo in the Los Angeles Convention Center and she will be a keynote speaker at the Green New Media & Life Expo, scheduled Dec. 11-13, 2009 at the Los Angeles Fairgrounds complex in Pomona.

Locally, Angel Park is available exclusively at Bank of Books in Ventura and at Chaucer's Bookstore in Santa Barbara.

Further information is available at the author's website, www.ChangeTheSchools.com.