Local author sets novel in El Paso

When a Mexican national carries out a suicide bombing on one of El Paso's international bridges, the city becomes the center of increased political, cultural and national tension. The conflict between the city's different racial and socio-economic classes culminates in the brutal murder of a Catholic high school student.

This is the setting of author and El Paso native J.L. Power's, "The Confessional," released in July by Knopf publishing.

On the one-year anniversary of the Cinco de Mayo bombing on the Santa Fe Street Bridge, a white student at a fictional Jesuit high school in El Paso writes a letter to the El Paso Times suggesting the city not celebrate the holiday that year, so as not to let the terrorist win. The letter creates a strong reaction at the book's all-boy school.

He is later found stabbed to death on his front lawn, after a very public school-yard confrontation with a Mexican- American student.

"The rest of the story follows these young men, who on the one hand are reeling in the wake of the death and trying to make sense that one of their friends have died, but also make sense of the fact that he died because of what seems to be a racial and national event," Powers said.

Suspicions grow as police try to find the murderer and the novel follows five young students at the school-some from privileged backgrounds, others from more humble economic conditions-as they react to the death.

"Each character is required to take personal responsibility for his part in what has happened," Powers said. "In creating the tension that led to his death and in participating in the tension after his death that leads to, basically, a riot."

Mexican-American and border sentiments and culture are prominent in the book. The suicide bomber's attack was motivated, he said, by the United State's treatment of Mexican migrants and his outrage at the large number of deaths of female maquiladora workers in Juárez, something he claimed the U.S. did not do enough to address.

El Paso readers will notice prominent landmarks in El Paso's Northeast and West sides of town, Segundo Barrio and Downtown, including Thomason Hospital and Chico's Tacos.

"In a very economical way, she really does manage to give the reader a sense of what the place really does feel like," said Charles Ambler, professor of history at UTEP and one of Powers' former professors.

While the Jesuit school at the center of her narrative is fictional, Powers said she was influenced by Cathedral High School students she taught in a dual-credit course at EPCC. She said the interactions between her students characterize subtle underlying racial tensions in the city.

"I've noticed tensions between Anglo students and Mexican American students," Powers said. "I think there's tension among the Anglo students too. I think there is probably a disproportionate amount of wealth and power concentrated in the hands of Anglos despite the low percentage of the population that they are."

Powers grew up in Albuquerque, N.M., and moved to El Paso at the age of 8 when her father, a geologist, took a teaching position at UTEP. Her journalist mother wrote for the El Paso Times.

Powers said even though she does not think El Paso is a perfect society, she loves the city and her time living and studying here deeply impacted her writing.

"Society isn't segregated in the same way as other places in the United States," Powers said. "To me, that's a real gift of El Paso. On the one hand, yes, there is some racial tension that occurs, but on the other hand, it's really a very accepting community."

Powers is an alumna of UTEP's master's program in history, where she also taught freshman composition, research and argument. She received her bachelor's degree from NMSU and has since also taught at El Paso Community College and the Doña Ana Branch Community College.

With her husband Chris and dog Dussen, Powers moved to San Bruno, Calif., about two years ago to pursue a Ph.D. in African-American history at nearby Stanford University. Her study has taken her to Africa for research and Powers is now semi-proficient in Zulu in addition to Spanish and Portuguese.

Ambler had Jessica Powers, now working under the pen name J.L., as a graduate student in his African-American history course. He said he's kept track of her research and work, both while she finished her master's thesis and once she left the university.

"It's so amazing that she does these things on the side. It's incredible that she's been able to pursue all these things as well as her imaginative writing at the same time," Ambler said. "She's clearly one of the most talented students that I've had at UTEP, without a doubt."

The various cultural and social topics examined in the book may seem most appropriate for an adult novel, but this violent and thoughtful coming-of-age mystery is written for young adults, a genre Powers believes is rife with potential for exploring with its young characters topics in a way other novels could not.

"I've always loved young adult fiction. A teenager changes more in six months than a typical adult changes in five years," Powers said. "To explore an adolescent's world is to explore a time of enormous transformation; to explore a lot of transitions and a lot of potential."

Her depiction of the young male students includes discussion of drug use, relationships with parents, Mexican-American identity and one character's struggle with discovering his homosexuality.

Powers promoted her book in El Paso earlier this month at the El Paso Public Library and at the West side Barnes & Noble.

She said she hopes readers appreciate the book's message.

"Taking responsibility for your actions, but also reconciliation with others," Powers saidof that message. "I would hope that there is a message of hope at the end of my book; that there can be a type of healing of the rifts that occur in society."

Daniel Collins may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.