Day: June 19, 2015

By Jill Brazier

Use your senses and pay attention to what’s around you. You never know where inspiration might strike! These are two of the lessons that I focus on when presenting my bilingual children’s book, Doley the Guatemalan Street Dog: The Sounds of San Marcos, to students. I never would have imagined that my time living in a treehouse above Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, and my special friendship with a starving little street dog, would direct the course of my life for years to come.

At 20 years old, I traveled by land from Seattle to Guatemala. The trip took over a year, with stops along the way to find work when the money ran out. Guatemala was never on my list, but I loved my time in Mexico and wanted to continue south. I joined up with a traveling companion for a long, bumpy, chicken-bus ride from…

By Sujei Lugo

DESCRIPTION FROM THE BOOK JACKET: Above Reyna’s favorite booth in her family’s restaurant hangs the old vihuela, a small guitar-like instrument, that belonged to her abuelito when he was in a mariachi band. Reyna has never heard the vihuela played, but her mamá treasures the instrument as a reminder of abuelito and his music. One noisy day in the restaurant, Reyna accidentally damages the vihuela. Determined to get it repaired before Mamá notices, Reyna sets out to search her neighborhood for someone who can help her fix the instrument. Little does Reyna know that along the way she will find herself growing closer to abuelito and to the power of his music.

MY TWO CENTS: From the winner of the 2011 Lee & Low Books New Voices Award, here we have a bilingual story filled with charm that showcases the power of music as an intergenerational unifier.

Summer’s upon us, and we’re here to help you choose the right Latin@ kid-lit for your young readers. Putting together a fun and useful list was a matter of posing six questions to our contributing book specialists, Lettycia Terrones, Cecilia Cackley, Marianne Snow and Sujei Lugo. We love the variety and originality of their answers and bet you will too. Take this list to your local library or bookstore and stock up!

1. Is there a brand-new release you can’t wait to get your hands on?

Lettycia: Lost in NYC: A Subway Adventure, a TOON Graphic release written by Nadja Spiegelman and illustrated by Sergio Garcia Sanchez. It tells the story of a group of kids on a New York City field trip. Things go haywire when Pablo gets separated from the rest. This title will also be released in Spanish. At TOON Books, get a glimpse of the stunning illustrations. 

Lettycia: Luis y Jennifer en: César Chavez…

Morgan Billingsley

When I visit schools, one question kids ask is: “Do you have to be a grown-up to have a published book?” I tell them about trailblazer John Steptoe who started writing and illustrating his acclaimed book Stevie when he was 16. I mention Christopher Paolini who was a teen when his parents self-published his novel Eragon. A couple years later, it became a bestselling book for Knopf and inspired a feature film. It takes talent, hard work, resilience, commitment. But yes, kids can be published authors too.

I’m excited to add three more to my list of examples.

Jackie Lee

Brown Girls Publishing, a boutique company founded by best-selling authors Victoria Christopher Murray and ReShonda Tate Billingsley, has an imprint that brings “fresh voices for children, written by children.” Three of those voices are tweens, Jackie Lee, Morgan Billingsley and Gabrielle Simone. Their first book was a collection of three Christmas stories titled The…

By Cecilia Cackley

DESCRIPTION: The Leteo Institute’s revolutionary memory-relief procedure seems too good to be true to Aaron Soto — miracle cure-alls don’t tend to pop up in the Bronx projects. But Aaron can’t forget how he’s grown up poor or how his friends aren’t always there for him. Like after his father committed suicide in their one bedroom apartment. Aaron has the support of his patient girlfriend, if not necessarily his distant brother and overworked mother, but it’s not enough.

Then Thomas shows up. He has a sweet movie-watching setup on his roof, and he doesn’t mind Aaron’s obsession with a popular fantasy series. There are nicknames, inside jokes. Most importantly, Thomas doesn’t mind talking about Aaron’s past. But Aaron’s new-found happiness isn’t welcome on his block. Since he can’t stay away from Thomas or suddenly stop being gay, Aaron must turn to Leteo to straighten himself out, even…

By Cecilia Cackley

DESCRIPTION: (from Goodreads):

The summer of 1983 was the summer hip-hop proved its staying power. The South Bronx is steeped in Reaganomics, war in the Middle East, and the twin epidemics of crack and AIDS, but Raymond “Smiles” King and Guillermo “Nike” Vega have more immediate concerns.

Smiles was supposed to be the assistant crew chief at his summer camp, but the director chose Cookie Camacho instead, kicking off a summer-long rivalry. Meanwhile, the aspiring b-boy Nike has set his wandering eye on Sara, the sweet yet sassy new camp counselor, as well as top prize at a breakdancing competition downtown. The two friends have been drifting apart ever since Smiles got a scholarship to a fancy private school, and this summer the air is heavy with postponed decisions that will finally be made.

Raw and poignant, this is a story of music, urban plight, and racial…

I thought I’d be at the Library of Congress right now, celebrating Juneteenth, but I’m not.

I’ll have to celebrate some other way.