Category: Uncategorized

 By Sujei Lugo

SEPARATE IS NEVER EQUAL by Duncan Tonatiuh, Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book & Sibert Informational Honor Book

Several days ago, I had the opportunity to attend the 2015 American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits Conference (#alamw15), held in Chicago. My main reasons for attending the conference were to meet with my dissertation committee, attend REFORMA (The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking) meetings and discuss and collaborate with fellow Reformistas about ongoing projects and events. My presence in Chicago and #alamw15 also drove me to participate in and attend events and engage in conversations with fellow bloggers, librarians, educators, authors, publishers, and supporters of children’s and young-adult literature.

In this post I want to share with you about the sessions and events that I took part in and some reflections on my overall experience at the conference.

On Friday…

Have you seen all the activity on the #BlackComicsMonth hashtag on Twitter? You should probably check it out if you haven’t so the rest of what I’m going to say makes sense. Or I could give you a quick summary:The hashtag was started by @MizCaramelVixen to celebrate Black comic book creators.

Genius is illustrated by Afua Richardson and since I have already read all five volumes, I want to share them with you. In other words, I’m going to give them away for zero dollars and zero cents.

So, how do you win all five comic books?

1. Leave a comment below sharing your favorite comic book character.
2. Refer to number one.

That’s it!

The contest ends February 28th. Each comment will be assigned a number and then I’ll use www.random.org to select the winner. I’ll announce the winner on March 2nd.

Good luck.

By Guinevere Zoyana Thomas

Earlier this year, the amazing Matt de la Peña asked the publishing industry one of the most thought-provoking questions ever: “Where is the African American Harry Potter or the Mexican Katniss?”

His question was part of a conversation about why there aren’t that many POC equivalents to such iconic characters in YA and MG.

There doesn’t seem to be a good enough excuse for there not to be more Latino characters in kid lit especially with the Latino population rapidly growing, so to say there isn’t a market for it is just undetermined fabrication. I, for one, identify as an Afro-Cubana who would gladly buy a book from a Latina author that featured a Latina protagonist in a heartbeat!

But the truth is, I’m not sure I want a Mexican Katniss or a black Harry Potter or even an Asian Percy Jackson. A small part…

high•ly tex•tured writ•er: A person whose work is to write books, poems, or stories and has curly or kinky hair.

Welcome Leesa Cross-Smith to Librarian Dreams.

1. What is your signature hairstyle and how do you achieve it?

I had super-long dreads up until about a year ago when I chopped them off by myself over my bathroom sink. Now, I just wear it however. I’ve never been like, a HAIR PERSON. I hated doing my hair when I was in high school and used to get it straightened sometimes, but even then would only wear it in a bun or ponytail. I was also a dancer so always, always had my hair out of my face. Now, as long as I don’t have to think about it, I’m good.

I wash it with Miss Jessie’s Super Slip Sudsy Shampoo and I use the Creme de la Creme conditioner and…