Author David Bowles on his Garza Twins Series and the Pura Belpré Honor

missdguzman's avatarLatinxs in Kid Lit

By David Bowles

When my three kids were younger, we had a tradition of reading YA fantasy and sci-fi series together. Harry Potter was a big deal for many years, followed by His Dark Materials, Percy Jackson, Hunger Games, and so on. I even read the Twilight series with my oldest daughter, if you can believe it.

This shared reading was fantastic. We shed tears, laughed aloud, and had many deep conversations. One thing we kept coming back to—as Mexican-American fans of speculative fiction—was the lack of people of color in most of the books we read (beyond secondary, less important roles). Typically these series boasted a team of what amounted to Anglo young people facing off against European or Western legendary beings, gods, or dilemmas.

“Wouldn’t it be nice,” we often mused, “to open one of these books and find a Chicana facing off against Aztec deities or…

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Day 29: Edi Campbell

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edi
This year, we get a little extra. On Day 29, we are delighted to have the opportunity to welcome Edi Campbell, an academic librarian who blogs at Crazy Quilts. Edi “works to improve the literacy of teens of color and am a strong ally for all marginalized young people. As part of this effort, I also work to promote authors of color. Reading multiple varieties of text is the basis for all literacies and in becoming literate, we learn how to navigate the world around us.” Thank you, Edi, and again, welcome:

It is an honor to be part of the 28 Days celebration. As I’ve read about works of such outstanding authors and artists over the years, I never even imagined that I’d be part of it; still cannot believe it. I started blogging about marginalized teens almost ten years ago and when I began, I was pretty…

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February 27 African American historical events

* Today in Black History – February 27 *

**********************************************************
“Once a year we go through the charade of February being ‘Black
History Month.’ Black History Month needs to be a 12-MONTH THING.
When we all learn about our history, about how much we’ve
accomplished while being handicapped with RACISM, it can only
inspire us to greater heights, knowing we’re on the giant shoulders
of our ANCESTORS.” Subscribe to the Munirah Chronicle and receive
Black Facts every day of the year.
To SUBSCRIBE send E-mail to: <[log in to unmask]>
In the E-mail body place: Subscribe Munirah Your FULL Name
**********************************************************

1844 – The Dominican Republic gains its independence from Haiti, which
had occupied the whole island of Hispaniola since 1822. Prior
to Haitian rule, France had administered the eastern part of
the island starting in 1795, when Spain ceded the territory to
France. The leader of Dominican independence against Haiti
was Juan Pablo Duarte.

1869 – John Willis Menard, the first African American elected to
Congress (1868) is never seated. When he pleads his own
case before the House of Representatives, he becomes the first
African American to speak on the floor of the House.

1872 – Charlotte Ray graduates from Howard Law School in Washington,
DC. She will become the first African American woman lawyer
in the United States and the third woman admitted to the bar
to practice law (April 23, 1872).

1897 – Marian Anderson is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She
will become the first modern African American to win
international renown as an opera singer and will be
considered one of the great operatic voices of the
century. Singing at a time of great social upheaval for
African Americans, Anderson’s professional career will
contain many operatic and civil rights milestones and
recognition, including Kennedy Center Honors in 1978. The
Kennedy Center will hold a gala in observance of the 100th
anniversary of her birth in 1997. Many sources, including
the “Encyclopedia Britannica” and “Africana” have her
birth year as 1902 or 1900. In a Kennedy Center interview
with her nephew (with whom she lived until her death), he
indicated that when she became the first African American to
sing a principal role with the Metropolitan Opera, her
publicist thought her age should be reduced by five years.
The media therefore, establishes her birth year erroneously
as 1902.

1942 – Charlayne Hunter (later Gault) is born in Due West, South
Carolina. One of the first students to integrate the
University of Georgia, she will become a print and broadcast
journalist and win two Emmy awards for her work on public
TV’s “The MacNeil/Lehrer News-Hour.”

1961 – James Ager Worthy is born in Gastonia, North Carolina. A
standout at the University of North Carolina, the 6 ft 9 in
(2.06 m) small forward will share College Player of the Year
honors en route to leading the Tar Heels to the 1982 NCAA
Championship. He will be named the tournament’s Most
Outstanding Player, and will be the #1 pick of the 1982 NBA
draft of the reigning NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers. He will
be named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. “Big
Game James” will be a seven-time NBA All-Star, three-time NBA
champion (1985, 1987, 1988) and the 1988 NBA Finals MVP. He
will retire as a player after the 1993-1994 season. He will
rank sixth all-time in Lakers team scoring (16,320), third all-
time in team steals (1,041) and seventh all-time in team field
goal percentage (.521). He will be inducted into the Naismith
Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003. His jersey No. 42 will be
retired by the Lakers. He will be a basketball commentator,
television host, and analyst. On September 28, 2015, he will be
hired to be an assistant coach for the Lakers in the player
development section.

1967 – Antigua & St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla become associated
states of the United Kingdom.

1967 – Dominica gains its independence from England.

1988 – Debi Thomas, a world-class figure skater, wins a bronze medal
in the Winter Olympic Games in Calgary. She will be the
first and only African American, until 2002, to win a medal in
the Winter Games.

1992 – Eldrick “Tiger” Woods is the youngest amateur golfer in 35
years to play in a PGA tournament when he tees off at the Los
Angeles Open at the age of 16.

1999 – The Rev. Henry Lyons, president of the National Baptist
Convention USA, is convicted in Largo, Florida, of swindling
millions of dollars from companies seeking to do business with
his followers.

1999 – Nigerians vote to elect Olusegun Obasanjo their new president,
as the country marks the final phase of its return to
democracy.

2013 – Richard Street, former member of the Motown group, “The
Temptations”, joins the ancestors at the age of 70, succumbing
to a pulmonary embolism. He was a member of the group from 1971
to 1993.

______________________________________________________________
Munirah Chronicle is edited by Mr. Rene’ A. Perry

Day 27: Aaron Philip

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kidflycoverHave you ever felt your spirit soar just watching someone on screen? Aaron Philip’s infectious laugh, can-do attitude, talent and faith radiate and lift everyone he touches. Check out this video of him speaking to the folks at Tumblr for a bit of his magic.

Fourteen-year-old Aaron has already won fans around the world with Aaronverse, his Tumblr blog, that chronicles his life creating art, coping and thriving with cerebral palsy and achieving his dreams.

Now, he will move and motivate even more with his inspiring memoir, This Kid Can Fly: It’s About Ability (NOT Disability) (Balzer+Bray),  that debuted on February 16. Written with award-winner Tonya Bolden and featuring photos and Aaron’s illustrations, it takes you through his amazing life from his homeland of Antigua to New York City. An open and heartfelt look at his struggles and successes, this debut title is a winner that will empower kids and adults to take flight too.

We’re blessed to talk to both Tonya and Aaron…

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DAY 24: DANIELLE PAIGE

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DANIELLE PAIGE

Danielle Paige is the New York Times bestselling author of Dorothy Must Die, its upcoming sequel The Wicked Will Rise, and the upcoming  Stealing Snow series (Bloomsbury, 2016). In addition to writing young adult books, she works in the television industry, where she’s received a Writers Guild of America Award and was nominated for several Daytime Emmys. She is a graduate of Columbia University and currently lives in New York City. On this 24th day of February, The Brown Bookshelf is honored to highlight the outstanding works of  Danielle Paige.

The Journey

I began my career in soap operas. I interned at Guiding Light while I was a junior at Columbia University. After I graduated, I worked my way up from production secretary to writers assistant to scriptwriter. I loved writing soap scripts, and I especially danielle paige book 5loved writing for teens. After that, I sold a teen soap to MTV that never made…

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February 24 African American historical events

* Today in Black History – February 24 *

**********************************************************
“Once a year we go through the charade of February being ‘Black
History Month.’ Black History Month needs to be a 12-MONTH THING.
When we all learn about our history, about how much we’ve
accomplished while being handicapped with RACISM, it can only
inspire us to greater heights, knowing we’re on the giant shoulders
of our ANCESTORS.” Subscribe to the Munirah Chronicle and receive
Black Facts every day of the year.
To SUBSCRIBE send E-mail to: <[log in to unmask]>
In the E-mail body place: Subscribe Munirah Your FULL Name
**********************************************************

1811 – Daniel A. Payne is born in Charleston, South Carolina. He will
become a bishop, educator, college administrator and author.
A major shaper of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME),
he will stress education and preparation of ministers and
introduce more order in the church. He will become its sixth
bishop and will serve for more than four decades (1852–1893) as
well as become one of the founders of Wilberforce University in
Ohio in 1856. In 1863, the AME Church will purchase

the college
and choose him to lead it. As a result, he will become the first
African American president of a college in the United States and
serve in that position until 1877. By quickly organizing AME
missionary support of freedmen in the South after the Civil War,
he will gain 250,000 new members for the AME Church during the
Reconstruction era. Based first in Charleston, he and his
missionaries will found AME congregations in the South down the
East Coast to Florida and west to Texas. In 1891, he will write
the first history of the AME Church, a few years after publishing
his memoir. He will join the ancestors on November 2, 1893.

1842 – James Forten, Sr. joins the ancestors in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. A businessman who amassed a fortune as a sail
maker, Forten was one of the most influential abolitionists
of the first half of the 19th century. He also was in the
midst of many significant events and was one of Philadelphia’s
most prominent African Americans. He was chairman of the
first Negro Convention in 1835, helped to organize the 1st
African Lodge of Free Masons in Philadelphia (1787), and one
of the founders of the Free African Society (1787 – which grew
into St. Thomas African Episcopal Church).

1940 – James “Jimmy” Ellis is born in Louisville, Kentucky. He will
become a national Golden Gloves champion and will go on to
become the WBA heavyweight boxing champion from 1968 to 1970.
At 197 pounds, he will be the lightest man to win the heavyweight
title in the past 35 years. He will retire from boxing at the age
of 35 in 1975, with a record of 40–12–1 (24 KOs). He will join the
ancestors after succumbing dementia complications on May 6, 2014
at the age of 74.

1956 – Eddie Murray is born in Los Angeles, California. He will
become a professional baseball player, winning the American
League Rookie of the Year award in 1977. Over his career, he
will hit over 500 career home runs. That will make him the
fifteenth player in baseball history to reach that milestone,
and will join Willie Mays and Henry Aaron as the only players
with 500 home runs and 3000 hits. Murray currently ranks
eleventh all time in hits (3,203), eighth in RBI (1,888), and
ninth in games played (2,950).

1966 – Military leaders oust Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana – while on a peace
mission, in Peking, to stop the Vietnam War.

1980 – Willie Davenport and Jeff Gadley, the first African Americans
to represent the United States in the Winter Olympics, place
12th in the four-man bobsled competition. Davenport had been
a medal winner in the 1968 and 1976 Summer Games.

1982 – Quincy Jones wins five Grammys for “The Dude,” including
‘Producer of the Year.’

1987 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers scores his first
three-point shot. The leading scorer in NBA history had
already scored 36,000 points. Kareem had never scored more
than two points at a time.

1992 – Edward Perkins is nominated United Nations ambassador by
President George Bush. Perkins had formerly served as
director-general of the United States Foreign Service and
ambassador to the Republic of South Africa.

______________________________________________________________
Munirah Chronicle is edited by Mr. Rene’ A. Perry

February 26 African American historical events

* Today in Black History – February 26 *

**********************************************************
“Once a year we go through the charade of February being ‘Black
History Month.’ Black History Month needs to be a 12-MONTH THING.
When we all learn about our history, about how much we’ve
accomplished while being handicapped with RACISM, it can only
inspire us to greater heights, knowing we’re on the giant shoulders
of our ANCESTORS.” Subscribe to the Munirah Chronicle and receive
Black Facts every day of the year.
To SUBSCRIBE send E-mail to: <[log in to unmask]>
In the E-mail body place: Subscribe Munirah Your FULL Name
**********************************************************

1844 – James Edward O’Hara is born in New York City to an Irish
merchant and a West Indian woman. He will move to North
Carolina after completing his basic education. After studying
law at Howard University, he will be admitted to the North
Carolina bar and become a practicing attorney in Halifax
county and active in state politics. He will later become
the second African American to be elected to congress from
North Carolina. He will serve two terms,in the forty-eighth
and forty-ninth congress. He will join the ancestors on
September 15, 1905.

1870 – Wyatt Outlaw, Town Commissioner in Graham, North Carolina, joins
the ancestors after being executed (lynched) by the “White
Brotherhood,” The Ku Klux Klan. He was president of the
Alamance County Union League of America (an anti Ku Klux Klan
group), helped to establish the Republican party in North
Carolina and advocated establishing a school for African
Americans. The Klan will hang him from an oak tree near the
Alamance County Courthouse. Dozens of Klansmen will be arrested
for the murders of Outlaw and other African Americans in
Alamance and Caswell Counties. Many of the arrested men will
confess, but, despite protests by Governor William W. Holden,
a federal judge in Salisbury will order them released.

1926 – Dr. Carter G. Woodson starts Negro History Week. This week
will be expanded to Black History Month in 1976.

1926 – Theodore “Tiger”(The Georgia Deacon) Flowers becomes the first
African American middleweight champion of the world. He will
defeat Harry Greb in fifteen rounds to win the title in New
York City.

1928 – Antoine “Fats” Domino is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He
will be a pioneering Rhythm & Blues pianist whose hits will
include “Ain’t That A Shame” and “Blueberry Hill.” He will
have 35 Top 40 American hits and employed a music style based
on traditional rhythm and blues ensembles of bass, piano,
electric guitar, drums, and saxophone.[

1930 – “The Green Pastures” opens on Broadway at the Mansfield Theater
with Richard B. Harrison as “De Lawd.”

1946 – A race riot in Columbia, Tennessee results in two deaths and
ten injured persons.

1964 – Boxer Cassius Clay converts to Islam, adopting the name
Muhammad Ali, saying, “I believe in the religion of
Islam…believe in Allah and peace…”

1965 – During civil rights demonstrations in Selma, Alabama, that were
designed to get the attention of the Johnson administration in
Washington, DC, police violence erupts against the marchers.
In an effort to protect his mother from a beating, 26 year old
Jimmie Lee Jackson strikes a police officer. He will join the
ancestors after being shot and killed. Civil rights activists,
outraged by his death, will plan a march from the Edmund Pettus
Bridge in Selma to Montgomery.

1966 – Andrew Brimmer becomes the first African American governor of
the Federal Reserve Board when he is appointed by President
Lyndon B. Johnson.

1984 – Rev. Jesse Jackson acknowledges that he referred to New York
City as “Hymietown.”

1985 – At the 27th Grammy Awards, Best Album of the Year for “Can’t
Slow Down”, is presented to Lionel Richie. Tina Turner is a
big winner with Best Song, Best Record and Best Pop Vocal
Performance by a Female for “What’s Love Got to Do with It.”

______________________________________________________________
Munirah Chronicle is edited by Mr. Rene’ A. Perry