The Latinx in Publishing Writers Mentorship Showcase series features excerpts by our Class of 2020 mentees from the projects they’ve developed with the guidance of their mentors.
The LxP Writers Mentorship Program is an annual volunteer-based initiative that offers the opportunity for unpublished and/or unagented writers who identify as Latinx (mentees) to strengthen their craft, gain first-hand industry knowledge, and expand their professional connections through work with experienced published authors (mentors).
Below is an excerpt from one of our 2020 mentees in children’s books, Brigid Martin:
The first night in a new place is always the hardest. The visions swirled rapidly around Magaly’s mind before twisting and turning sour like someone who is on the verge of having a nightmare.
There was an unsustainable silence followed by a loud clamoring that night. The startling noise woke Magaly from her unsettled dreams, and she found herself frozen in place in her unfamiliar bed. The hollow clanking of pots and pans rattled in her grandmother’s kitchen like a raccoon terrorizing a garbage can, which could confirm her earlier theory about what destroyed the neighborhood. But this was not a raccoon, nor was the sound coming from anywhere outside of the house, so the verdict on the raccoon theory was still out.
Magaly lay wide awake in her bed until the sounds subsided.
There is a comfort that comes from hiding under the blanket, despite it not being able to afford any actual protection. And Magaly did just that. She pulled the covers over her face as the heat of her breath filled the air beneath the sheets and lulled her to sleep. She had to remind herself that she was in a strange new place. There were bound to be unfamiliar sounds, and her grandmother was right down the hall, after all. This temporary reassurance was good enough for her to not think about it any further, and she drifted back to sleep.
By the morning, Magaly had almost forgotten about the sounds that woke her in the middle of the night. Her alarm had woken her up at 7:10, which meant she had a short amount of time to get herself ready to meet her grandmother’s deadline. After spending five minutes getting dressed in the least wrinkled outfit that she had available, Magaly headed downstairs to have breakfast.
It was hard for her to differentiate between dreams and reality these days. Magaly’s life had been filled with a series of un-pleasantries and misfortunes, all leading her to this—she was living in a mossy house with her grandmother and was enrolled at The Kellogg Academy, a prestigious and expensive school that she never really heard of before, but was sure she wouldn’t like. She could never feel comfortable around rich kids. At least she didn’t think she could.
Magaly realized that she was doing that thing again where she would get lost in her own thoughts and forget that she had stopped moving. She was standing at the foot of the stairs by the kitchen entrance when she heard her grandmother’s voice.
“Sit down, daaarling,” her grandmother said in a tone Magaly had only ever heard in an old film. Her grandmother making tostada cubana, pressing buttered bread into a frying pan. At least that was familiar. “You are right on time.” Magaly sat down at the distressed and blackened kitchen table that didn’t even have faint evidence that it was ever clean.
Once the bread was crispy, Magaly’s grandmother plated them at the table along with a sprinkle of sugar. The smell was inviting, but when Magaly saw what was set in front of her, she immediately lost her appetite. Based on the color and odd smell that was beginning to penetrate through the sugar coating, it was very possible that the toast her grandmother just served her was as moldy—it shared the same greenish hue that her new bedroom possessed.
Magaly shrugged and took a bite regardless, so that she wouldn’t seem rude, and just hoped for the best—but the bread didn’t taste much like anything, which Magaly felt was probably a good thing.
Everything is a little questionable when you look close enough, she told herself.
Used with permission from the author, copyright (c) Brigid Martin 2020.
Brigid Martin currently works in Mass Market Sales at Scholastic, fulfilling her goal of working in an industry that promotes educational and diverse content for children! With several years of publishing experience at companies such as Scholastic, Perseus Books Group and Disney Publishing Worldwide, she's had the privilege of reading and promoting the works of many talented authors throughout her career. As the granddaughter of a Cuban immigrant, she recently had the opportunity to participate in the Latinx in Publishing mentorship program, as well as The Highlights Foundation’s LatinX Writers Symposium.
