Sala Sundays with Mara Delgado Sánchez

Latinx in Publishing (LxP): What do you do?

Mara Delgado Sánchez (MDS): I’m an assistant editor at St. Martin’s Publishing Group. I assist two editors in managing their lists and their administrative work, as well as meeting agents and read submissions to continue building my list.

LxP: How did you get started?

MDS: I landed an editorial internship in Entangled Publishing reading from the slush pile and advising for acquisition. In 2018, an editorial assistant position at Macmillan opened up and I interviewed at the recommendation of two friends. The rest is history.

LxP: What do you wish you knew before getting into the industry?

MDS: That we're a deadline-driven industry. The industry machine is constantly working on several books behind the scenes. Cover conference, acquisitions, contracts, editing, marketing and publicity, it’s all hands on deck within a publisher. It takes a book a whole year to go through the production pipeline, and while this is happening, there’s always something else happening for the book.

LxP: What book are you currently working on or reading?

MDS: I just got in revisions for Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra, a YA fantasy publishing on Fall 2022 from Wednesday Books, so I’m currently in the editorial cave! The book is set in an alternate medieval India, in which a queen’s bodyguard and bondswoman struggles against her unwitting role as a major pawn in the political games of a monster-filled land on the brink of war. Some behind the scenes goodness is happening for Reclaim the Stars, a YA scifi and fantasy anthology helmed by Latinx voices and edited by the wonderful Zoraida Córdova, so I’m excited for that as well! This one is coming out on February 15, 2022. And lastly, I’m also brainstorming with Andrea Hannah and her agent, Victoria Marini, about Where Darkness Blooms, a supernatural thriller about four girls stuck in a blood-thirsty town who are forced to reckon with the grim reality of what really happened the night their mothers slipped into the sunflower fields and never came back. This one is also coming in Fall 2022. Publishing employees work on multiple books at a time and that has never stopped being fascinating to me, even as I’m doing it. As for what I’m reading, I’m reading submissions and looking for the next book to fall in love with!

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Mara Delgado Sánchez is an assistant editor at St. Martin’s Publishing Group. She holds a BA in English, Literature from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez and an MFA in Creative Writing from Rosemont College. She’s actively building her list and is a vocal advocate of marginalized voices. Character-driven stories, and the emotional nuance of relationships, are a particular favorite in any book she likes. In YA, her sweet spot is fantasy, especially from marginalized voices. I’m contemporary, she gravitates toward the light and fluffy, with characters living their best lives. Her taste in the adult market aligns with her YA taste. When not editing, Mara can be found hunting for the best udon bowl in New York City, playing video games, or working on her YA fantasy novel.

A Closer Look: Small Room, Big Dreams!

Small Room, Big Dreams: The Journey of Julián and Joaquin Castro hit the shelves on May 4th, 2021! Read below to get a closer look inside this inspirational picture book written by Monica Brown and illustrated by Mirelle Ortega!

An informative, inspirational picture book biography about twins Julián and Joaquin Castro, who rose from poverty to become leaders for positive change in America.

The story of political powerhouse twins Julián and Joaquin Castro began in the small room that they shared with their grandmother Victoriana in San Antonio, Texas. Victoriana crossed the border from Mexico into Texas as a six-year-old orphan, marking the start of the family’s American journey. Her daughter Rosie, Julián and Joaquin’s mom, was an activist who helped the barrio through local government.

The strong women in their family inspired the twins to get involved in politics. Julián and Joaquin have been working at the local, state, and national level—as a former presidential candidate, mayor and member of President Obama’s Cabinet, and a U.S. Congressman, respectively—to make the country a better place for everyone.

Acclaimed author Monica Brown and illustrator Mirelle Ortega depict the Castros’ political and personal accomplishments in this must-read picture book biography.

Also available in a Spanish edition: Pequeña habitación, grandes sueños.

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MONICA BROWN, PhD, is the award-winning author of Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos, Waiting for the Biblioburro/Esperando el Biblioburro, Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match/Marisol McDonald no combina, and the Lola Levine chapter book series. Her books have garnered two Américas Awards, a Christopher Award, and the prestigious Rockefeller Fellowship on Chicano Cultural Literacy. She lives in Arizona with her family and teaches at Northern Arizona University. Find out more at www.monicabrown.net.

MIRELLE ORTEGA is an illustrator and concept artist currently living in California. She’s originally from the southeast of Mexico and has a passion for storytelling, sci-fi, film, TV, color, and culture. Mirelle has a BFA from the Tecnológico de Monterrey (Monterrey, Mexico) in digital art and 3D animation and an MFA from Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She is fluent in Spanish and English. Visit her online at www.mirelleortega.com.

May 2021 Latinx Releases

MAY 2021 LATINX RELEASES

ON-SALE MAY 1ST, 2021

RUN, LITTLE CHASKI: AN INKA TRAIL ADVENTURE | Picture Book

by Mariana Llanos; illustrated by Mariana Ruiz Johnson (Barefoot Books)

In this tale set in the ancient Inka empire, Little Chaski has a big job: he is the Inka King's newest royal messenger. But on his first day things quickly start to go awry. Will Little Chaski be able to deliver the royal message on time?

ON-SALE MAY 4TH, 2021

GOOSEBUMPS: SECRETS OF THE SWAMP | Middle Grade

by Marieke Nijkamp; illustrated by Yasmín Flores Montañez (IDW Publishing)

Reader beware, you’re in for a scare! The kid-friendly horror series returns with a spooky new graphic novel from New York Times bestselling YA author Marieke Nijkamp!

When twelve-year-old Blake is shipped away to stay with her weird aunt in Fever Swamp for the summer, she expects her weeks to be filled with video games, mosquito bites, and a whole lot of nothing. Instead, she finds herself in a spooky turf war between werewolves and wolf hunters! Blake’s never let anything–including her prosthetic hand–slow her down or stop her from crushing her opponents in a game of Lore Hunter, but real-life monsters on all sides take danger and fear to a whole new level, and Blake will need to use all of her gaming skills to escape.

Marieke Nijkamp was born and raised in the Netherlands. A lifelong student of stories, language, and ideas, she spends as much time in fictional worlds as she does the real world. She loves to travel, roll dice, and daydream. Marieke’s YA novels include: This Is Where It Ends, which follows four teens during the fifty-four minutes of a school shooting, and Before I Let Go, a haunting young adult murder mystery set during a cruel Alaskan winter. Additionally, Marieke is the editor of Unbroken, an anthology of 13 stories starring disabled teens, written by disabled authors. She’s the writer of The Oracle Code, a graphic novel from DC Books for Young Readers, with art by Manuel Preitano. Even If We Break, Marieke’s new YA novel, is available September 2020.

INDIVISIBLE | Young Adult

by Daniel Aleman (Hachette/Little, Brown BFYR)

Mateo Garcia and his younger sister, Sophie, have been taught to fear one word for as long as they can remember: deportation. Over the past few years, however, the fear that their undocumented immigrant parents could be sent back to Mexico has started to fade. Ma and Pa have been in the United States for so long, they have American-born children, and they’re hard workers and good neighbors. When Mateo returns from school one day to find that his parents have been taken by ICE, he realizes that his family’s worst nightmare has become a reality. With his parents’ fate and his own future hanging in the balance, Mateo must figure out who he is and what he is capable of, even as he’s forced to question what it means to be an American.

Daniel Aleman’s Indivisible is a remarkable story—both powerful in its explorations of immigration in America and deeply intimate in its portrait of a teen boy driven by his fierce, protective love for his parents and his sister.

LA JOVEN AVIADORA (THE FLYING GIRL SPANISH EDITION)| Picture Book

by Margarita Engle; illustrated by Sara Palacios; translated by Teresa Mlawer (S&S/Atheneum)

¡Si ese hombre puede volar, yo también puedo!

En una animada calle en la encantadora ciudad de París, una joven llamada Aída miró hacia el cielo y se quedó maravillada ante la vista de un dirigible. ¡Cuánto le gustaría surcar el cielo de esa manera! El inventor del aparato, Alberto, la invitó a dar un paseo en su dirigible, pero Aída no quería viajar como pasajera. Ella quería ser el piloto.

Aída era apenas una adolescente, y ninguna mujer o joven había volado antes. Pero eso no la detuvo. Todo lo que ella necesitaba eran algunas clases y una oportunidad.

Con elocuentes palabras y expresivas ilustraciones, Margarita Engle y Sara Palacios nos narran la inspiradora historia de Aída de Acosta, la primera mujer que voló en una aeronave motorizada.

MANOS QUE BAILAN (DANCING HANDS SPANISH EDITION)| Picture Book

by Margarita Engle; illustrated by Rafael López; translated by Alexis Romay (S&S/Atheneum)

Ganador del premio Pura Belpré de ilustración

De niña, a Teresa Carreño le encantaba dejar que sus manos bailaran a lo largo de las hermosas teclas del piano. Si se sentía triste, la música le levantaba el ánimo y, cuando estaba feliz, el piano la ayudaba a compartir esa alegría. Pronto comenzó a escribir sus propias canciones y a tocar en grandes catedrales.

Entonces, una revolución en Venezuela hizo que su familia tuviera que huir a Estados Unidos. Teresa se sentía sola en este sitio desconocido en el que muy poca de la gente a quien conocía hablaba español. Y lo peor es que también había una guerra en su nuevo hogar: la Guerra Civil.

Aun así, Teresa siguió tocando y pronto adquirió fama de ser la talentosa niña del piano que podía tocar cualquier cosa, desde una canción folclórica hasta una sonata. Era tan famosa, de hecho, ¡que el presidente Abraham Lincoln quiso que fuera a tocar a la Casa Blanca! Sin embargo, con el país dividido por la guerra, ¿podría la música de Teresa traer consuelo a quienes más lo necesitaban?

MEET CUTE DIARY| Young Adult

by Emery Lee (HarperCollins/Quill Tree Books)

Noah Ramirez thinks he’s an expert on romance. He has to be for his popular blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There’s just one problem—all the stories are fake. What started as the fantasies of a trans boy afraid to step out of the closet has grown into a beacon of hope for trans readers across the globe.

When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah’s world unravels. The only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn’t have any proof. Then Drew walks into Noah’s life, and the pieces fall into place: Drew is willing to fake-date Noah to save the Diary. But when Noah’s feelings grow beyond their staged romance, he realizes that dating in real life isn’t quite the same as finding love on the page.

In this charming novel by Emery Lee, Noah will have to choose between following his own rules for love or discovering that the most romantic endings are the ones that go off script.

MERMAIDS ROCK #1: THE CORAL KINGDOM| Middle Grade

by Linda Chapman; illustrated by Mirelle Ortega (Tiger Tales)

Join Marina and her mermaid friends in the beautiful coral reef at Mermaids Rock! Whether they’re working together to help sea animals in danger or solving a mystery of the deep, the friends at Mermaids Rock will do anything to protect their ocean home and if there is a ripple of adventure they will find it!

MERMAIDS ROCK #2: THE FLOATING FOREST| Middle Grade

by Linda Chapman; illustrated by Mirelle Ortega (Tiger Tales)

Coralie is overjoyed when she visits a beautiful kelp forest with her pet dolphin, Dash. She meets adorable sea lions and otters, and she even finds a mysterious treasure map! After telling her friends about it, they're excited to help her search for the treasure. But when they arrive in the kelp forest, they find that it has been destroyed. Without the plants for protection, the animals that live there are in danger--and the friends must do everything they can to save the sea creatures before it's too late....

Join Coralie, Marina, and their mermaid friends in the beautiful coral reef at Mermaids Rock! Whether they're working together to help sea animals in danger or solving a mystery of the deep, the friends at Mermaids Rock will do anything to protect their ocean home and if there is a ripple of adventure they will find it!

SMALL ROOM, BIG DREAMS: THE JOURNEY OF JULIÁN AND JOAQUIN CASTRO| Picture Book

by Monica Brown; illustrated by Mirelle Ortega (HarperCollins/Quill Tree Books)

The story of political powerhouse twins Julián and Joaquin Castro began in the small room that they shared with their grandmother Victoriana in San Antonio, Texas. Victoriana crossed the border from Mexico into Texas as a six-year-old orphan, marking the start of the family’s American journey. Her daughter Rosie, Julián and Joaquin’s mom, was an activist who helped the barrio through local government.

The strong women in their family inspired the twins to get involved in politics. Julián and Joaquin have been working at the local, state, and national level—as a former presidential candidate, mayor and member of President Obama’s Cabinet, and a U.S. Congressman, respectively—to make the country a better place for everyone.

Acclaimed author Monica Brown and illustrator Mirelle Ortega depict the Castros’ political and personal accomplishments in this must-read picture book biography.

Also available in a Spanish edition: Pequeña habitación, grandes sueños.

STROLLERCOASTER| Picture Book

by Matt Ringler; illustrated by Raúl the Third & Elaine Bay (Hachette/Little, Brown BFYR)

Buckle up as a toddler's tantrum is cleverly averted when a loving dad transforms an everyday neighborhood stroll into an extraordinary adventure, reminding us that all you need to chase away a bad mood is love and a little bit of imagination.

Brought to brilliantly-colored, kinetic life by award-winning artists Raúl the Third and Elaine Bay, Strollercoaster sings with details of a diverse and vibrant urban neighborhood bursting with life, enhanced by Spanish words embedded in the art. It's the best ride in town!

WHAT WILL YOU BE?| Picture Book

by Yamile Saied Méndez; illustrated by Kate Alizadeh (HarperCollins)

“Méndez and Alizadeh create a balance between the abstract and concrete by letting the child imagine the future but with Abuela’s guidance and support. A sweet read to share with loved ones.” —Kirkus (starred review)

What will you be when you grow up?

A young girl dreams about all the endless possibilities, sparking a sense of wonder, curiosity, and growth. With her abuela’s loving guidance, she learns her potential is limitless.

Yamile Saied Méndez’s powerful, lyrical text and Kate Alizadeh’s colorful, stunning art are a radiant celebration of family, love, and community.

A Spanish-language edition, ¿Qué Serás?, is also available.

ON-SALE MAY 11TH, 2021

ILLUSIONARY| Young Adult

by Zoraida Córdova (Hachette/Little, Brown BFYR)

Reeling from betrayal at the hands of the Whispers, Renata Convida is a girl on the run. With few options and fewer allies, she's reluctantly joined forces with none other than Prince Castian, her most infuriating and intriguing enemy. They're united by lofty goals: find the fabled Knife of Memory, kill the ruthless King Fernando, and bring peace to the nation. Together, Ren and Castian have a chance to save everything, if only they can set aside their complex and intense feelings for each other.

With the king's forces on their heels at every turn, their quest across Puerto Leones and beyond leaves little room for mistakes. But the greatest danger is within Ren. The Gray, her fortress of stolen memories, has begun to crumble, threatening her grip on reality. She'll have to control her magics—and her mind—to unlock her power and protect the Moria people once and for all.

For years, she was wielded as weapon. Now it's her time to fight back.

ON-SALE MAY 18TH, 2021

ON THE HOOK| Young Adult

by Francisco X. Stork (Scholastic Kids)

Hector has always minded his own business, working hard to make his way to a better life someday. He's the chess team champion, helps the family with his job at the grocery, and teaches his little sister to shoot hoops overhand.

Until Joey singles him out. Joey, whose older brother, Chavo, is head of the Discípulos gang, tells Hector that he's going to kill him: maybe not today, or tomorrow, but someday. And Hector, frozen with fear, does nothing. From that day forward, Hector's death is hanging over his head every time he leaves the house. He tries to fade into the shadows - to drop off Joey's radar - to become no one.

But when a fight between Chavo and Hector's brother Fili escalates, Hector is left with no choice but to take a stand.

The violent confrontation will take Hector places he never expected, including a reform school where he has to live side-by-side with his enemy, Joey. It's up to Hector to choose whether he's going to lose himself to revenge or get back to the hard work of living.

PERFECTLY PARVIN| Young Adult

by Olivia Abtahi (Penguin Random House/Putnam BFYR)

Parvin Mohammadi has just been dumped–only days after receiving official girlfriend status. Not only is she heartbroken, she’s humiliated. Enter high school heartthrob Matty Fumero, who just might be the smoking-hot cure to all her boy problems. If Parvin can get Matty to ask her to Homecoming, she’s positive it will prove to herself and her ex that she’s girlfriend material after all. There’s just one problem: Matty is definitely too cool for bassoon-playing, frizzy-haired, Cheeto-eating Parvin. Since being herself hasn’t worked for her in the past (see aforementioned dumping), she decides to start acting like the women in her favorite rom-coms. Those women aren’t loud, they certainly don’t cackle when they laugh, and they smile much more than they talk.

But Parvin discovers that being a rom-com dream girl is much harder than it looks. Also hard? The parent-mandated Farsi lessons. A confusing friendship with a boy who’s definitely not supposed to like her. And hardest of all, the ramifications of the Muslim ban on her family in Iran. Suddenly, being herself has never been more important.

Olivia Abtahi’s debut is as hilarious as it is heartfelt–a delightful tale where, amid the turmoil of high school friendships and crushes, being yourself is always the perfect way to be.

ON-SALE MAY 25TH, 2021

I WISH YOU KNEW| Picture Book

by Jackie Azúa Kramer; illustrated by Magdalena Mora (Macmillan/Roaring Brook)

When Estrella’s father has to leave because

he wasn’t born here, like her,

She misses him.

And she wishes people knew the way it affects her.

At home. At school.

Always.

But a school wrapped around a hundred-year-old oak tree is the perfect place to share and listen.

Some kids miss family,
Some kids are hungry,
Some kids live in shelters.

But nobody is alone.

A story about deportation, divided families, and the importance of community in the midst of uncertainty.

OJALÁ SUPIERAS (I WISH YOU KNEW SPANISH EDITION)| Picture Book

by Jackie Azúa Kramer; illustrated by Magdalena Mora (Macmillan/Roaring Brook)

Cuando el papá de Estrella tiene que irse
porque no nació aquí como ella,
Estrella lo extraña.

Ella desea que la gente supiera como le afecta.
En su casa. En la escuela.
Siempre.

Su escuela rodea un roble centenario,
y ese árbol es el lugar perfecto para compartir.

Algunos niños extrañan a su familia,
algunos niños tienen hambre,
algunos viven en refugios.

Pero nadie está solo si otros están dispuestos a escuchar.

Un cuento sobre la deportación, familias separadas, y la importancia de comunicad en momentos de incertidumbre.

ON-SALE MAY 31st, 2021

MAXY SURVIVES THE HURRICANE/ MAXY SOBREVIVE EL HURICÁN | Picture Book

by Ricia Anne Chansky & Yarelis Marcial Acevedo; illustrated by Olga Barinova (Arte Público/Piñata Books)

Maxy is a happy puppy who lives with Clarita and her family in a house filled with laughter and music on the island of Puerto Rico. On sunny days, Clarita and Maxy go to the park or on adventures under the flamboyant tree. On rainy days, they stay inside and play games or read books.

But one day, Maxy sees everyone rushing around, putting things in boxes. Someone say, “María is coming!” That night, Hurricane María roared ashore; there was thunder, lightning and lots of rain. Maxy was terrified! Finally, the power went out and the house and everything around it was completely dark. The next day when they went outside, they saw destroyed homes, flooded roads and knocked-down trees—including their beloved flamboyant! There was no electricity for a long time, and everyone had to stand in long lines for food, gas and even water to drink.

Eventually, power is restored and Maxy thinks everything is going to be okay. Until one day, the clouds start to gather and he hears thunder and whistling winds. Trembling and whining, he races under the bed! Eventually, and with the help of loved ones, Maxy—like many children who go through natural disasters—learns to overcome his fear and appreciate the benefits of rain.

RAULITO: THE FIRST LATINO GOVERNOR OF ARIZONA/ EL PRIMER GOBERNADOR LATINO DE ARIZONA | Picture Book

by Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford (Arte Público/Piñata Books)

As a boy growing up in Arizona in the 1920s and 1930s, Raulito experienced discrimination on a regular basis. He wasn’t allowed to ride the bus to school with his Anglo friends, so he walked four miles each way, every day. He couldn’t swim in the local pool with everyone else because Mexicans could only swim on Saturdays, the day before it was closed for cleaning. And like other Spanish-speaking children, he was regularly hit for speaking his native language at school.

This inspirational bilingual “flip” book for intermediate readers recounts the life story of Raúl H. Castro, who was elected the first Mexican-American governor of Arizona in 1974. Fondly known as Raulito, he was one of eleven children born in the Mexican state of Sonora. His family moved to Pirtleville, Arizona, in 1918 when he was two years old. His family was poor, and their financial situation worsened when his father, a miner, died of lung disease ten years later at the age of 42.

In spite of the many obstacles he encountered, including racism and poverty, Raulito grew up to be a teacher, attorney, judge, diplomat and ultimately the first—and only—Latino governor of Arizona from 1975-1977. He also served as the US Ambassador to El Salvador from 1964-1968, to Bolivia from 1968-1969 and to Argentina from 1977-1980. This eye-opening biography will acquaint young readers with the difficulties Mexican Americans encountered in obtaining basic rights such as access to education and jobs and will motivate them to persevere in spite of difficulties.

UN TREN LLAMADO ESPERANZA/ A TRAIN CALLED HOPE | Picture Book

by Mario Bencastro; illustrated by Robert Casilla (Arte Público/Piñata Books)

In this poignant bilingual picture book, a boy remembers his first present, “a little train crossing / the mountain of my pillow / over a valley on my bed.” There’s even a girl who looks like his sister waving happily from the window!

Years later, after his parents have gone far away in search of work and a better future, the boy rides in a real train to join his family. This one is loaded with hundreds of children traveling alone, just like him. There are frightening strangers, others along the way who want to jump on and, scariest of all, a boy who almost falls off the roof because he can’t stay awake any longer.

When the train finally arrives at its destination, everyone jumps off and the boy begs “the moon to shine, / to light up the border” so he can cross and find his mother. This moving, poetic story by award-winning Salvadoran author Mario Bencastro touches on the difficult journey north many Central American children make in hopes of finding their parents and a better life.

Dancing in Life’s Stages: ‘Merci Suárez Can’t Dance’ by Meg Medina

Growing up requires constant change, as author Meg Medina demonstrates it in Merci Suárez Can’t Dance. This middle-grade book is the second installment in the Merci Suárez verse, following Cuban-American Merci Suárez as she cruises through the seventh grade. Mercedes “Merci” Suárez is a young girl who is trying to keep everything as it’s always been within her family and friends—from tía Inés’s routine at the bakery to her friendship trio with Hannah and Lena. This moving middle-grade novel is not only about life’s inevitable change; it invites young readers to explore business smarts, love, selflessness, cultural education, socio-economic status, confidence, and standing up for oneself. Everything changes for Merci Suárez and she must learn to dance to the changing beat of growth.

Taking place in South Florida, Merci begins seventh grade assigned as a business manager to the school store, The Ram Depot, with new student, Wilson Bellevue. They’re expected to work together as a team to “hone their business and math skills and get real-world experience”, according to Miss McDaniels. Merci immediately demonstrates superb sales and critical-thinking skills, necessary in business. Merci’s abilities have the potential to motivate young readers to learn more about the professional world at a deeper level, outside of their regular classes. “Fix your mistakes in style. Two-for-one erasers! Wile supplies last! (See? An eraser would have helped!),” Merci writes on a sign for the store with the commerce goal to sell erasers for her school.

Credit: Yvonne Tapia

Initially, Merci is hesitant to work alongside a seventh grade boy, considering her distasteful experience with “annoying jokes about farting” and similar shenanigans from other male peers. However, when she starts feeling shy and embarrassed about anything that has to do with Wilson Bellevue, Merci begins to wonder why that is so. While her reactions to people’s comments on their relationship may not show her best character, young readers will be satisfied with this (possible) realistic context about discovering young love.

Mercedes may be family-dedicated and a hard-working student, but sometimes that can be overwhelming for her when her family members pull her in different directions simultaneously. Besides her schoolwork, Merci is expected to help take care of her twin cousins, Axel and Tomás, who are as energetic as kids can be, while emotionally affected by her grandfather’s Alzheimer’s, and, processing her tía Inés’s new love life. But when Merci tries to find out more about her tía’s personal life, they tell her not to get involved. To this, Merci thinks, “People ask me private stuff all the time. What I want to be. If I have a boyfriend. Nobody seems to mind their invasion of my privacy.” Moreover, when she sees that her older brother, Roli, is different to how she remembers him before he went to college, Merci says, “Nobody is the way they’re supposed to be.” Medina offers a deep and pragmatic view about what many emerging young adults are anticipated to handle, that may often be overlooked.

Credit: Candlewick Press

The author expertly encourages themes of self-confidence through Merci’s school rival, Edna Santos, and dancing. In Merci’s point-of-view, Edna is her total opposite; Edna knows French and attends ballet lessons, while Merci helps her father figure out job bids and write ad copy, and certainly can’t dance. She also makes Merci feel as if her best friend, Hannah, would rather hang out with Edna with each passing day. Edna does her fair share of verbal bullying as she tries to boss Merci around. As young readers rotate pages, they’ll encounter a poignant scenario—Edna and Merci are paired as science lab partners, and when Edna tries to verbally put her down, Merci must be willing to use the power within her to stand up for herself.

Merci’s determined attempts to avoid dancing are humorously engaging. Dancing is first tied to Merci’s lifestyle when the school’s famous Valentine’s Day Heart Ball takes place, and Merci is not having it, she says, “It’s like smearing cod liver oil all over my favorite candy bar. I can’t get past it.” Yet, she is ironically invited by Edna to participate in an unexpected way. Later on, her tía Inés decides to open up her own Latin dance school, and Merci is challenged to help it be a success. Merci’s narration, filled with humor and sass, will make the journey enjoyable and illuminating for young readers.

Meg Medina delivers an authentic middle-grade experience on every level—from school’s demands to family events—that young readers can relate to. Merci Suárez Can’t Dance is a stellar sequel that welcomes readers to embrace change, and shows them how to find their own dancing beat. This is an essential read for young students and their families, and should have a place in each classroom, library, bookstore, and personal shelf.

For more updates on her latest works, follow author Meg Medina on:

Twitter: @Meg_Medina

Instagram: @megmedinabooks

Website: http://www.megmedina.com/

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Yvonne Tapia is a Mexican-American professional from East Harlem, New York. She earned a BA in Media Studies and Psychology from Hunter College. Additionally, she has worked in the educational and media fields through various outlets. With a long-term enthusiasm for children’s media, she has been involved at Housing Works Bookstore and Latinx in Publishing. She currently works on the Marketing and Publicity team at Levine Querido. Yvonne is excited about the power of storytelling, and to engage content awareness in underrepresented communities.

Meet our 2021 Writing Mentorship Program Mentors!

The Latinx in Publishing Writers Mentorship Program is a 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).

Be sure to check out Latinx in Pub’s Bookshop for a list of our mentor’s publications! And read below to learn more about our wonderful mentors!

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Alana Viramontes Albertson is a Latina bestselling romance author (her book Badass hit #3 in entire Amazon paid store, she has had multiple novels in the top 100 paid store, and her Se7en Deadly SEALs romantic thriller serial has over one million views on the Radish fiction app). She has over thirty books published and recently signed a three-book, six-figure deal with Berkley Publishing for the upcoming Latinx romantic comedy series, Spicy Rich Tacos. Alana Albertson holds a Masters of Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Stanford University. She’s a paid social media influencer and the former President of Romance Writers of America’s Contemporary Romance, Young Adult, and Chick Lit chapters. She’s the founder of the non-profit dog rescue, Pugs N Roses.™ She lives in San Diego, California, with her husband, two young sons, and six dogs.

Juan Alvarado Valdivia was born in Guadalajara, Mexico to Peruvian parents and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the author of ¡Cancerlandia!: A Memoir and Ballad of a Slopsucker, which was a 2020 International Latino Book Award finalist for Best Collection of Short Stories – English or Bilingual and was chosen as Best Short Story Collection for the 2019 Latinidad List. His fiction and nonfiction have been published in Prairie Schooner, The Acentos Review, Black Heart Magazine, The Cortland Review, Label Me Latina/o, Mount Hope, Origins Journal, Somos en escrito, and Thread. 

Katrina Carrasco is queer and Latinx, with roots in Southern California and home in Seattle, WA. Katrina received her MFA in Fiction in 2015, and has had stories and essays published by Witness, Literary Hub, CrimeReads, and other outlets. Her debut novel, The Best Bad Things (MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux), won a 2018 Shamus Award and was a Lambda Literary Award and Washington State Book Award finalist. She is working on a new novel.

Pablo Cartaya is the author of the critically acclaimed middle-grade novels: The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora, Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish, and Each Tiny Spark. His novels center around the themes of family, culture, community, and the cross-section of the Latinx experience in the United States. Pablo has worked as an actor, notably co starring on NBC’s “Will & Grace” and Telemundo’s “Los Beltran”. Pre-pandemic he was giving performative talks around the country on writing, reading, and identity. Now he’s home working on his next novels and speaking to students, educators, and readers around the world in a virtual format. He calls Miami home and Cuban-American his cultura. Awards and Honors include: 2020 Schneider Family Book Award Honor, 2019 ALSC Notable Book, 2018 American Library Association’s Pura Belpré Honor, 2018 Audie Award Finalist for Middle Grade Audiobook of the Year (for narration and title).

Joe Cepeda received his BFA in Illustration from California State University, Long Beach. He is the illustrator of award-winning picture books such as What a Truly Cool World (Scholastic), Nappy Hair (Knopf), Mice and Beans (Scholastic), and The Swing (Arthur A. Levine Books), which he wrote as well as illustrated. Mr. Cepeda has illustrated books written by numerous notable authors including Gary Soto, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Arnold Adoff, Monica Brown, Julius Lester and Toni Morrison. He’s also illustrated book jackets for several titles, including Esperanza Rising and the Newbery Medal winner Merci Suarez Changes Gears. Mr. Cepeda received a 2002 ALA Pura Belpré Honor and the Recognition of Merit Award for 2000 from the George G. Stone Center for Children’s Books. Joe was awarded a Capstone Fellowship for 2016. In addition to his illustrative work, Mr. Cepeda is sought after as a public speaker to schools and other groups. He is the president of the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles. He lives in Southern California.

Rosalie Morales Kearns, a writer of Puerto Rican and Pennsylvania Dutch descent, is the founder of Shade Mountain Press. Her novel Kingdom of Women (Jaded Ibis, 2017), about a female Roman Catholic priest in a slightly alternate near-future, was described in Kirkus Reviews as a “daring critique of today’s patriarchy [that] never feels didactic or forced” and praised by U.S. Catholic as a “deeply felt and richly imagined rendering of what the upending of patriarchy might look like.” Her fabulist/speculative story collection Virgins and Tricksters (Aqueous, 2012) was described by Marge Piercy as “succinct, smart tales rooted in a female-centered spirituality.” Kearns has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Illinois and has taught creative writing at the University of Illinois, the University at Albany, and adult education venues.

Diana López is the author of the adult novella, Sofia's Saints, and numerous middle grade novels, including CONFETTI GIRL, NOTHING UP MY SLEEVE, and LUCKY LUNA. Her picture book biography, SING WITH ME: THE STORY OF SELENA QUINTANILLA, will be released in April to celebrate what would have been Selena's 50th birthday. Diana recently retired from the University of Houston-Victoria. Her "second act" day job is helping her husband in his physical therapy clinic, FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Center, located in her hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas.

Jose Nateras is an L.A. based Actor & Writer from Chicago. A graduate of Loyola University Chicago, he also has his MFA in Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). A screenwriter and playwright, Jose is also a contributor for The Gamer, The A.V. Club, and elsewhere. His debut novel, Testament, was released by Ninestar Press and his original feature-length horror screenplay, Departing Seniors, is currently in pre-production. Follow him on Twitter: @JoseNateras & Instagram: @JLorca13

Luis Alejandro Ordóñez (1973) is a Venezuelan writer born in Boston, MA. He obtained a Political Science degree from Universidad Central de Venezuela, and he was a professor of Political Communication at the Journalism School of the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. He moved to the United States in 2008. He has worked as editor, copywriter, proofreader, translator, Spanish teacher, and bookseller between Chicago and Miami. In 2018 he published El último New York Times (Suburbano Ediciones), and in 2020 its translation into English, The Last New York Times (Katakana Editores, translated by José Ángel Navejas.) He also has published a short stories collection titled Play (Ars Communis, 2015). He has been part of anthologies of writers who live in the United States and write in Spanish, such as Diáspora (Vaso Roto), Pertenencia and Trasfondos (both of Ars Communis), and Escritorxs Salvajes (Hypermedia). In 2014 he won the II Literary Prize in Spanish from Northeastern Illinois University for the story “Doble Negación.” With “Librero,” he won the Severo Ochoa Micro-Story Contest of the Cervantes Institute library in Chicago.

Iván Pérez-Zayas is a poet, scholar, and a trainee acquisitions editor working in the university press field. His first poetry chapbook, Para restarse, was published the summer of 2019. He is now writing a doctoral dissertation about representations of identity in Latin American graphic novels while working as the Mellon Diversity Fellow at Northwestern University Press. Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, he is now based out of Chicago, Illinois.

Francisco X. Stork emigrated from Mexico at the age of nine with his mother and his adoptive father. He is the author of nine novels including: Marcelo in the Real World, recipient of the Schneider Family Book Award, The Last Summer of the Death Warriors, which received the Elizabeth Walden Award, The Memory of Light, recipient of the Tomás Rivera Award and Disappeared, which received the Young Adult Award from the Texas Institute of Letters and was a Walter Dean Myers Award Honor Book. On the Hook will be published in May of 2021.

SalaSundays with Toni Kirkpatrick!

This week, we’re hosting #SalaSundays on our blog. Read below to get to know all about Senior Acquisitions Editor, Toni Kirkpatrick, with Crooked Lane Books!

Latinx in Publishing (LxP): What do you do?

Toni Kirkpatrick (TK): I am a Senior Acquisitions Editor at Crooked Lane Books, where I acquire all subgenres of crime fiction, from traditional mysteries to thrillers. I'm also acquiring book club fiction (think commercial women's fiction) for our new-ish imprint Alcove Press! We accept unagented submissions. Go to the Contact page on our website to find the submission email address, and be sure to address your email to me! 

LxP: How did you get started?

TK: I attended the Denver Publishing Institute the summer after my college graduation, then got my Masters in Creative Writing at USC, and then finally took the plunge and moved to New York City. After three months of job hunting and a disastrous 2-day stint as a temp, I was fortunate to land a job as an Editorial Assistant at Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press assisting Ruth Cavin, an elderly, very sweet “firecracker” who published mostly mysteries. I built my own list and eventually became an Editor.

LxP: What do you wish you knew before getting into the industry?

TK: I could say the low pay, the high cost of living in NYC, the time commitment, all the aspects that have nothing to do with reading or editing, the very low number of POC working in the industry...but the truth is I sort of knew about these beforehand and pursued this career regardless. I’m very practical that way! And getting free books evens it all out. But seriously, there’s nothing that really compares to finding a manuscript you love, being the one to present it to your colleagues, and helping to make it into a real live book. I’ve now been working in the industry in one form or another for… 17 years!

LxP: What book are you currently working on or reading?

TK: I am reading Eat the Mouth That Feeds You by Carribean Fragoza, which is very special to me because I know Carribean. She is from South El Monte, my hometown. It’s a working-class, largely Mexican-American suburb of Los Angeles. Carribean is also the co-editor of East of East and the Editor in Chief of Vicious Ladies, an online journal of cultural criticism. She has long been doing important cultural and community work, and I am thrilled that we now have her beautiful story collection out in the world.

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Toni Kirkpatrick began her career at St. Martin's Press, where she worked for nearly 11 years acquiring literary and commercial fiction. She now acquires fiction for Crooked Lane Books, a small, NYC-based publisher distributed by Penguin Random House. Born and raised in Los Angeles County, Toni is the daughter of a Mexican immigrant mother and white father. Under the name Toni Margarita Plummer, she is the author of the story collection The Bolero of Andi Rowe and a contributor to the anthologies East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte and Latina Outsiders Remaking Latina Identity. In 2020 she was a finalist for the inaugural Tomás Rivera Book Prize. Toni lives with her literary agent husband and their son in the Hudson Valley.

Toni Kirkpatrick interviews Jennifer De Leon

Read below for an exclusive Q&A between Toni Kirkpatrick and WHITE SPACE author, Jennifer De Leon!

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Pictured: author Jennifer De Leon

Toni Kirkpatrick (TK): When did you first start writing these essays and how did they evolve into the manuscript that would win the Juniper Prize for Creative Nonfiction?

Jennifer De Leon (JDL): The ‘oldest’ essay in the collection is one I wrote when I was nineteen years old and published in Ms. Magazine, shortly after I had interned there while in college, and the ‘youngest’ essay is one I wrote maybe three years ago. All told, I wrote and revised these essays over the last decade. The writing process continues to be mysterious and magical to me because I did not set out to write an essay collection; I really didn’t. Instead, I wrote one essay at a time. But I also worked on several drafts at a time, like many pots on a stove, I guess. I began submitting essays to contests and literary journals, and over the years, many of them were published. “The White Space” won the Fourth Genre Michael Steinberg Essay Prize in 2012. Winning this contest felt like winning a brand-new car at a state fair or something, in the sense that it was that unbelievable. I will always be grateful to Ryan Van Meter for selecting my essay. At the time, I was very much still getting my sea legs in the world of writing and publishing and so this win really inspired me to submit more and more. Eventually, I realized I had a collection. Maybe? So I showed the manuscript to trusted readers. Took out some pieces. Added a few. Showed it to my writing group once more. Then clicked submit. 

TK: You grew up in Massachusetts, are a longtime instructor at GrubStreet, and now an Assistant Professor at Framingham State University. A story of yours was chosen as the One City, One Story for the Boston Book Festival. Now the University of Massachusetts has published your first book for adults, a book about your life. It looks like you and your home state are in a love-love relationship! Can you tell us about that relationship?

JDL: What a great question! Yes, I guess we are in a love-love relationship! I was born in Boston, raised in a suburb of the city, traveled around the world (Nigeria, France, Vietnam, Guatemala, and more) and even lived in California for a few years, all to land just ten minutes from my childhood home. Maybe it’s true, that saying about all roads leading home. Like many writers, I find inspiration from place and coming of age and family. I see many more stories and books set in Massachusetts, for sure! 

TK: Your parents immigrated from Guatemala and in this book you write about returning there. How has your relationship with Guatemala changed since you were a child? What kind of a relationship would you like for your own children to have with Guatemala?

JDL: I was fascinated by Guatemala when I was younger—on a visceral level. I was nine years old the first time my parents and sisters and I visited the country. The smell of firewood burning, the mountain air, the tortillas cooked over an open fire, the endless cousins offering to braid my hair and teach me how to play avion along the dirt-paths or paved courtyards…it was all so vivid and sensory and remains so in my memory. I have returned to Guatemala many times, and each visit I get to know the country in a more profound way, but it will always be rooted in the senses. 

As an adult, my relationship with Guatemala definitely evolved. When I was 28 years old, I moved to Quetzaltenango, in the Western Highlands, far from relatives living in the capital. I wanted to experience Guatemala on my own, and in my own way. I also wanted to write a novel and improve my Spanish and learn more about the country’s rich history. A few years later, my husband and I were married in Antigua Guatemala, the old cobblestone capital. We both want our young sons to embrace Guatemala in ways we have, but also in their own ways—to create their own relationships with this country. 

TK: You signed my copy of WHITE SPACE “Take up space!” What does “taking up space” mean for you? Has this been something easy or difficult for you to do in your life, and in what ways do you think you have made strides to take up space?

JDL: Yes, to taking up space in life and on the page! For so long, I remained quiet in writing workshops or dutifully took notes, while thinking about ways I was going to quit the class. I’m serious. The doubt was real. Heavy as a cloak. So, I think the notion of taking up space –whether in a writing workshop or on the page—is related to whether or not we see ourselves and our stories as valuable, worthy. I write about this much more in my essay, “Work.” But, yes, taking up space is something I’ve had to learn to do, and to do so unapologetically. 

TK: What advice do you have for Latinx writers who are struggling to find an agent or publish their work?

JDL: Do not take rejection personally. I wish I had known this, really internalized it, early on in my career. I could have saved myself from many moments of even more self-doubt, of paralysis, and fear. Keep it movin’ would be another piece of advice. Wasn’t there some statistic that showed how men receive rejections and that same day will send out more work? But women wait weeks, sometimes months to do so. As a woman of color, I know that many times in my life I have wrestled with insecurity, second-guessing, etc., but I also know that there are times when I have conquered the self-critic on my shoulder, hit ‘mute’ on that chatty station in my mind, and so there’s that, too. 

TK: What are you currently writing? Do you find working in different genres to be more challenging or freeing?

I always have a couple essays cooking on the stove. Some on a low-burner, as I do now. One is about my time working at the GAP and how, among other things, a manager would mistakenly call me Maria. But I also recently signed a two-book contract with my amazing editor, Caitlyn Dlouhy, at Simon & Schuster, so I’m focused on revising my next Young Adult novel, Maya, which tells the story of a 16-year-old aspiring fashion designer in Guatemala who must flee the country with her mother after gangs threaten to take their lives, leaving them with an unimaginable choice to make at the Mexico/U.S. border. It is scheduled for publication in 2022. I would also love to write another essay collection, or perhaps a memoir. A YA memoir? Or all. ¿Por qué no?   

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Jennifer De Leon is author of the YA novel Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From (Simon & Schuster), editor of the anthology Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education (University of Nebraska Press), and most recently, the essay collection White Space: Essays on Culture, Race, & Writing (UMass Press). She is Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Framingham State University and faculty member in the MFA in Creative Nonfiction program at Bay Path University. Connect with her @jdeleonwriter on Instagram and Twitter or at her website: www.jenniferdeleonauthor.com 

Toni Kirkpatrick is a Senior Acquisitions Editor at Crooked Lane Books, acquiring crime and book club fiction. Originally from the Los Angeles area, she now lives in the Hudson Valley. You can find her on Twitter @tmargaritaplum.

Recap: Gabriela Garcia & Roxane Gay Reading

APRIL 1ST, 2021: Gabriela Garcia & Roxane Gay Reading with WordUp Community Bookshop

On Thursday April 1st, 2021, Latinx in Publishing was honored to co-sponsor and host with WordUp Community Bookshop/Librería Comunitaria a reading of Of Women and Salt with author Gabriela Garcia and Q&A led by Roxane Gay. The evening opened with a dynamic set by Cuban artist DJ Leydis and was followed by a heartfelt reading by Garcia. Following the reading, Roxane Gay moderated an engaging discussion with Garcia, Gay’s former MFA student, where they discussed how Of Women and Salt began as a project that was close to Garcia’s heart and ended in a successful publication. With timely themes such as migration, addiction, and freedom, Garcia discussed how the different generations of her characters came to be and how poetry influenced the narrative language within Of Women And Salt. With the success of her debut novel, Garcia explained how adjusting to author life was new and challenging, but that connecting with readers is what made it all worth it. In between questions from Gay, the audience asked Garcia what Lafayette, IN was like, how she enjoyed her MFA from Purdue, and the latest on a potential #OWAS movie spin-off.

To watch the recording of the event, click here!

Click here to support WordUp.

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Gabriela Garcia is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer's Award and a Steinbeck Fellowship from San Jose State University. Her fiction and poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, Tin House, Zyzzyva, Iowa Review, and elsewhere. She is the daughter of immigrants from Mexico and Cuba and grew up in Miami. Of Women and Salt is her first novel.

Roxane Gay’s writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and the New York Times bestselling Hunger. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. She has several books forthcoming and is also at work on television and film projects.

Review: Of Women And Salt

REVIEW: OF WOMEN AND SALT

Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia is a debut novel that takes an introspective look at generational trauma. Inviting the reader with strong descriptions and striking imagery, there was no escaping the sorrow that was written throughout the pages. -- The story takes a focus on Jeanette who is a Cuban-American recovering addict. We see several stages of Jeanette’s life as she suffers and battles through her addiction. However in the midst of this journey, we discover how each generation that has come before her has played a role in her overall development. Whether the political unrest in Cuba that started with her 3x great grandmother Maria Isabel; to the domestic abuse and violence that has long played a role in the women’s lives, we see how trauma trickles down from one woman to the next, passing along dead dreams with unspoken pain and fear. 

Garcia does a powerful job at outlining Cuban history and displaying Cuban culture and sentiments. Though, what I found most interesting was how she wove the subject of immigration, into the plotline, by adding a subsequent storyline focusing on Gloria and Ana – mother and child who emigrated from El Salvador. She painted such a vivid heartbreaking picture of detention centers; delineating the many flaws in a system that is built to fail those who need it the most. It makes you question how can something so broken still exist in an era where so much seems to be possible? She then took it a step further by bringing in racism into the picture; giving us a portrait of how different immigration can look like depending on the color of your skin. Garcia did not hold back. 

This is not intended to be a light read, but instead meant to challenge your thoughts.

You are left wondering about the outcomes of many of the characters presented throughout the book and it could feel somewhat glass half full. However, as the reader I felt as though they were characters meant to help connect experiences, between the women, while also allowing the reader to gain more understanding of Jeannette’s storyline. 

This is a story about culture but also of the pain that lies between mother, daughter and the legacies that are never too far behind. You will be left with profound thoughts that will pull at your heart, but most importantly your soul. 

-- Tiffany Gonzalez

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Gabriela Garcia is the author of the novel Of Women and Salt, forthcoming from Flatiron (US), Picador (UK), and in eight other languages. Her fiction and poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, Tin House, Zyzzyva, Iowa Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Cincinnati Review, Black Warrior Review, and elsewhere. She received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award, a Steinbeck Fellowship, and residencies and fellowships from Breadloaf, Sarabande Books, Lighthouse Works, the Keller Estate, and the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley. She has a BA in Sociology from Fordham University and an MFA in fiction from Purdue University, where she also taught creative writing. 

The daughter of immigrants from Cuba and Mexico, Gabriela was raised in Miami and currently lives in the Bay Area. She is a long-time feminist and migrant justice organizer who has also worked in music and magazines.

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Tiffany Gonzalez earned a Bachelors of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies and obtained her Masters in Communication and Media from Rutgers University – NB. She has worked in the Publishing industry for over 4 years. She currently works for Astra Publishing House as the Marketing and Publicity Coordinator for Astra House. She’s excited to start working with underrepresented stories and bringing them to the hands of all readers. You can follow her on Instagram @wandering_tiff_

Choose 'Fearless' To Shine Bright

The middle-grade novel Fearless, by debut author and Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez, takes you on a courageous and fresh journey about what it means to be a fearless youngster with the heart of a performer. Seventh-grader Monica Garcia wants nothing more than to star in the much-anticipated Broadway show Our Time. Monica loves singing since she was very little, and adding to her motives to shine is a deep wish to help her younger brother, Freddy, receive the medical attention he needs. However, there appears to be a curse at the show’s location, The Ethel Merman Theater, and what unfolds is something readers may not easily guess. Told in third-person narrative, Gonzalez gives readers unique supporting characters who, along with Monica, help lift the storytelling with humor, friendship, family support, courage, mystery, shenanigans, and the performing arts.

Readers start off in New York City, where Monica has traveled to from California with her grandmother. Monica has been selected as an understudy to the understudy for Michie, one of the lead characters in the Our Time Broadway show. However, as she enters the Ethel Merman Theater, Monica immediately finds herself facing an ambulance with the show’s understudy being carried off to the hospital. Monica must then take the lead as Michie, much to Monica’s surprise and fear of failing. But everyone involved at the Ethel Merman Theater believes that the previous actresses’ accidents were caused by a curse. Thus, this increases Monica’s self-doubt and curiosity to find out what’s truly happening. 

Credit: Simon & Schuster.

Monica struggles with finding her voice and letting go of fear as the story continues, while readers are introduced to four great supporting characters who help make up the Our Time cast; April DaSilva, Relly Morton, and Hudson Patel. April is a bright and enthusiastic youngster with a big personality, who initially tends to speak up for Monica, while Hudson is a sarcastic young boy who loves mixing foods to create something new, such as a “cronut” (croissant + donut). Relly brings out his own unique personality with electric blue hair, can find humor in stressful situations, and entered the performing arts world through a dance competition. Additionally, everyone comes from different socio-economic backgrounds; while April has had bigger acting opportunities, Relly lives in a small, two-room basement apartment in Harlem with his brother and mother, and has only participated in one Broadway production so far. Gonzalez also presents a backstory to how Monica’s love for the performing arts began; six-year-old Monica went to see the play “Dreamgirls” with her family, and since then, was constantly taken to malls to sing aloud. In present times, Monica expresses, “When I sing, I can turn into anyone I want to be.” She has a lot to practice and learn before Our Time’s opening night. 

While the young cast is on the lookout for clues and answers about the mysterious happenings at the Ethel Merman Theater, they encounter historical artifacts and stories from places they explore and the adults they ask. Monica’s grandmother, for instance, adds a possible explanation for the Ethel Merman Theater’s spooky events: the concept of fear through Monica’s past family history. Her grandmother states, “You can’t break a curse when you live in fear of it.” In addition, the use of interludes nicely contributes to each chapter’s tone and scenario. 

Mandy Gonzalez also gives readers great, detailed insights into theater production. The fact that “Broadway attracts big personalities” is reinforced throughout the story. Among the things Gonzalez teaches readers is that the reason the insides of many theaters are red is because red is the first color to get lost in the dark when the lights go out. She also intertwines theater necessities like props, the backstage, and the rest of the theater crew. Aspiring performers will get the chance to read and learn that performing in front of a live audience requires constant rehearsals, and proper coaches like Mr. Fernando, Monica’s vocal coach, and Mrs. Bigsley, Broadway’s most illustrious piano player. Thus, there’s a great emphasis on the need to surround yourself with people who are willing to help you succeed.

Fearless is an intriguing read for theater aficionados, mystery-genre fans, anyone who loves the performing arts. Monica and co. will take readers on a trick-or-treat styled endeavor to help the Ethel Merman Theater shine bright again. Readers will be pleased to know that the Fearless author, as stated in an interview, recently created the robust hashtag #FearlessSquad, with the sole focus to create a community to support people to follow their dreams and celebrate those who get them there. Mandy Gonzalez leaves young readers with the ultimate message Monica Garcia learns: be yourself and choose to be fearless, because the show must go on!

For more updates on her latest works, follow author Mandy Gonzalez on:

Twitter: @_mandygonzalez

Instagram: @mandy.gonzalez 

Website: https://mandygonzalez.com/ 

Yvonne Tapia is a Mexican-American professional from East Harlem, New York. She earned a BA in Media Studies and Psychology from Hunter College. Additionally, she has worked in the educational and media fields through various outlets. With a long-term enthusiasm for children’s media, she has been involved at Housing Works Bookstore and Latinx in Publishing. She currently works on the Marketing and Publicity team at Levine Querido. Yvonne is excited about the power of storytelling, and dedicated to engage content awareness in underrepresented communities.