Author Q&A: ‘I Am La Chiva!: The Colorful Bus of the Andes’ by Karol Hernández

“On breathtaking mountains, where coffee beans grow, I carry my friends to the green hills below. I drive through the Andes, so windy and steep. Me llamo La Chiva. That’s me! Beep, beep, beep!”

With its vibrant opening, I Am La Chiva: The Colorful Bus of the Andes demands your attention. The joyful picture book by debut author Karol Hernández and illustrator Lorena Alvarez Gómez transports readers through the rugged Andes mountains on a chiva. La chiva is the name used for artisan rustic buses used widely for public transport in rural Colombia.

The idea to write about the iconic bus came to Hernández when her son mistook her ceramic miniature chiva for a school bus. She searched for picture books about it, but couldn’t find any. So she decided to write one.

Out on July 9 from Dial Books for Young Readers, I Am La Chiva is a cheerful rhyming book told from the perspective of la chiva. The bus picks up its passengers one by one – including people with produce, and even animals. Readers meet Doña Ines with her curious hen and warm arepas, and Don Ernesto with his pig named Chanchito. On the way to the town center, la chiva hits a small snag which makes for some added excitement to the story.

Alvarez Gómez, who is from Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, uses a rich color palette to illustrate the beauty of rural Colombia. Much like real-life chivas, the chiva centered in this book is intricately decorated in swoops of teal, purple, orange, and more. There is an incredible amount of detail in the spreads, which is sure to make young readers linger longer on each page.

The Spanish translation of the book, titled ¡Me llamo la Chiva!: El colorido bus de los Andes, will be released on Aug. 27.

In anticipation of her debut book’s release, Hernández spoke with Latinx in Publishing about revisiting la chiva for readers, the inspiration behind her characters, and more.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Amaris Castillo (AC): Congratulations on I Am La Chiva. I know you were born and raised in Colombia and I understand you were 13 when your family left. What inspired you to write this book?

Karol Hernández (KH): La Chiva is an answer to a question. During the pandemic, I was taking a picture of my little ceramic chiva, and my son – who was three years old at the time – approached me and said, “What a cute school bus.” And I was like, “No, this is not a school bus.” I tried to explain the role of chiva buses in Latin countries, but I didn’t feel that the concept quite clicked. So I went to look for a picture book on the topic. I didn’t find one, so I wrote the story originally for him. 

Because my kids were born in Tennessee, we were getting all these awesome picture books from the Imagination Library. And I just made the connection. I was like, This story kind of reads like something I would see in a book – like the ones I get from the Imagination Library. And that sparked the idea of turning the story that I wrote for him into a picture book for a broader audience.

AC: For those who don’t know, what is a chiva?

KH: A chiva bus kind of looks like the body of a school bus, if you will, except that it has pew-style seating, no buckles, no windows. This is like an open bus, and it’s used to transport people in rugged terrain. Our story takes place in Colombia, in the Andes Mountains, so that’s where our chiva travels in the story. 

The buses are very beautifully decorated. They’re painted by hand by artisans. And when you ride on a chiva, you could be riding next to people, produce, plantains, coffee, chickens, pigs, dogs, you name it. And people. Things are also put on top of la chiva, which you can appreciate in the illustrations. 

“Chiva” literally means “goat.” One of my kids said, “Oh, of course, because it’s the greatest of all time,” and I should have made that connection myself. But “chiva” means “goat,” and that is because back in the 1930s when chivas were first introduced to Colombia, their horns sounded like a goat. And so farmers would refer to it as la chiva. Nowadays you can also find chivas in touristic centers in Colombia and in some major cities in the US, as party buses.

“ I tried to explain the role of chiva buses in Latin countries, but I didn’t feel that the concept quite clicked. So I went to look for a picture book on the topic. I didn’t find one, so I wrote the story originally for him. ”

AC: You begin the book by saying “On breathtaking mountains, where coffee beans grow, I carry my friends to the green hills below. I drive through the Andes, so windy and steep. Me llamo La Chiva. That’s me! Beep, beep, beep!” I love that the entire book is told from the perspective of la chiva. How did you decide to tell the story this way?

KH: When I sat down to write the story, I closed my eyes and started recalling vignettes from my childhood, and vignettes from my landscapes and experiences I had as a kid in Colombia… Two stanzas in, I realized that I was la chiva. And so, “I am La Chiva. It’s me.” 

I don’t know why it felt so natural to write it that way, but a lot of the characters that we meet along the way represent real people in my childhood. I didn’t live in a small rural town. I lived in a city, but we would go to a small rural town to get together with our family in la finca. And so I did these journeys, and it felt so natural to narrate it in first person as if I were the bus.

AC: La Chiva plays an important role in this book. Here is where Doña Ines boards with her curious hen, and Don Ernesto arrives with his pig, Chanchito. How did you come up with all these characters? 

KH: In Colombia, we call it la cuadra – the block. So in the block where I grew up, we had Nancy, who was the lady who made arepas. Nancy was a fixture in my childhood, so I thought, Well, I need to include the lady who makes arepas because she was part of my childhood. Nancy didn’t work (for the book) because of the meters, so I went with Doña Ines. And I wanted to introduce the word “Doña.” 

Funny enough, Nancy’s family had a pig. We would all bring our scraps throughout the year, and they’d feed the pig. You can imagine what happened with that pig at the end of the year, for Christmas time. But I wanted to include a pig (in the book), although Chanchito does not meet that fate in the story. That was decided by my children… These were just people who made an impression in my life as a young kid because of what they did. What they did was relevant to my experience of people and culture, and they did it with such joy and pride. I wanted to communicate that these people, everything they did, they did with joy and with pride in service of their community.

AC: I want to ask you about the illustrations by Lorena Alvarez Gómez. They were just so beautiful. I love the color choices. Was there any collaboration with her for this project?

KH: There was incredible collaboration between Nancy Mercado, our editor at Dial, Lorena, and myself. I think that what made this very natural and easy is the fact that Lorena is Colombian as well. She actually lives in Colombia. When Nancy shared the manuscript with her, I think she immediately got the vision, made it her own, and she was graceful enough not just to do an incredible job, but she also included little Easter eggs for my kids, which was awesome because now they feel that the physical book is theirs. And they’re so proud to show people. She elevated this book to a place that I could not have imagined. 

The creative team behind this book is all Colombian American, and I think it gives it incredible authenticity and a level of detail that you probably can’t get from just looking at pictures and doing research. I think it shows that the team behind the book has experienced the Colombian Andes, and knows the place and function of a chiva in Colombian society and culture.

AC: What are you hoping readers take away from I Am La Chiva?

KH: I have a couple of big dreams for the book. One, I hope that this book serves as a gateway for people to want to learn more about the Andes. Not just Colombia, but the Andes Mountains; the Andes are the longest mountain range in the world, and they cross seven countries. And along the ridges of these mountains, there’s incredible diversity of culture, food, music, textiles, flora, fauna, Indigenous communities. Our story takes place in Colombia, but Colombia is one link in this chain of culture that crosses a continent.

Secondly, as a first-generation Colombian in the States, I remember when I moved here as a teenager and would tell people that I was Colombian, usually the first response I got was that I probably was related to Pablo Escobar. While I get that that was a joke, it was a painful joke. Because I was 13 years old and couldn’t understand how, at the time, the 32 million people in Colombia could be reduced to one story. As I mentioned earlier, I grew up surrounded by hardworking people who did what they did with joy, with pride. We weren’t perfect, but within our imperfection there was so much beauty. 

With time, I learned to redirect conversations by saying, ‘No, we make wonderful coffee. And have you heard of Shakira? Have you heard of Carlos Vives? And have you seen las gorditas de (Fernando) Botero?’ I was able to rely on people’s art to create a different narrative. Now I want to contribute to the stories that are told about Colombia abroad, because there’s so much to our countries – not just Colombia. And so I feel like it’s taking power back by telling a different story.

---

Karol Hernández was born and raised in Colombia. She currently lives in Florida with her husband, three kids, two dogs, and a fish. https://karolitadotcom.wordpress.com/

Amaris Castillo is an award-winning journalist, writer, and the creator of Bodega Stories, a series featuring real stories from the corner store. Her writing has appeared in La Galería Magazine, Aster(ix) Journal, Spanglish Voces, PALABRITAS, Dominican Moms Be Like… (part of the Dominican Writers Association’s #DWACuenticos chapbook series), and most recently Quislaona: A Dominican Fantasy Anthology and Sana, Sana: Latinx Pain and Radical Visions for Healing and Justice. Her short story, “El Don,” was a prize finalist for the 2022 Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writers’ Prize by the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival. She is a proud member of Latinx in Publishing’s Writers Mentorship Class of 2023 and lives in Florida with her family.

July 2024 Latinx Releases

On Sale July 2

The Curse of the Flores Women by Angélica Lopes |Translated by Zoë Perry | ADULT FICTION

Eighteen-year-old Alice Ribeiro is constantly fighting--against the status quo, female oppression in Brazil, and even her own mother. But when a family veil is passed down to her, Alice is compelled to fight for the rights of all womankind while also uncovering the hidden history of the women in her family.

Seven generations ago, the small town of Bom Retiro shunned the Flores women because of a "curse" that rendered them unlucky in love. With no men on the horizon to take care of them, the women learned the art of lacemaking to build lives of their own. But their peace was soon threatened by forces beyond any woman's control.

As Alice begins piecing together the tapestry that is her history, she discovers revelations about the past, connections to the present, and a resilience in her blood that will carry her toward the future her ancestors strove for.

A Blind Salmon by Julia Wong Kcomt |Translated by Jennifer Shyue | POETRY

Tusán writer Julia Wong Kcomt's sixth collection of poetry, A Blind Salmon is her first full-length collection available in English. Written while she was living in Buenos Aires, the collection crosses borders between Berlin, Buenos Aires, Chepén, Tijuana, and Vienna. It takes up sameness and difference, shot through with desert sand.

In these poems, Wong Kcomt renders homage to writers such as the Peruvian poet and visual artist Jorge Eduardo Eielson, who died in Milan as she was writing them. She fingers the filmy line between poetry and narrative prose to build a lyrical menagerie all her own.

Stars in My Crown by Antonio Michael Downing |Translated by Richy Sánchez Ayala| PICTURE BOOK

Little Tony is full of love for his grandmother, his home in Trinidad and delicious pholourie. But he's also full of other big feelings, including anger. His grandmother tries to teach him to be patient -- patience is a star in his crown, she says -- but it's hard.

He tries to keep his anger in, but when he loses at ping-pong to his brother or he has to come in from playing . . . Yaaarrgh!

When Little Tony and his brother move away from their beloved Trinidad, there's even more for him to be upset about. His new home is cold, full of new people, and there's no pholourie anywhere! Yaaarrgh!

But then he remembers his grandmother's lessons, and a surprising thing happens . . .

A charming and heartwarming story based on the author's own childhood, Stars In My Crown is an ode to big feelings but even bigger triumphs.

I Am La Chiva!: The Colorful Bus of the Andes by Karol Hernández | Translated by Lorena Alvarez Gómez | PICTURE BOOK

This joyful and rhyming picture book written by a debut author and illustrated by the beloved creator of Nightlights and Hicotea, follows the iconic bus, or chiva, as it navigates the rugged Andes mountains, celebrating the rich culture and landscape of Colombia that was so beautifully showcased in Disney's Encanto.

Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías | Translated by Heather Cleary | ADULT FICTION

In a city ravaged by a mysterious plague, a woman tries to understand why her world is falling apart. An algae bloom has poisoned the previously pristine air that blows in from the sea. Inland, a secretive corporation churns out the only food anyone can afford--a revolting pink paste, made of an unknown substance. In the short, desperate breaks between deadly windstorms, our narrator stubbornly tends to her few remaining relationships: with her difficult but vulnerable mother; with the ex-husband for whom she still harbors feelings; with the boy she nannies, whose parents sent him away even as terrible threats loomed. Yet as conditions outside deteriorate further, her commitment to remaining in place only grows--even if staying means being left behind.

An evocative elegy for a safe, clean world, Pink Slime is buoyed by humor and its narrator's resiliency. This unforgettable novel explores the place where love, responsibility, and self-preservation converge, and the beauty and fragility of our most intimate relationships.

Cash Delgado Is Living the Dream by Tehlor Kay Mejia | ADULT FICTION

Cash Delgado has a good life in the quaint town of Ridley Falls. She has Joyce's Bar, where she manages a familiar group of regulars and emcees the ever-popular Karaoke Thursday. She has her six-year-old daughter, Parker, whose spunky attitude always keeps life interesting. And she has her best friend, Inez O'Conner, who improves Cash's sometimes overly responsible outlook with one full of joy and potential.

But change is on the horizon when Chase Stanton, the former bar manager at Joyce's (not to mention Cash's last hookup), returns to town with business prospects that could threaten the local institution and all of Cash's plans to someday bring new life to the place. And if that isn't enough, Cash starts having very intimate dreams of Inez. Dreams that could threaten the foundation of her well-ordered life.

As Cash embarks on a reluctant journey of self-discovery, she's forced to confront all the ways she's been hiding in her own life. But will she choose to remain the same, or will the desire for love (even a love that looks different than she ever imagined) prove worth the risk?

Kamau and Zuzu Find a Way by Aracelis Girmay | Translated by Diana Ejaita | PICTURE BOOK

One day, young Kamau and his grandmother ZuZu wake up to find themselves on the moon. Kamau doesn't remember Back Home, but Grandma ZuZu does, and she misses it terribly. Together, through cloth scraps and dance, letters and song, Kamau and ZuZu find a way to make a new life for themselves in this strange land: a new life which is not only rooted in the stories, memories, and traditions that ZuZu always carries with her, but which also lovingly reaches out across the vast expanse of space to connect and communicate with the family from which they've been separated.

Acclaimed poet Aracelis Girmay and illustrator Diana Ejaita together weave a powerful story inspired by the African diaspora, in which--despite the shock of being uprooted into this alien world, without being given any choice or explanation, and the sorrow that comes from the unfathomable distance separating them from their beloved community--Kamau and ZuZu find a way to live, as people do.

Pizza Face by Rex Ogle | Illustrated by Dave Valeza | YA GRAPHIC NOVEL

It's time to face facts!

On the first day of seventh grade, Rex encounters a bump in the road -- a big angry pimple right in the center of his forehead. And this is only the beginning of his problems. What follows is a frustrating battle with stubborn acne, body odor, and other embarrassments of puberty. Still struggling with a home life edging on the poverty line, Rex can't afford to buy the acne medication or deodorant he needs, and bullies are noticing Rex's awkward transformation. On top of it all, things have gotten weird with his friends, making Rex feel like he can't do or say anything right. So far, seventh grade stinks!

The Murmuration Carlos Labbé | Translated by Will Vanderhyden | ADULT FICTION

On the eve of the 1962 World Cup in Chile, a retired sports commentator with a secret ability to influence living beings with his voice encounters one of the directors of the Chilean national team--a feminist with a covert agenda--on an overnight train ride to Santiago. The director convinces the commentator to return to broadcasting in order to call Chile's matches and to utilize his unique vocal power to determine their outcomes.

Later, when Chile is facing off against Brazil in the semifinal match, the plan diverges from one of conventional victory and the narrative bifurcates, simultaneously tracking the action on the field and a startling sequence of events that is unfolding in one of the stadium's luxury boxes, and what initially looks like a story of intrigue and action and an exploration of class warfare, representation, and social justice, emerges as a novel that enacts the notion that art can only transcend through collective creative action.

On Sale July 9

Yum, Yum, Mexico!: Mexican Food from A to Z by Diane de Anda| Illustrated Emily Mendoza | PICTURE BOOK

Some foods are spicy, and some are sweet.
Take a bite. . . . You're in for a treat
of many delicious things to eat!

Kids love learning about food, they need to learn their ABC's, and this mouth-watering alphabet book about Mexican food covers both in the most delicious way! You'll see so much more than tacos as you flip through food from albóndigas to zanahoria. Each dish is brought to life with playful rhyming text, side-by-side phonetic pronunciation, and bright, engaging illustrations. Available in Spanish.

Braba: A Brazilian Comics Anthology Edited by Rafael Grampa and Janaina de Luna | ANTHOLOGY

American audiences have grown familiar with international comix through an influx of European bande dessinee and Japanese manga that has been translated into English over the past two decades. But there are vivacious creative scenes happening worldwide, notably in Brazil, the largest country in South America and fifth-largest country in the world. Braba aims to rectify this cultural blind spot with a single-volume showcase of innovative Brazilian comics, curated by acclaimed artist Rafael Grampá and comics editor Janaina de Luna. Produced by Fantagraphics in collaboration with Brazilian publisher MINO, this extraordinary collection of 13 short stories created by 16 pioneering Brazilian cartoonists encapsulates a thriving and thrilling comics scene.

Braba unites a diverse array of voices and styles under a unifying theme: deeply personal stories from experimental cartoonists. Each artist has uniquely interpreted this concept, creating all-new work for English readers, resulting in a collection that encapsulates the intensity, political gravitas, and avant-garde spirit of the Brazilian comics community during one of the country's most challenging socio-political periods. The contributors to Braba include Amanda Miranda, Bruno Seelig, Diego Sanchez, Gabriel Goes, Jefferson Costa, Jéssica Groke, Sirlene Barbosa, João Pinheiro, Cris Eiko, Paulo Crumbim, Pedro Cobiaco, Pedro Franz, Rafael Coutinho, Shiko, and Wagner Willian.

Tell It to Me Singing by Tita Ramirez | ADULT FICTION

Monica Campo is pregnant with her first child when, moments before being wheeled into emergency heart surgery, her mother confesses a long-held secret: Monica's father is not the man who raised her. But when her mother wakes up and begins having delusional episodes, Monica doesn't know what to believe--whether the confession was real or just a channeling of the telenovela her mother watches nightly.

In her despair, Monica wants to speak with only one person: her ex-boyfriend of five years, Manny. She can't help but worry, though, what this says about her relationship with her fiancé and father of her unborn child.

Monica's search for the truth leads her to a new understanding of the past: the early eighties when her parents arrived from Cuba on the famous Mariel boatlift, and the tumultuous seventies, a decade after Castro's takeover, when some people were still secretly fighting his regime--people like her mother and the man she claims is Monica's real father. Tell It to Me Singing is a story that takes readers from Miami to Cuba to the jungles of Costa Rica and, along the way, explores the question of how and to whom we belong, how a life is built, and how we know when we're home.

Gloriana, Presente: A First Day of School Story by Alyssa Reynoso-Morris | Illustrated by Doris M. Rodríguez-Graber | PICTURE BOOK

On the first day of elementary school, Abuela soothes Gloriana's nerves by telling her stories from their family home in la República Dominicana. But as soon as Gloriana enters the classroom, the tropical scenery crumbles and la música is replaced with English phrases she does not understand. When other kids approach her to play at recess, she freezes, uncertain about how to exist between her two homes, or how to make new friends between her two languages. Abuela recognizes echoes of her own immigration journey on this challenging day at school, and she gently guides Gloriana towards newfound confidence. This beautifully painted, imaginative picture book celebrates the magic of existing in-between, and the transformative power of self-soothing to build confidence.

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez | ADULT FICTION

Librarian Marcela Ortiz has been secretly in love with her best friend for years--and when he gets engaged, she knows it's long past time to move on. But before she gets the chance, she has a bigger problem to contend with in the form of Theo Young, ex-NFL player and older brother of the man she's in love with. When she discovers Theo's plans to confess his feelings for his brother's fiancée at their engagement party, Marcela is quick to stop him--despite how tempting it is to let him run away with the bride-to-be. She manages to convince Theo to sleep off his drunken almost-mistake at her place and when they arrive at a family brunch the next day together, everyone wrongly assumes they hooked up.

Since Theo needs a cover for his feelings for the bride and Marcela needs a distraction from her unrequited feelings for the groom, they decide to roll with the lie. Until one late night at a bar, they take it a step further and discover a layer of attraction neither realized existed. Soon, they find themselves exploring the simmering chemistry between them, whether in library aisles or Marcela's bed. There are no boundaries for the rebound relationship they form--just a host of complicated feelings, messy familial dynamics, and uncovered secrets that threaten to tear them apart before they can even admit to themselves that their rebound is working. Maybe a little too well.

Quincas Borba by Joaquim Maria Machado De Assis | Translated by Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson | ADULT FICTION

Hailed in his lifetime as one of Latin America's greatest writers, Machado de Assis (1839-1908) was a storyteller known for his wholly innovative narrative techniques and uncanny talent for unraveling the social and political milieu of nineteenth-century Brazil. These signature traits are on full display in Quincas Borba, a novel that sees Machado satirize a rapidly changing Rio de Janeiro.
Originally published in 1891, the story begins with the death of its titular character, a mad philosopher infamous for spouting pessimistic theories of "Humanitism." Borba leaves his fortune--including his dog, also named Quincas Borba--to Rubião, his loyal caretaker and a schoolteacher by trade. Bestowed with opulence beyond his wildest dreams, Rubião is quickly coaxed into the comforts of a rich man's life--the only stipulation being that he continues to care for the canine Quincas Borba with the same dedication he once did the human. Adrift in the big, bad, bustling world of late-1860s Rio de Janeiro, it isn't long before Rubião is targeted by the city's sycophants, who can smell his naïveté from a mile away.

Invisible Isabel Sally J. Pla |Illustrated by Tania de Regil | PICTURE BOOK

Isabel Beane is a shy girl who lives in a home full of havoc and hubbub and hullabaloo. With five siblings, there is always too much too much-ness.

At school, there's a new girl who is immediately popular, but she's also not very nice to one person--Isabel.

Isabel has never felt more invisible. She begins to get bombarded by fears, like being abandoned by her classmates and taking the upcoming Extremely Important standardized test. Her fears feel like worry-moths that flutter in her belly. With every passing day, they seem to get stronger and stronger. How can Invisible Isabel make people listen?

On Sale July 16

The Day's Hard Edge by José Antonio Rodríguez | POETRY

In his fourth poetry collection, José Antonio Rodríguez investigates how one constructs a relationship to the self, to community, and to poetry itself. The Day's Hard Edge is composed of three sections, the first of which situates the reader in the speaker's world, one marked by multiple forms of trauma. Here are the contours of the Texas/Mexico borderlands where the speaker's initial sense of self and community emerges. The second section broadens in scope and considers the potential and limitations of poetry as a site for meaning-making. The third section brings the speaker to a new understanding of the poem as it relates to the transformative and destabilizing experience of trauma. Ultimately this book lays bare an individual and, in doing so, shows how poetry acts as a place of succor and vulnerability for one's very identity. Together these poems explore what it means to be queer, immigrant, and Chicano.

María Mariposa by Karla Arenas Valenti | Illustrated by Ana Ramírez González | PICTURE BOOK

A gift from Mexico alights on María Mariposa's windowsill on her first day of school in a brand-new country: "¡Una mariposa!" / "A butterfly!" And with the butterfly, in comes magic. Filled from her toes to her new butterfly wings with memories of home, María knows exactly who she is. But when everything at school is different and strange, doubt begins to make María's confidence fade away. The place she comes from, the community she loves, the magic inside her . . . does any of it really belong in her new life?

With courage and compassion, this picture book confronts the most difficult moments--and feelings--of being new, sweeping readers up in a powerful celebration of the magic we each contribute to the world.

How to Eat a Mango by Paola Santos | Illustrated by Juliana Perdomo | PICTURE BOOK

Carmencita doesn't want to help Abuelita pick mangoes; she doesn't even like them! They're messy, they get stuck in her teeth, and it's a chore to throw out the rotten ones.

But Abuelita adores mangoes, and patiently, she teaches Carmencita the right way to eat them. Together, they listen to the tree's leaves, feel its branches and roots above and below, and smell and feel the sweet, smooth fruits. Each step is a meditation on everything Mamá Earth has given, and in the Earth's love, Carmencita feels the love of her Mami, her Papi, her little brother Carlitos, and of course, Abuelita.

When they finally bite in, the juice running down their arms, Carmencita understands. The mangoes are more than just mangoes... and she's ready for another!

Inspired by her own childhood in Venezuela, Paola Santos's mango-sweet story is a grounding, life-affirming take on gratitude for nature's gifts and connection with family and culture. Juliana Perdomo's cheery artwork brings Carmencita, Abuelita, and their mango tree to life with all the warmth of golden fruit under the sun.

Simultaneously released in Spanish as Cómo se come un mango.

¡Vamos! Let's Celebrate Halloween and Día de Los Muertos: A Halloween and Day of the Dead Celebration by Raúl the Third | PICTURE BOOK

Little Lobo is celebrating two big holidays this fall!

On Halloween, Little Lobo and his friends dress up in costumes, trick-or-treat for candy, and share spooky stories. Then everyone in the town prepares food, drinks, and other gifts and decorates the cemetery with ofrendas so they can enjoy Día de los Muertos with the spirits of the people they love. Join Little Lobo and his friends as they celebrate!

Full of easy-to-remember Spanish vocabulary and packed with cultural details, this colorful story of two fall holidays brings the celebrations of this border town to readers everywhere!

My Broken Language: A Theater Jawn: A Play Based on the Author's Memoir by Quiara Alegría Hudes | PLAY

Quiara Alegría Hudes' stage adaptation of her much-lauded memoir is a joyous celebration of Puerto Rican womanhood in 1990s West Philadelphia.

In this memoir-turned-play, Hudes showcases a handful of key life moments that mark subtle changes in her sense of self and her place in the world. Interlaid between these vignettes are moments of song, dance, and ritual that evoke her boisterous girlhood in a house run by the Perez women. Through this piece, we come to understand the collaborative art that was Hudes's coming of age, and the communal nature of autobiography.

You're a Good Swimmer by Christopher Rivas |Illustrated by Ariel Boroff | PICTURE BOOK

"Appropriate for preschool picture-book enthusiasts, this is also the sort of resource every middle- and high-school counselor should display prominently in their office." -- American Library Association's Booklist

Dive into the journey of life with You're A Good Swimmer, a captivating picture book that answers the age-old question: Where do babies come from?

Readers will quickly discover it's not just about the birds and the bees; it's a celebration of the astounding journey that each person takes towards their first breath.

This picture book will bring families together, engaging readers across ages as it explores the miracle of life alongside the complexity of reproduction, birth, and biology. The story reminds us that the journey to our existence is nothing short of a miracle.

With timeless and inspiring artwork alongside straightforward and lively text, You're A Good Swimmer emphasizes that taking our very first breath is the grand prize of the greatest race of all.

The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien by Oscar Hijuelos | Foreword by Gary Soto | ADULT FICTION

Irish American Nelson O'Brien fell passionately in love with the poetess Mariela Montez while photographing the ravages of battle in Mariela's native Cuba during the Spanish-American War. After marrying, they moved to the United States to start a new life, settling in a small Pennsylvania town where Nelson took over the Jewel Box Movie Theater. Together, they had a remarkable fifteen children: fourteen daughters and one lone son.

In Oscar Hijuelos's The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien, the lives, loves, and tragedies of this sprawling Irish Cuban family unfold. Over the course of a century, each member moves in and out of each other's lives, traversing Cuba, New York, California, Alaska, and Ireland, while Margarita--the Montez O'Brien's eldest daughter--ruminates on the nature of femininity, sex, love, and earthly happiness. And as Margarita learns and grows in an overwhelmingly female environment, she can't help but contrast her experiences with those of Emilio, her intensely masculine brother, whose B-movie career in the 1950s has left him adrift and frustrated, with little hope of success.

Johnny, the Sea, and Me by Melba Escobar | Illustrated by Elizabeth Builes |Translated by Sara Lissa Paulson | MIDDLE GRADE

Pedro has always dreamed of going to the sea. So when his mom takes him on a special trip to a small island in the Caribbean, he's so happy that he grows an extra inch! But the troubles at home--bullying from classmates and an absent father--find a way to follow Pedro, even on vacation... Overwhelmed, the boy takes to the beach and runs away, hoping to leave his worries far behind.

That's when he meets Johnny, an islander descended from pirates. At first, Pedro is frightened by Johnny's imposing appearance and brusque manners. But Johnny, along with his chatty parrot Victoria, takes young Pedro under his wing and shares his island and his stories with him, thereby changing Pedro's life. Because sometimes, like Pedro, you have to lose yourself to find yourself.

On Sale July 23

Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio | ADULT FICTION

When Catalina is admitted to Harvard, it feels like the fulfillment of destiny: a miracle child escapes death in Latin America, moves to Queens to be raised by her undocumented grandparents, and becomes one of the chosen. But nothing is simple for Catalina, least of all her own complicated, contradictory, ruthlessly probing mind. Now a senior, she faces graduation to a world that has no place for the undocumented; her sense of doom intensifies her curiosities and desires. She infiltrates the school's elite subcultures--internships and literary journals, posh parties and secret societies--which she observes with the eye of an anthropologist and an interloper's skepticism: she is both fascinated and repulsed. Craving a great romance, Catalina finds herself drawn to a fellow student, an actual budding anthropologist eager to teach her about the Latin American world she was born into but never knew, even as her life back in Queens begins to unravel. And every day, the clock ticks closer to the abyss of life after graduation. Can she save her family? Can she save herself? What does it mean to be saved?

Hart & Souls by Lisa Schmid |Illustrated Carolina Vazquez | MIDDLE GRADE

After getting bullied at Figueroa Elementary, Stix Hart wants nothing more than to fly below the radar at middle school. He's heard all the horror stories, but none involved ghosts.

On Stix's first day of sixth grade, his anxiety is off the charts. It doesn't help when he spots a kid who reminds him of his old bully, Xander Mack. Soon after, he encounters two other students who take a keen interest in him. He quickly learns the spooky truth--the trio are lost souls in need of a solid. When the ghosts tell him they've been stuck in middle school for decades, it's up to Stix to figure out how to help these not-so-normal new friends.

Solving this paranormal predicament will take some serious sleuthing and tremendous bravery. Can Stix solve this mystery and help these spirits move on before it's too late?

The Deading by Nicholas Belardes | ADULT FICTION

In a small fishing town known for its aging birding community and the local oyster farm, a hidden evil emerges from the depths of the ocean. It begins with sea snails washing ashore, attacking whatever they cling to. This mysterious infection starts transforming the wildlife, the seascapes, and finally, the people.

Once infected, residents of Baywood start "deading" collapsing and dying, only to rise again, changed in ways both fanatical and physical. As the government cuts the town off from the rest of the world, the uninfected, including the introverted bird-loving Blas and his jaded older brother Chango, realize their town could be ground zero for a fundamental shift in all living things.

Soon, disturbing beliefs and autocratic rituals emerge, overseen by the death-worshiping Risers. People must choose how to survive, how to find home, and whether or not to betray those closest to them. Stoked by paranoia and isolation, tensions escalate until Blas, Chango, and the survivors of Baywood must make their escape or become subsumed by this terrifying new normal.

Grow Up, Luchy Zapata by Alexandra Alessandri |MIDDLE GRADE

Luchy Zapata is starting middle school, and she's muy excited. She and her two best friends, Cami and Mateo, will finally be at the same school. Luchy and Mateo will be in art class together, and she and Cami can try out for the same soccer team! As long as they're all together, Luchy can handle anything.

But Cami has been acting weird ever since she got back from visiting family in Colombia. She's making new, "cool" friends who just seem mean. And suddenly, everything about Luchy and Mateo is too immature for her.

Luchy is determined to help Cami remember how special their friendship is. They've been BFFs their whole lives, and that can't just disappear in a poof of glitter! But...what if Cami doesn't even want to be friends anymore?

Bodega Cats: Picture Purrfect by Hilda Eunice Burgos | Illustrated by Siara Faison | MIDDLE GRADE

Miguel Rosado wants nothing more than to see and draw the world... or, at least anywhere beyond the four walls of his family's bodega in Washington Heights. Too bad his mami and papi have him working long hours after school, hoping he'll appreciate the sacrifices they've made to keep the store afloat. For street-savvy and newly-adopted cat Lolo, that sounds just perfect if it means he's far, far away from the hungry, lonely nights he once spent in the freezing cold outdoors.

But when Miguel ditches his responsibilities and lies to his parents about joining art club, his dream of juggling it all comes crashing down. Lolo will have to decide if he's willing to be there for his new friend Miguel through anything--even venturing back into the frightful outdoors and busy New York City sidewalks. Can they trust each other enough to take on this adventure together?

Unexpectedly Wed to the Heir by Lydia San Andres | ADULT FICTION

His vow?
To protect her!

After dressmaker Aura Soriana's father passes away, her home and livelihood are left on the line. With only herself to count on, she's cautious when she meets handsome Eduardo Martinez, heir to a shipping empire, and has no time for his easygoing attitude and showy gestures!

When Eduardo discovers Aura's home has been broken into, and the dangerous men pursuing her are linked to his family, the only way to keep her safe is to claim she's his fiancée! Yet if independent Aura's to meet him at the altar, Eduardo must face his past and show her she can rely on him...

When Beavers Flew: An Incredible True Story of Rescue and Relocation by Kristen Tracy |Illustrated by Luisa Uribe | PICTURE BOOK

In 1948, the town of McCall, Idaho was growing rapidly. World War II was over, and the little town tucked away in the mountains began to boom. There was only one problem. As the town expanded, they found beavers everywhere. A beaver here, a beaver there, and it didn't take long to realize that humans and beavers weren't great cohabitators. But one clever and resourceful Fish and Game Warden named Elmo Heter had an idea.

Heter knew that the beavers were integral to the wetlands, so keeping the well-being of the beavers in mind he set out to find a way to relocate them. After a few failed attempts, he finally landed on a wild idea... parachutes. Using a surplus of parachutes left over from WWII and creating a special box with air holes designed to pop open when it hit the ground, Heter devised a way to parachute the beavers into Idaho's backcountry, an area that beavers hadn't inhabited in decades.

On Sale July 30

My Mother Cursed My Name by Anamely Salgado Reyes | ADULT FICTION

For generations, the Olivares women have sought to control their daughters' destinies, starting with their names. In life, Olvido constantly clashed with her carefree daughter. Then teenage Angustias discovered she was pregnant and left her mother's home in search of her own. Ten years later, Felicitas finally meets her estranged grandmother and is terribly disappointed when Olvido is nothing like a grandmother should be. She is strict, cold, and...dead.

Now, Olvido is convinced the only way her spirit will cross over is if she resolves her unfinished business--to make sure Angustias is in a better place regarding family, job, husband, and God, but maybe not in that order--and Felicitas is the only person who can see or hear her. Heartbroken about her mother's passing and desperate to put Olvido's tiny Texas home in her rearview mirror as quickly as possible, Angustias doesn't understand why suddenly everyone in town seems to be conspiring to set her up with every eligible bachelor in town, offer her jobs, and invite her and Felicitas to church every Sunday.

Castle of the Cursed Romina Garber | YOUNG ADULT

After a mysterious attack claims the lives of her parents, all Estela has left is her determination to solve the case. Suffering from survivor's guilt so intense that she might be losing her grip on reality, she accepts an invitation to live overseas with an estranged aunt at their ancestral Spanish castle, la Sombra.

Beneath its gothic façade, la Sombra harbors a trove of family secrets, and Estela begins to suspect her parents' deaths may be linked to their past. Her investigation takes a supernatural turn when she crosses paths with a silver-eyed boy only she can see. Estela worries Sebastián is a hallucination, but he claims he's been trapped in the castle. They grudgingly team up to find answers and as their investigation ignites, so does a romance, mistrust twined with every caress.

As the mysteries pile up, it feels to Estela like everyone in the tiny town of Oscuro is lying and that whoever was behind the attack has followed her to Spain. The deeper she ventures into la Sombra's secrets, the more certain she becomes that the suspect she's chasing has already found her . . . and they're closer than she ever realized.

Ghostly, Ghastly Tales: Frights to Tell at Night by Anastasia Garcia | Illustrated by Teo Skaffa | MIDDLE GRADE

Each tale in this magical collection pulls you into a dark world of contemporary stories based on myths and legends from around the world. Haunted battlefields? Talking heads? Ghosts? Nefarious creatures in the night? Read all about spooky field trips, ghostly omens, cautionary tales, and more. Featuring stories inspired by folklore from Nigeria, the Philippines, the Caribbean, Iceland, England, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Ancient Egypt, Germany, Mexico, and the American South.

Nana Lupita and the Magic Sopita by Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz |Illustrated by Carlos Vélez | PICTURE BOOK

Luna and her little brother Sol are out to solve a mystery! They suspect that their grandmother uses magic to create her remedies because she says that she uses a "magic" ingredient.

At the beginning of the story Luna and Sol catch colds so their grandmother makes a healing soup. Luna overhears Nana singing a classic Spanish children's song about frog tails while cooking the soup, so Luna secretly thinks that frogs are the magic ingredient. The children explore the enchanted garden in search of frogs until it is time to eat, in which Nana reveals the real secret ingredient. Can you guess what it is?

This sweet semi-bilingual story includes a seek-and-find of traditional plants used in curanderismo and includes the recipe for Nana's magic soup!

Angélica and la Güira by Angie Cruz Illustrated by Luz Batista | PICTURE BOOK

Angélica has spent the summer in the Dominican Republic with her tías and primas, her grandparents, and their parrot, but soon she’ll have to say goodbye. The end of summer means returning home to start school on another shore. Before she leaves, her grandfather gives her the perfect gift. It’s something with the power to make people dance as fast as the wings of a hummingbird: a güira. Angélica falls in love with this musical instrument, though nobody shares her enthusiasm at first. “What is that sound,” they say, “pennies inside a tin cup?” But on a hot, sunny day, in the land of Washington Heights, where the frío frío woman scrapes ice for a long line of customers and the men on the corner plunk dominoes on a makeshift carboard table, Angélica shows her neighbors the power of la güira. 

Simultaneously released in Spanish as Angélica y la güira

A Terrible Place for a Nest by Sara Levine |Illustrated by Erika Meza | PICTURE BOOK

Juno and his mom have just moved into a new home, and he hates everything about it - the new school, his new classmates, his new room.

Just outside his window, Juno notices a family of mourning doves have started a nest atop the fence, and they seem to be struggling to make it work, too. Sure enough, Juno concludes this new place is a terrible place to build a nest.

But, as winter turns to spring and the doves grow, so does Juno. And while this new place may be scary and sometimes lonely, they will all make it work, together.

Lyrical and hopeful, A Terrible Place for a Nest is a tender and uplifting tale about facing new experiences with empathy and courage.

Book Review: 'Flores and Miss Paula’ by Melissa Rivero

Mother-daughter relationships can be complicated and exacerbating, yet mothers are almost always on our side. Can we, daughters, be on their side, too? Are Latina daughters the friendly ears their mothers need? Flores and Miss Paula, by Melissa Rivero, takes you to the complex relationship between first-generation immigrant parents and their American-born children. The novel is about how Flores and her mother, Paula, find a way to keep living their separate yet connected lives in the absence of Martin, Paula’s first love and husband, and Flores’ beloved father. In a narrative filled with suspense, touching moments, and well-placed lines of Spanish/English code-switching that echo the Latino universe, Flores and Miss Paula are pushed to find common ground in their different ways of loving, trusting, and being for each other.

Flores and Miss Paula is set in New York from a New Yorker Latinx perspective. It effectively captures the multicultural air from Brooklyn to Queens, including a Peruvian Independence Day celebration in Flushing Meadows Park, with its characteristic colors, aromas, flavors, and music. We walk with Paula to neighborhoods and memories, where neighbors know each other and the Latino community gathers in the park to play soccer or just chismosear. We go with Flores from the solitary fire escape stairs in Brooklyn to her work in a startup company in Manhattan, where, despite enmeshed office politics, we chat with our favorite coworker and befriend the new Latino employee. 

The novel starts with Flores finding an apology note under her father’s urn, the sacred place where superstitious Paula places her written wishes. As an only daughter now in her thirties, she trusts her economic present and future in her work in Finance, something that Paula clearly notices not working out for her daughter. But Flores doesn’t want to hear about it, much less from her mother, whom she loves but with whom she hasn’t built an intimate, trusting relationship as she had with Martin. Paula has found solace in her work at a convenience store and is trying to figure out who is she, if not a wife and a needed mother. Both mother and daughter use work as an anchor and to distract themselves from Martin's absence in their Brooklyn apartment. It’s been three years since Martin’s death, and now they are being asked to move out. Without Martin’s mediation to smooth Paula and Flores's crashing personalities, how can they find a way to keep this family of two together? 

“Melissa Rivero has written a novel in which daughter-versus-mother conflicts take an intimate, genuine, and entertaining turn. As each situation propels a memory, and as each chapter keeps you going, you see the questions the novel brings you: Can daughters listen? Can mothers understand? ”

The story is narrated from two alternating perspectives: Flores and Paula. In Flores’s chapters, the point of view is from Flores’s first person, where she describes relatable, ridiculous, and men-centered workplace uncomfortable situations and keeps us holding our breath with what’s going to happen next with the startup company and how that will affect her. Flores transmits the pressure children face to validate their parents' decision to immigrate through their achievements in life. 

Another engaging aspect is Flores's feelings of not being Peruvian enough because she wasn't born there, and her Peruvian identity is questioned because she doesn’t speak Spanish fluently: “Max was all about us meeting because Vicky was Peruana Peruana according to him—born there, like su madre, su padre, sus abuelas, sus bisabuelas, sus tatarabuelas, and so on and so forth back to the Incas or something. …. Does she speak Quechua? I remember asking, as if I did.”

Paula's chapters, on the other hand, are told in the second person, as if she’s talking in her head to Flores—maybe telling her what she can’t say face to face. But for readers, it feels like we are Flores, and we can hear our mother's inner thoughts about us, their children, but also how they feel about love and life as women. Paula does sound like a mother but surprisingly more like a woman who is able to finally ask herself what she wants to do with her life. 

Melissa Rivero has written a novel in which daughter-versus-mother conflicts take an intimate, genuine, and entertaining turn. As each situation propels a memory, and as each chapter keeps you going, you see the questions the novel brings you: Can daughters listen? Can mothers understand? Can Paula and Flores find a way to meet without a bridge to connect them among cultural and generational gaps? Since Flores and Paula are facing moving out after over thirty years from their Brooklyn apartment, filled with Martin’s memories and Flores’ only home, readers want to know what’s next now that the past is gone and the future awaits. A novel definitely in tune with life after death and immigration in ever-changing New York. 

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Natalia Chamorro, a Peruvian-born writer based in New York, brings a unique perspective to her writing as a poet, immigrant, and academic passionate about the intersection of art and activism. Her work has been featured in publications such as Latino Book Review, Contrapuntos, and Nueva York Poetry Review, among others. She holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages and Literature from Stony Brook University and has been supported by the Herstory Writers Network for her nonfiction literary writing. Her poem “Aria” was chosen for the New York City International Book Fair Anthology, followed by the publication of her debut book of poems, Reflejo escaparate, with Sudaquia Editores in 2023.

Book Review: 'The House on Biscayne Bay' by Chanel Cleeton

Content Warning: Murder and blood.

You know about it, don’t you? That old majestic, deserted house in that one neighborhood – that one that you drive past because you can’t help but be scenic - that you can’t help by stare at. It pulls you in like a whisper calling your name. Who used to live here? Why has it been abandoned? Did something happen here? 

Now imagine that house on the sunny bay in Miami, only it’s the beginning of World War II and you’re a recently arrived transplant after having lost your parents in a terrible drowning accident. And your estranged sister is the one currently living in that statuesque house. That is only just the surface of what Carmen Acosta, the eighteen-year-old just arriving from Cuba, has to scratch in The House on Biscayne Bay. 

Chanel Cleeton, famous for her binge-worthy romances, has gone gothic in her latest atmospheric novel. With two mysteries set between interwoven timelines, it is a novel that will grip you just by the name of the glamourous manor where the story takes place – Marbrisa. But for a place just as beautiful as Marbrisa, secrets, tragedy, and death hide behind her walls. After all, for all of her beauty, there is an ugly that can only come with it. 

“Cleeton has done what only a few in the mystery and thrillers genre could do for me, and that is keep me reading into the night...”

Those secrets rest with Anna Barnes, the woman who was gifted Marbrisa by her wealthy industrialist husband, Robert. Having moved to South Florida after the Great Depression, they set for a place to call home. But what is this feeling that Anna has within her about her new home? And with appearing to have it all, she only knows that one scandal can change everything. And when Carmen moves in just two decades after, can she solve all of Marbrisa’s mysteries and stop history from repeating itself, or is history just a preview of what is doomed to be repeated? 

Cleeton has done what only a few in the mystery and thrillers genre could do for me, and that is keep me reading into the night, well past my usual bedtime. With the various players that come into play throughout both timelines - and what I have learned from the various thrillers I’ve read - I really just felt like I couldn’t trust anyone. What Cleeton does best in all of her works is that she knows how to set the mood and paint a picture so vivid that you just can’t help but feel as if you’ve been transported into the story. The mix of historic Miami, the family dynamic between the sisters, and the mystery of the great manor just pulled me in. 

Besides the usual aspects that come with thrillers, one of the themes that really plays into the story is the loss of Carmen’s parents, something that I feel that Cleeton nailed perfectly. As someone who has lost a parent, I reflected very well with Carmen and her feelings. The loss of her parents was something that came out of nowhere, and because it was unexpected, she doesn’t know how to feel. A line that stuck out to me and I believe Cleeton captures all of those feelings perfectly was, “Grief is changeable, capricious, and cruel.” A simple sentence, just one that even if simple is just enough to tell the story of what the feeling is. 

With her latest novel, Chanel Cleeton has delivered. The story starts off right with a bang and before you know it, it has its hold on you with the feelings that you can’t put the book down. If you’re already a fan, you can rest assured that even if you’re not a fan of thrillers, Cleeton will not let you down, telling this story in a way that only she can. For those seeking out a beach read that will have you craving spooky season, gather up that tote bag, and let The House on Biscayne Bay grip you.  

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Joseph De La Cruz (He/Him) is an Oakland native and graduate of San Francisco State University with a major in Creative Writing. A lover of Pop music (Britney over Christina, anyday), Disney, pepperoni pizza, and iced coffee, you can find him at the romance section of any bookstore, waiting for his very own meetcute to happen. You can find him on Instagram @princetonboy915 (Yes, it is a reference to that movie!) 

Latinx Book Editors You Should Know

Contrary to popular belief, publishing is so much more than just the authors and illustrators. A whole set of people works behind the scenes to make sure we, the readers, get great books.

We wanted to spotlight these book publishing professionals, starting with editors. Continue reading for a list of Latinx editors currently accepting submissions. 

Kiara Valdez, Editor, First Second

Kiara Valdez (she/her) is an Afro-Dominican writer and an editor at First Second, Macmillan. She was born and raised in New York City and has been an avid comics reader all her life. She graduated from Williams College with a double major in English Literature and Japanese, and spends her free time reading, writing, and enjoying various hobbies.

She is only looking for graphic novels and is mostly focused on middle grade and young adult. She is open to all genres but is especially interested in magical realism, memoir, #ownvoices stories (especially those from Latinx and Black creators), and stories with LGBTQ+ characters and romance. She likes stories that feel contemporary, real, and are grounded in our world regardless of the genre. 

Find more information about her manuscript wishlist here. 

Nicole Luongo, Editor, Park Row Books

Nicole Luongo (she/her) is an editor at Park Row Books, HarperCollins. Nicole joined the Park Row team in 2021, after interning at Foundry Literary & Media, Pegasus Books, Blair Publishing, and Mango Publishing. She has a Joint Honors B.A. in English Literature and International Development, with a minor in Spanish, from McGill University. 

On the fiction side, Nicole is drawn to voice-driven, contemporary upmarket “book club” fiction featuring strong female protagonists, psychological thrillers that subvert the genre (i.e. unreliable female narrators, female perpetrators, etc.), select coming-of-age stories and select historical fiction, with an emphasis across all genres on amplifying underrepresented voices. While she doesn’t acquire genre fiction, she loves genre-adjacent fiction—speculative fiction, magical realism (especially those based on cultural folklore), feminist dystopian, etc. In the nonfiction space, Nicole is drawn to standout, accessible narrative nonfiction and compelling memoirs geared towards a female readership. 

Read her full manuscript wishlist here. 

Jenny Lopez, Assistant Editor, Sourcebooks Fire and Sourcebooks Young Readers

Jenny Lopez (she/her) is the assistant editor at Sourcebooks Fire and Sourcebooks Young Readers. She believes that stories hold so much power—to connect, to save, and to change us for the better. 

Jenny is currently looking to acquire middle grade and young adult novels and is passionate about working with BIPOC and traditionally marginalized creators. Because of her background and identities, she is especially excited to acquire stories from queer and Latinx/Latine voices!

Overall, she is interested in diverse and inclusive stories across all genres. Jenny loves stories with complex characters, immersive worldbuilding, and has a soft spot for anything speculative—especially fantasy and horror.

Read the specifics on her manuscript wishlist here. 

Nadxieli Nieto, Executive Editor, Flatiron Books

Nadxieli Nieto (she/they) is an executive editor at Flatiron Books, Macmillan. She edits literary and upmarket fiction, select nonfiction, and art books. She is also the former director of PEN America's Literary Awards and is on the board of Latinx in Publishing.

She is currently looking for upmarket and literary fiction, YA, and select nonfiction, with a focus on work by Latinx authors and BIPoC. Nadxieli is drawn to innovative, language-driven work in fiction, often with weird or speculative elements, and idea-driven, researched nonfiction on culture, feminism, immigration, and the environment. She is not currently seeking memoirs.

For more information on her manuscript wishlist, visit her website. 

Crystal Castro, Assistant Editor, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Crystal Castro (she/her) is an Assistant Editor at  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Hachette Book Group. She is currently seeking MG and YA titles for her list, specifically thrillers, mysteries, horror, fantasy, and adventure. Crystal is drawn to character-driven narratives and voicey manuscripts where she can get a sense of the main character’s personality from the first page. She is also looking for debut projects from BIPOC authors, hoping to bring more Puerto Rican voices to her imprint. 

Read her detailed manuscript wishlist here. 

Toni Kirkpatrick, Senior Acquisitions Editor, Crooked Lane Books / Alcove Press

Toni Kirkpatrick began her publishing career at St. Martin’s Press, where she worked for more than a decade acquiring crime and other commercial fiction. She joined Crooked Lane Books and Alcove Press in 2019. She serves on the board of Latinx in Publishing.

For Crooked Lane: She is looking for clever traditional mysteries that may or may not lend themselves to punny titles, grittier mysteries, noir, suspense, and thrillers. She is intrigued by crime fiction that explores social issues or moral questions.

For Alcove Press: She is looking for book club fiction that is sexy, humorous, and/or haunting. She would love to find stories that highlight contemporary women’s issues, family dynamics, friendship, motherhood, and the immigrant or multicultural experience.

Visit the Crooked Lane Books website to read more about her manuscript wishlist. 

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Elizabeth Cervantes is a proud Mexican book lover. She has a bachelor’s in Multimedia Journalism from the University of Texas at El Paso and is currently working on obtaining her master’s in Publishing at Pace University. When she is not studying and reading for her classes, you can find her crying, swooning, or locking her doors while reading children’s books, romance novels, and mysteries/thrillers.

6 Latinx Books to Read This Pride Month

Happy Pride Month! Celebrate with us by reading one of these amazing titles featuring LGBTQIA+ characters written by Latinx members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Make sure to add the rest to your TBR list to read later, because we should be reading LGBTQIA+ literature all year round. 

When We Love Someone We Sing to Them: Cuando Amamos Cantamos by Ernesto Javier Martínez|Illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez|Translated by Jorge Gabriel Martínez Feliciano

When We Love Someone We Sing to Them is a bilingual picture book about the Mexican tradition of singing to family and loved ones and a young boy who asks his father if there is a song for a boy who loves a boy. Reframing a treasured cultural tradition, this story perfectly brings tradition and inclusion into the conversation.

The One Who Loves You the Most by medina

I have never felt like I belonged to my body. Never in the way rhythm belongs to a song or waves belong to an ocean.

It seems like most people figure out where they belong by knowing where they came from. When they look in the mirror, they see their family in their eyes, in their sharp jawlines, in the texture of their hair. When they look at family photos, they see faces of people who look like them. They see faces of people who they'll look like in the future.

For me, I only have my imagination.

But I'm always trying.

Twelve-year-old Gabriela is trying to find their place in the world. In their body, which feels less and less right with each passing day. As an adoptee, in their all-white family. With their mom, whom they love fiercely and do anything they can to help with her depression. And at school, where they search for friends.

A new year will bring a school project, trans and queer friends, and a YouTube channel that help Gabriela find purpose in their journey. 

This Is Me Trying by Racquel Marie

Growing up, Bryce, Beatriz, and Santiago were inseparable. But when Santiago moved away before high school, their friendship crumbled. Three years later, Bryce is gone, Beatriz is known as the dead boy’s girlfriend, and Santiago is back.

The last thing Beatriz wants is to reunite with Santiago, who left all her messages unanswered while she drowned alone in grief over Bryce’s death by suicide. Even if she wasn’t angry, Santiago’s attempts to make amends are jeopardizing her plan to keep the world at arm’s length―equal parts protection and punishment―and she swore to never let anyone try that again.

Santiago is surprised to find the once happy-go-lucky Bea is now the gothic town loner, though he’s unsurprised she wants nothing to do with him. But he can’t fix what he broke between them while still hiding what led him to cut her off in the first place, and it’s harder to run from his past when he isn’t states away anymore.

The Luis Ortega Survival Club by Sonora Reyes 

Ariana Ruiz wants to be noticed. But as an autistic girl who never talks, she goes largely ignored by her peers—despite her bold fashion choices. So when cute, popular Luis starts to pay attention to her, Ari finally feels seen.

Luis’s attention soon turns to something more, and they have sex at a party—while Ari didn’t say no, she definitely didn’t say yes. Before she has a chance to process what happened and decide if she even has the right to be mad at Luis, the rumor mill begins churning—thanks, she’s sure, to Luis’s ex-girlfriend, Shawni. Boys at school now see Ari as an easy target, someone who won’t say no. 

Then Ari finds a mysterious note in her locker that eventually leads her to a group of students determined to expose Luis for the predator he is. To her surprise, she finds genuine friendship among the group, including her growing feelings for the very last girl she expected to fall for. But in order to take Luis down, she’ll have to come to terms with the truth of what he did to her that night—and risk everything to see justice done.

A Tiny Piece of Something Greater by Jude Sierra

Reid Watsford has a lot of secrets and a past he can’t quite escape. While staying at his grandmother’s condo in Key Largo, he signs up for introductory dive classes, where he meets Joaquim Oliveira, a Brazilian dive instructor with wanderlust. Driven by an instant, magnetic pull, what could have been just a hookup quickly deepens. As their relationship evolves, they must learn to navigate the challenges of Reid’s mental illness—on their own and with each other.

Cantoras by Carolina de Robertis

In 1977 Uruguay, a military government crushed political dissent with ruthless force. In this environment, where the everyday rights of people are under attack, homosexuality is a dangerous transgression to be punished. And yet Romina, Flaca, Anita "La Venus," Paz, and Malena—five cantoras, women who "sing"—somehow, miraculously, find one another. Together, they discover an isolated, nearly uninhabited cape, Cabo Polonio, which they claim as their secret sanctuary. Over the next thirty-five years, their lives move back and forth between Cabo Polonio and Montevideo, the city they call home, as they return, sometimes together, sometimes in pairs, with lovers in tow, or alone. And throughout, again and again, the women will be tested—by their families, lovers, society, and one another—as they fight to live authentic lives.

Cantoras is a breathtaking portrait of queer love, community, forgotten history, and the strength of the human spirit.

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Elizabeth Cervantes is a proud Mexican book lover. She has a bachelor’s in Multimedia Journalism from the University of Texas at El Paso and is currently working on obtaining her master’s in Publishing at Pace University. When she is not studying and reading for her classes, you can find her crying, swooning, or locking her doors while reading children’s books, romance novels, and mysteries/thrillers.

Book Review: ‘The Blue Mimes’ by Sara Daniele Rivera

Our memories are often stories we’ve been told or we tell ourselves. They are translations that can become mistranslated, skewed perspectives that warp as time passes. Upon losing a loved one, these unreliable recollections can transform into dark, murky waves of grief painful to wade through. In her debut collection, Sara Daniele Rivera plunges into the depths of sorrowful absence, exploring the salience of mortality, malleable memories, survival, and uncertainty that emerge in the face of earth-shattering losses. Out of the rubble rises a marvelous mosaic of bilingual, elegiac poems grounded in the physical landscapes of mountains, oceans, and deserts that The Blue Mimes illustrates. 

Beginning with poems of memory and political instability, Rivera seems to focus on the world’s fraying connections — specifically in the time between the 2016 presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic — alongside the meditation of personal rifts created by catastrophic grief. She vividly exhibits moments of hopelessness and the ways in which a bereaved person approximates their former selves at an attempt at survival. The poems often feel like puzzle pieces of fragmented memories that interlock to paint a larger story of losing family members, survival, and acceptance of the often frightening idea of death. The Blue Mimes expertly weaves a plethora of ruminations — seemingly about community during grief, cultural influence and un-belonging, the boundaries of language, migration, assimilation, separation, absence, and more — together to allow the possibility of healing. 

Rivera pens this collection with a talent for evocative imagery, surprising cleverness, and acute self-awareness. As an artist and a fiction writer, she skillfully paints beautiful scenes of natural elements and landscapes, transporting readers to the boulders, beaches, bodies of water, and various places in Albuquerque, Lima, and Havana, all equally light and dark. In an interview with reviewer Paul Semel, Rivera discusses how she kept coming across various types of absences, even those losses found in assimilation, in not remembering words and in the words that were never taught to you. “I was interested in the things we say and can’t say and choose never to say, and how we attempt to make sense of those silences,” the author wrote in the email interview. A winner of the Academy of American Poets First Book Award, The Blue Mimes is a poignant collection written through the waves of grief and during a tumultuous period in Rivera’s personal life. These are poems ultimately written in the search for resolve. 

“The Blue Mimes examines how we move on and come to terms with mortality and irrevocable change, and how to find stability, love, acceptance, and ourselves when the earth cracks open beneath us. ”

Within the caverns of these poems, Rivera seems to circle the inability to accurately describe the profundity of absence and loss despite knowing two languages. She progresses through memory and feelings of instability to arrive at an understanding of the human condition. The complexity found at the intersection of grief and Latinx identities may be the most interesting about this collection. There appears to be an overwhelming attempt to grapple with losing lineage, family history, and sense of identity upon the loss of an immigrant parent. Rivera’s poems beautifully memorialize loved ones while acknowledging the survival, self-growth, change, and continuation of life during mourning.

The Blue Mimes examines how we move on and come to terms with mortality and irrevocable change, and how to find stability, love, acceptance, and ourselves when the earth cracks open beneath us. Rivera seems to focus on accepting that we are born from struggle, loss, and hardship, carrying the archeology of our loved ones with us as the earth heals the spaces and cracks they left behind.

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Lorraine Olaya is a Colombian-American writer, editor, and poet born and raised in Queens, New York. She is a recent graduate from New York University with a B.A. in English and minors in Creative Writing and French. Often drawing inspiration from Latina writers such as Gloria Muñoz, Rio Cortez, Sandra Cisneros, and more, Lorraine’s work explores the experiences of the Latine diaspora, focusing on dual identity, culture, community, first-generation struggle, immigration, and familial love. Her poetry has been previously published in The Roadrunner Review, Laurel Moon Magazine, Drunken Boat Magazine, The Acentos Review, Esferas Undergraduate Journal, and elsewhere.

Best Books of the Year (So Far) According to Latinx in Publishing.

The halfway mark of 2024 is here! So many great books have come out this year, and we are excited to share some of our top picks as we approach summer. Be sure to add these to your TBR!

The Things We Didn't Know by Elba Iris Pérez | ADULT FICTION

"Pérez's debut novel will resonate with readers who grew up in two worlds and tried to find stability in both.  From Massachusetts to Puerto Rico and back again, her young heroine Andrea struggles with identity, gender roles, and the angst of growing up.  Not to mention family dramas galore, betrayals and prejudice for being a brown family in a white town. The writing is authentic and engrossing."

--Maria Ferrer, Events Director

Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez | ADULT FICTION

"Anita de Monte is a talented Latina artist breaking through the white, male-centered New York art world of the 1980s (inspired by the true tragic story of Cuban-born artist Ana Mendieta). Raquel Toro is a first gen Puerto Rican college student at Brown nearly two decades later. With two timelines and multiple POVs, readers will connect with these  two women facing parallel questions about who belongs and who gets to tell their stories."

--Stefanie Sanchez Von Borstel, Fellowship Director

The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez | ADULT FICTION

"This is a gorgeous, important historical novel about the construction of the Panama Canal, but more deeply about progress and humanity and where the two meet. Henríquez's prose swept me up and her characters enthralled me to the very end."

--Toni Kirkpatrick, Board Secretary

The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James | ADULT FICTION

"There are various hard-won lessons I learned in reading this sprawling family saga in the dead of winter (for Los Angeles standards), though I mentally spent most of it in the oppressive desert heat of Mexico and Texas with El Tragabalas, strapped onto a horse of some kind. This is a book that pointedly asks how -- and when -- do we pay for our ancestral sins? The Bullet Swallower almost has you believe you can outrun fate, just because there are so many close calls."

--Andrea Morales, Fellowship and Writers Mentorship Director

Author-Illustrator Interview: ‘The Mango Tree’ by Edel Rodriguez

On an island lush with plants and small homes is a towering mango tree. Two boys grasp onto its branches. They spend a lot of time in and around this tree, flying kites from it and building a birdhouse within it. They even take naps here. The mango is their constant – their happy place.

Then one day, a storm tears through the island. It uproots the mango tree, and with it one of the boys. Soon he is forced on a journey into an unfamiliar land.

From internationally renowned artist Edel Rodriguez comes The Mango Tree, a wordless picture book that is largely inspired by his own childhood experience as a Cuban immigrant. Like the boys he features in his book, Rodriguez also has a best friend named Osledy who he spent days with in a mango tree they shared back in Cuba. “The tree’s large, shady canopy became our clubhouse,” Rodriguez writes in his author’s note.

The Mango Tree itself takes on a fantastical lens – complete with sea creatures and an intriguing new home for the boy who was swept away. It is an otherworldly, curious ride.

In anticipation of his recent book release from Abrams Books for Young Readers, Rodriguez spoke with Latinx in Publishing about his real childhood best friend, the symbolism behind the mango tree, and more.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Amaris Castillo (AC): Congratulations on The Mango Tree. I understand this story was largely inspired by your childhood and the times you spent with your best friend, Osledy. Can you tell us more?

Edel Rodriguez (ER): He was my next-door neighbor. We shared what’s called a solar in Spanish; the backyard was shared by my house, his house, and my grandmother’s house. We were just always in the backyard playing, climbing trees, going on the roof or around the fields in town. We had kind of a free-for-all as kids in Cuba. Parents, at that time, just let you roam around. So at a very young age, we were going all over the place, making toys out of whatever we found. I think it did help me become a creative person, because I was very inventive from a young age. 

The interesting thing between me and him is that I was always the more careful one – or not as crazy. And Osledy was always like, ‘Let’s do that. Let’s jump off that thing. Let’s do this.’ He almost got me in trouble a few times. We’re still friends. And he’s still like that. That’s his personality.

AC: In your book we meet two boys on a small island who spend their days in a mango tree. The tree is their constant. They eat the mangoes, fly kites from atop the tree and more. Does the mango tree symbolize anything to you in this story?

ER: It’s something that has roots, so it has that feel of the roots of our friendship. It’s something that grew with us, and then at some point I had to leave. So I floated away. [In the book] it’s a planter where the tree grew, but then it becomes a boat where I get pushed out to sea and I leave the country.

But it’s like our home. It’s the idea that you have to leave behind or be separated by things that are out of your control. Once I left Cuba, I tried to stay in touch with him as much as possible. He’s still my best friend. We didn’t see each other for 14 years, so we stayed in touch through letters. But it was this one time where we had sort of this idyllic place that we hung out in. And after that, it all kind of ended after I left. And after the storm happened [in the book], we never really had that again. 

So I was trying to encapsulate that feeling when you have a special place with your best friend. Sometimes it’s a very small window of time, and then you either grow up or you leave, or something happens that changes that. But for some time, it was like our own little private club where we could just have fun.

“Part of what I like about the idea that it’s wordless is that kids have to figure out the book as it goes along. And they themselves become active in figuring out the puzzle of what’s going to happen next as they’re looking at it.”

AC: One of the boys is swept away in a storm and lands in a place that’s unfamiliar to him. It made me think about how change arrives in a child’s life. But children are so resilient. What does this change mean to your character?

ER: Part of what I like about the idea that it’s wordless is that kids have to figure out the book as it goes along. And they themselves become active in figuring out the puzzle of what’s going to happen next as they’re looking at it. For me, when I left Cuba it was very abrupt. We were just having a regular day. Everything was fine. And then suddenly, my parents decided we gotta get out of here. And from one day to the next, I basically lost my best friend. So I wanted to get that across: change can happen very fast. 

But then once you arrive in a new place, you try to look around you and use the tools that you know to adapt to whatever that place is. Especially kids, as you said, are very good at that. I did it by drawing things when I arrived in the United States. I couldn’t speak, so I would just draw what I wanted or what I wanted to say. In the book, this boy arrives with this mango and he shares it with the other kids as, ‘This is what I know.’ And then you start conversations, and the other kids give you something of theirs. Here in the United States, a lot of times it was toys. Someone that was from here would give me a Superman figure and I would say, ‘What is this? I don’t know what this is.’ I’d never seen Superman until I arrived here. So kids have conversations in that way.

AC: I did want to ask about your book being wordless. What was it like to approach the story this way? 

ER: You know when you’re in a place with your best friend often, you don’t really talk? You’re just kind of doing things, and there’s sort of a conversation that happens just by activities. Especially when you’re a kid, you’re not having deep conversations. You’re just having fun. And especially when you’re up on a tree, or in a jungle, you’re of like living in that space. It’s actually a very quiet place. So I wanted to create a book that did that. 

I had just written a graphic novel and I wanted to do something different – totally the other way. At first I considered having text through the pages and I had some text throughout. At some point I took it off, and the book became more magical when I did that. So I called my editor and I said, ‘You know, I think this is better without words.’ It felt even more special because you almost feel like you’re looking into the lives of these two little children, rather than reading about them. 

Generally when you’re reading something, the book is telling you what’s going on. Here you feel like you’re hovering above the jungle, just looking into these little kids playing and trying to figure out what it is that they’re doing. And eventually, every time you flip the page, you go ‘Oh, that’s what’s going on.’ And it makes you want to keep on going to try to figure out what the puzzle is. Whereas when you have the words, it’s telling you. So what I decided to do is basically take a lot of the text I had written and put it as the afterword at the end, so people get a bit more context about what was happening.

AC: You are an artist whose work has been exhibited internationally. Can you talk about how you approached your art for young readers in The Mango Tree? What, if anything, did you do differently?

ER: I remember when I arrived in this country, one of the first books that I remember reading was James and the Giant Peach [by Roald Dahl]. I didn’t really speak that much English, but I learned from it. And one of the things I liked about that book was this idea of adventure. That this kid is on a peach floating around [Laughs]. I’m like, I want to make something that would give kids that feeling that I got from that book. That you don't know what's going to happen next. Something crazy could happen. And that the kids themselves are running the show without any parental figure telling them what to do. I really like that. Often in children’s books there’s a lot of the relationship between the parent and the kids. And in this book, there are no parents. So that’s kind of fun. I always felt that it would be fun for a kid to open a book and they just see themselves. 

Also, a book that would have no relation to what our reality is here in America, in New York City, or in American cities. I wanted to create a bit of a fantasy world, especially as you go through the book and you get towards the end. It’s a total different planet, almost. Right with the plants and exotic things and trees. So something that felt a bit otherworldly I wanted to create for the readers.

AC: What are you hoping readers take away from The Mango Tree?

ER: It’s about friendship. It’s the idea that friendships are important – friendships that you develop at a very young age, not friendships on the internet or social media, but actual people you spend time with and grow up with and just stay connected to. I’ve been friends with Osledy since I was a little kid. All through our life together, whenever I needed something for my family back in Cuba, he resolved it. He figured it out for my grandmother, whoever was left behind. Whenever his family needed something, I would help him out with that. He’s now in Miami, actually, with his family. 

Those are the connections that help you get through life; this idea that you treasure the people that you know and the friendships that you have. That’s how we get through life and we move forward. And hopefully the book has a bit of that. And also to not be afraid of something new, of a new place.

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Image by Deborah Feingold

Edel Rodriguez is a Cuban American artist and author who has exhibited internationally with shows in Los Angeles, Toronto, New York, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Spain. He has received the Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators and for many years was the art director of TIME magazine. Books he has illustrated include Song for Jimi: The Story of Guitar Legend Jimi Hendrix by Charles R. Smith Jr., Float Like a Butterfly by Ntozake Shange, Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy, and Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx/La juez que crecio en el Bronx by Jonah Winter. Throughout his career, Rodriguez has received commissions to create artwork for numerous clients, including The New York Times, TIME magazine, The New Yorker, and many other publications and book publishers. Rodriguez’s artwork is in the collections of a variety of institutions, including the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, as well as in numerous private collections. He lives with his wife and daughter in New Jersey.

Amaris Castillo is an award-winning journalist, writer, and the creator of Bodega Stories, a series featuring real stories from the corner store. Her writing has appeared in La Galería Magazine, Aster(ix) Journal, Spanglish Voces, PALABRITAS, Dominican Moms Be Like… (part of the Dominican Writers Association’s #DWACuenticos chapbook series), and most recently Quislaona: A Dominican Fantasy Anthology and Sana, Sana: Latinx Pain and Radical Visions for Healing and Justice. Her short story, “El Don,” was a prize finalist for the 2022 Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writers’ Prize by the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival. She is a proud member of Latinx in Publishing’s Writers Mentorship Class of 2023 and lives in Florida with her family.

Author Q&A: Barrio Rising: The Protest That Built Chicano Park by María Dolores Águila

In Barrio Rising: The Protest That Built Chicano Park, a girl named Elena is walking with her mom to their local tiendita for some masa and corn husks. On the way, they bump into a neighbor who has sketched the Coronado Bridge stretching over the bay from Barrio Logan – one of San Diego’s older Mexican American communities. A diesel truck passing by leaves behind clouds of dust.

Later, as they pass by a junkyard and get barked at by dogs, Elena’s mother stops and says, “Be brave, Elena – sé valiente.”

It’s this bravery that Elena and her community must later channel when they discover that the park they had been promised by the city would instead become a California Highway Patrol station. Barrio Rising is a historical fiction picture book about one community’s twelve-day land occupation and resistance in April 1970 that led to the creation of a colorful park below criss-crossing freeway overpasses. Written by debut author María Dolores Águila and illustrated by Magdalena Mora, the duo beautifully captures the fight and tremendous heart of an often-ignored community. Barrio Rising will be released on June 18 from Dial Books for Young Readers. Its Spanish version – El barrio se levanta: La protesta que construyó el Parque Chicano – was translated by David Bowles and will be released simultaneously.

Águila, a Chicana poet and writer from San Diego, grew up a few miles from Chicano Park – which features Chicano murals, sculptures, picnic tables and playgrounds. “And I always passed by the murals (in the park), but I never connected how and why they got there,” she told Latinx in Publishing. “It just never occurred to me.”

Then one day, a mural caught Águila’s eye. What followed was a years-long obsession to learn everything she could about Chicano Park. The fruits of that research and curiosity would eventually form Barrio Rising: The Protest That Built Chicano Park.

Ahead of the book’s release, Latinx in Publishing spoke with Águila about the inspiration behind Barrio Rising, what it was like to portray an ignored community on the page, and more.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Amaris Castillo (AC): Congratulations on Barrio Rising. What inspired you to write this story?

María Dolores Águila (MDÁ): That’s one of the questions that I get the most and I think it’s one of the hardest to answer, because I can’t tell you a singular reason of why I wrote the story. The short answer would be that I live less than five miles away from Chicano Park and I’ve lived here for the majority of my life. I’ve driven by Chicano Park thousands of times. My father worked in the tuna canneries when they were there in Barrio Logan. I used to go to the community health center there. And I always passed by the murals, but I never connected how and why they got there. It just never occurred to me. 

My mother-in-law lives in Barrio Logan and one day we were driving by (the park). And for some reason, the mural of Laura Rodriguez caught my eye. I don’t know why. It sparked something. I looked up her story, which was incredible by the way. Her entire story is like a real-life Cinderella, mariposa del barrio story. After that, it became like an obsession. For close to half a decade, I chased down every scrap of information that I could find about Chicano Park by visiting the park, going to the events, listening to speakers, watching movies. When I finally had a full understanding, it was like, Oh, my God. I have to write about this. People should know what happened here.

In a lot of ways, I wrote it for myself, because I’m a Chicana kid that grew up next to Chicano Park that didn’t know how to get there. After I figured out what had transpired, I was like, No. This has to be a story. People have to know. The world has to know what happened. Because I feel so often, as Latinas in the United States, we’re made to seem like we don’t have a history – that we’re very recent arrivals. But that’s not true. We have a very long history, and there have been a lot of things in our community that people have fought for but they’ve been buried.

AC: In your book we meet two Barrio Logan residents -- a mother and daughter -- walking near the Coronado Bridge. Almost immediately, readers can detect that this area is neglected. What was it like to portray an ignored community on the page for young readers?

MDÁ: For me, it was just portraying my own lived experience. I live in National City, which is directly south of Barrio Logan, and we have many of the same issues. We have the same issues of air pollution and heavy industry mixed in with residential areas. And even though I live in a bayfront community and Barrio Logan is a bayfront community – we’re literally on the bay – we really don’t have beach access. So this is something that I’ve lived. It wasn’t something that I had to really dig deep to find.

“Our stories are still meaningful, still beautiful, and still worthy, even if the institutions around us have not been supporting us the way that they should have. ”

When I see other people that haven’t lived that kind of experience, they tend to portray those communities as just simply downtrodden – like there’s no glimmer of hope. The one thing that I did want to portray is that these communities have grown roses in concrete. Our stories are still meaningful, still beautiful, and still worthy, even if the institutions around us have not been supporting us the way that they should have. There’s still a lot of joy and beauty. Even though the area and the schools might not be great, there’s still a lot of really great things about where I live and about Barrio Logan. I think Magdalena did a lot of the heavy lifting with the illustrations in that aspect.

AC: You beautifully capture a close-knit Mexican American community throughout the book with your text with Spanish sprinkled in, and illustrator Magdalena Mora, like you just mentioned, with her gentle illustrations featuring parts of the culture like food. What was it like working with Magdalena? Were there specific suggestions you had for her to portray this time in the community’s history accurately?

MDÁ: I was actually really hands off because I wanted Magdalena to bring her own vision without me influencing it, as much as possible. I was beyond honored that Magdalena agreed to collaborate on Barrio Rising with me because her body of work is really incredible. I think the amazing thing about picture books is how two artistic mediums come together – the words and the art – to tell a singular story. My editor, Rosie Ahmed from Dial, did ask me if there were any particular images that I liked. And I did send her some. There was one of a girl holding a pickaxe. She was a young girl. And I don’t know why that image stuck with me. I sent it to Rosie, who sent it to Magdalena.

I just stayed hands off as much as possible because I wanted her to do her thing, and bring what she has to bring to the story. I pretty much wrote the story without outside influence, and I wanted Magdalena to have that freedom without me hovering around. When I finally saw the art, I knew that I had made the right decision because she brought in things that I hadn’t even thought of – things that would have never occurred to me because my brain doesn’t work that way. I was just so happy when I saw the illustrations.

AC: Even though this is a fictionalized account of the story behind San Diego's Chicano Park, you feature real residents and even a local councilman who played key roles in its creation. What was your research like while working on this book?

MDÁ: I love to do research, so for me it’s always like the most enjoyable part of the process. I did the usual things: I hunted down newspaper articles, I read academic articles, I read books. I read the applications that they filled out to make Chicano Park a cultural heritage site. And Chicano Park themselves have a website, so I read all that. 

In my research, I had come across this thesis entitled “Singing the Great Depression: Mexican and Mexican American Perspectives Through Corridos” by Michelle Salinas, where she describes how Mexican and Mexican American communities have traditionally expressed information and history through alternative mediums like songs and art. So I did all the usual things, but I also listened to songs. There’s a song called “Chicano Park Samba” by Los Alacranes Mojados and they sing about the history of Chicano Park. There’s also two murals at the park called La Tierra Mia and Chicano Park Takeover, and that has the history in images. So I studied those as well.

AC: What are you hoping readers take away from Barrio Rising?

MDÁ: More than anything, I want young readers to find power within themselves and their communities. I want them to know that Latine communities have a long history of resistance and resilience, and that together we can accomplish our wildest dreams. I want them to see themselves in Elena and I want them to be inspired to make the changes that we need in our communities.

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María Dolores Águila is a Chicana poet and writer from San Diego, California. Deeply inspired by Chicane history and art, she seeks to write empowering and inclusive stories about everything she learns. She also loves drinking coffee, browsing the bookshelves at her local library, and spending time with her family.

Magdalena Mora is an illustrator, designer, and art educator based in Minneapolis and Chicago. Her work has been recognized by The New York Times, The American Library Association, and The Chicago Public Library, among others.

Amaris Castillo is an award-winning journalist, writer, and the creator of Bodega Stories, a series featuring real stories from the corner store. Her writing has appeared in La Galería Magazine, Aster(ix) Journal, Spanglish Voces, PALABRITAS, Dominican Moms Be Like… (part of the Dominican Writers Association’s #DWACuenticos chapbook series), and most recently Quislaona: A Dominican Fantasy Anthology and Sana, Sana: Latinx Pain and Radical Visions for Healing and Justice. Her short story, “El Don,” was a prize finalist for the 2022 Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writers’ Prize by the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival. She is a proud member of Latinx in Publishing’s Writers Mentorship Class of 2023 and lives in Florida with her family.