I’m so delighted to reveal that my debut picture book My Two Border Towns will be out next summer from Penguin Random House’s Kokila imprint … featuring the amazing art of Erika Meza. Huge shout out to my agent, Taylor Martindale Kean, and my editor, Joanna Cárdenas.
I was delighted to learn that They Call Me Güero has been selected as a 2020-2021 nominee for the South Carolina Children’s Book Award.
March 3, 2019—“Facing Obstacles with Determination.” Panel at the Tucson Book Festival. University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. March 29, 2019—“On Writing, Voice, and Courage: A Conversation with Walter Honorees,” a symposium on diverse children’s literature. Part of the Walter Dean Myers Award Ceremony. Library of Congress, Washington D.C. Texas Library…
At the Texas Book Festival, the Texas Library Association (TLA) announced the twenty books that made it onto the curated Bluebonnet List. They Call Me Güero was one of the lucky titles! Each year, 20 books are chosen for the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List. Many schools and libraries around…
My book They Call Me Güero has been awarded a White Raven! That means it’s been selected by the very prestigious International Youth Library Foundation for inclusion in their annual catalogue of recommended titles for international children’s & youth literature: 200 books in 37 languages from 59 countries. They Call…
I’m delighted to announce that They Call Me Güero was selected as one of the National Endowment of the Arts Read Across America titles for middle-grade readers! I’m especially proud and excited to be part of the project’s mission, to “motivate kids to read and celebrate the diversity in their…
Rosario Castellanos was an influential Mexican poet who wrote this piece after the government massacre of students and other protesters in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in the Tlatelolco section of Mexico City. The poem made its way into Elena Poniatowska’s book on the massacre. The third stanza was…
I delivered the following speech at the American Librarian Association’s annual conference in Washington, DC, as part of the Pura Belpré Celebración on June 23rd, after accepting the Belpré Author Honor for They Call Me Güero. Soy fronterizo. A child of the borderlands. Home is Donna, Texas, right across the…
The Texas Institute of Letters just announced the winners of its literary prizes. I won both the MG and YA awards (which is the first time in TIL history that a single author has taken them both). They Call Me Güero got the Jean Flynn Award for Best Middle Grade Book Award…
I’m overjoyed to announce that They Call Me Güero has been selected for the 2019 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award. About the Award From the website: “Texas State University College of Education developed the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award to honor authors and illustrators who create literature that depicts…
