https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYu2u1ctfOg

By Sujei Lugo & Dr. Sonia Alejandra Rodríguez By now, we are all familiar with the various conversations about the need for children of color and Native children to see themselves represented in the stories they read. However, not many know that these discussions, as they pertain to Latinx children, have been taking place since … Continue reading The Pura Belpré Award: Continuing Belpré’s Legacy of Lighting the Storyteller’s Candle–Part 1

Susan Guevara won the Pura Belpré award for illustration in 1996 and 2001 for her work with Gary Soto in Chato’s Kitchen (1995) and Chato and the Party Animals (2000). Soto introduces readers to the coolest cat in the East Los barrio. In Chato’s Kitchen, Chato plans an elaborate scheme to get some delicious ratoncitos … Continue reading Susan Guevara Illustrations Review

Don’t know what to read for #readathon2016? Check out 5 Latinx YA Novels I’ve binged read! The books aren’t listed in any particular order. I’ve included them because of their binge-worthy factor—that is, I read these Latinx novels in like a day because they are super fabulous. These novels have intriguing storylines, relatable characters, and … Continue reading 5 Binge-Worthy Latinx YA Novels

Downtown Boy by Juan Felipe Herrera (Scholastic Press, 2005) Juanito Palomar is new to San Francisco. He moved there from the central valley after his father had to go away. Herrera’s historical novel in verse is set in the 1950s and follows Juanito through the trials and tribulations of being a young man of color. … Continue reading 5 Must Read Latinx YA Novels in Verse

“Before you go further,/ let me tell you what a poem brings,/ first, you must know the secret,/ there is no poem/ to speak of, it is a way to attain/ a life without boundaries” — from “Let Me Tell You What a Poem Brings by Juan Felipe Herrera I have been teaching creative writing … Continue reading Poetry in the Lives of Children and Young Adults

I've partnered up with the School Library Journal to give a 30 second book talk on English and Spanish editions of middle-grade books about Latinx experiences. Check out the first video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFFsU0MIasQ

In the last weeks that I have been re-reading Daniel Jose Older’s Shadowshaper (2015) the media has been on a frenzy talking about the terrorists attacks in Paris, the horrible video of Laquan McDonald being shot several times by a Chicago cop, and the San Bernardino shootings. Turning on the news or scrolling through Facebook feels … Continue reading Shadowshaper: Art Can Change the World

The notes from his harmonica carried us from poem to poem as he recounted stories of his childhood and brought us to the present and the tragic realities of Ayotzinapa and Sandy Hook. On October 7th, 2015 Juan Felipe Herrera, the first Latino US Poet Laureate, read from his most recent book of poems, Notes … Continue reading Life-Changing Teachers: On Juan Felipe Herrera’s Reading in Chicago

I’m guilty of always saying “I’m okay,” even when I know I am not. Often times, it seems easier to lie than to explain the depths of what hurts. It also seems more appropriate to suck it up than to admit I’m not as strong as I appear. Saying “I’m okay” when I am not … Continue reading “I’m okay”: Resilience & Depression in Cindy L. Rodriguez’s When Reason Breaks