HOUSTON, TX May 2018—Larissa Mercado-López’s bilingual picture book, Esteban de Luna, Baby Rescuer! / Esteban de Luna, ¡rescatador de bebés!, has been recognized as an Honor Book in the 2018 Paterson Prize for Book for Young People. Books published for children and young adults in 2017 were eligible for the Paterson Prize, awarded by the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College in Paterson, New Jersey. For thirty-seven years, the center has garnered international recognition for many of its activities including the Distinguished Poets Series, the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards, the Paterson Poetry Prize, the Paterson Fiction Prize and the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People. In Larissa Mercado-López’ debut, a kind and compassionate boy learns he can be a superhero even without supernatural powers. Esteban wears his green cape every day. The only problem is that it doesn’t do anything: it doesn’t help him fly or make him …
Debut Author’s Novel Soars!
HOUSTON, TX May 2018—Diana J. Noble’s historical novel for teens, Evangelina Takes Flight, was selected for inclusion in the Texas Library Association’s 2018-2019 Spirit of Texas Reading List. The Spirit of Texas Reading Program-Middle School is a recommended reading list developed by public and school librarians from the TLA’s Young Adult Round Table (YART). The purpose of the list is to encourage kids in grades 6-8 to explore a variety of current, quality books from Texas authors and illustrators, develop critical reading skills and to encourage greater interaction between Texas authors and illustrators, Texas librarians and Texas youth. Named a Junior Library Guild Selection, Diana J. Noble’s moving young adult debut introduces teens to the tumultuous times of the Mexican Revolution and the experiences of immigrants, especially Mexican Americans, as they adjust to a new way of life. In the summer of 1911, thirteen-year-old Evangelina and her family are forced to …
Book Featuring Young Puerto Rican Detective Shines!
HOUSTON, TX May 2018—Alidis Vicente’s bilingual “flip” book for intermediate readers, The Case of the Three Kings / El caso de los Reyes Magos, was selected for inclusion in the 2018-2019 Tejas Star Reading List. The Tejas Star Reading List (TSRL) is developed to encourage children ages 5-12 to explore multicultural books and to discover the cognitive and economic benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism. Sponsored by the Texas Library Association, the TSRL is intended for recreational reading and not to support a specific curriculum. In the second installment of Alidis Vicente’s bilingual series, The Flaca Files / Los expedientes de Flaca, a spunky young Latina investigates the suspicious logistics of Three Kings Day while on vacation with her family. Flaca, or Detective Flaca as she prefers to be called, is not at all pleased with the airline tickets to Puerto Rico she and her sister are given for Christmas. She …
Author on the Airwaves: Gwendolyn Zepeda
Arte Público Press Author Gwendolyn Zepeda featured on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Zepeda for its website’s “Arte Público Press Authors” feature, and along with the transcript, their conversation is available to listeners on the station’s interactive site through on-demand audio streaming here. Click here to see all Arte Público authors featured on Houston Public Media. About the Author: GWENDOLYN ZEPEDA is the author of five bilingual picture books for children: Maya and Annie on Saturdays and Sundays / Los sábados y domingos de Maya y Annie (Piñata Books, 2018); Level Up / Paso de nivel (Piñata Books, 2012); I Kick the Ball / Pateo el balón (Piñata Books, 2011); Growing Up with Tamales / Los tamales de Ana (Piñata Books, 2008), a 2009 Charlotte Zolotow Award Highly Commended Title; and Sunflowers / Girasoles (Piñata Books, 2009), winner of the Texas Institute of Letters’ Austin Public Library …
Add Latinx Voices to Your Poetry Collection!
This April, celebrate National Poetry Month by introducing a child to the many forms of poetry, convincing reluctant teen readers to try a poem each day or by starting a stimulating discussion among friends through poetry that blends the aesthetic and the political. Poetry is for everyone! For Children: Agua, Agüita / Water, Little Water by Jorge Argueta, illustrated by Felipe Ugalde Alcántara From its birth deep in Mother Earth, Little Water climbs to the surface, passing through roots and rocks, light and darkness. Finally, the tiny bead of water makes it to the top and rests, “a sigh of morning dew,” hanging on “the tips of leaves / on spider webs / or on the petals / of flowers.” The droplet becomes a river, a lake, an ocean, ultimately climbing to the sky and turning into a cloud. Then, “drop by drop / I return singing / to our Mother Earth. …
Author Honored With Courage to Act Award
HOUSTON, TX March, 2018—Author Jorge Argueta has been named the recipient of the 2018 Courage to Act Board Award given by the California Association for Bilingual Education. The California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote biliteracy, educational equity and 21st-century success for students with diverse cultural, racial and linguistic backgrounds. Its Board of Directors made the unanimous decision to recognize Jorge Argueta for his passionate poetry and writings for bilingual children’s books, his ongoing readings, teachings and storytellings and his effort to ensure that books are made available to children who may not otherwise have access to them through his Library of Dreams / La Biblioteca de los Sueños in El Salvador. The award will be presented at the Seal of Excellence Banquet in Sacramento, California on Friday, March 30, 2018, as part of the annual CABE Conference. His new trilingual picture book, …
Picture Book Honored with Inaugural Award
HOUSTON, TX February, 2018—Jorge Argueta’s new trilingual picture book, Agua, Agüita / Water, Little Water, is the winner of the inaugural Campoy-Ada Award in Children’s Poetry given by the Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española. The Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española seeks to encourage the study and proper usage of Spanish in the United States. It created the Campoy-Ada award to honor renowned authors F. Isabel Campoy and Alma Flor Ada for their contributions to the strengthening of the Spanish language and the dissemination of Latino culture in the United States. The award recognizes works that stand out for originality, literary and artistic execution and excellent use of the language. The awards ceremony will be held during the National Latino Children’s Literature conference at The University of Texas-San Antonio Downtown (501 W César E Chávez Blvd, San Antonio, TX 78207) on Saturday, February 24, 2018. With stunningly beautiful illustrations by …
Author on the Airwaves: José B. González
Arte Público Press Author José B. González featured on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Chacón for its website’s “Arte Público Press Authors” feature, and along with the transcript, their conversation is available to listeners on the station’s interactive site through on-demand audio streaming here. Click here to see all Arte Público authors featured on Houston Public Media. About the Author: JOSÉ B. GONZÁLEZ was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, and immigrated to New London, Connecticut, at the age of eight. He is the author of the poetry collection, Toys Made of Rock (2015), based on his journey from a non-English speaker to a professor of English. He is the coeditor (with John S. Christie) of Latino Boom: An Anthology of US Latino Literature (2006). A nationally known speaker, González has presented at various colleges all over the world and at institutions including the National Smithsonian Museum of African Art …
EVANGELINA TAKES FLIGHT and Wins Big!
HOUSTON, TX March 2018—Diana J. Noble’s historical debut novel for young adults, Evangelina Takes Flight, is the recipient of several awards: the 2018 Tejas Foco YA Fiction Award given by the National Association for Chicana/o Studies, the 2017 June Franklin Naylor Award for the Best Book for Children on Texas History from the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and it was a runner-up for the Texas Institute of Letters’ 2018 H-E-B Award for Best Young Adult Book. The Tejas Foco Fiction Awards recognize outstanding works of fiction or young adult fiction that best represent a significant topic related to Mexican-American experience in Texas. The National Association for Chicana/o Studies (NACCS) is the academic organization that serves academic programs, departments and research centers that focus on issues pertaining to Mexican Americans, Chicana/os, and Latina/os. The June Franklin Naylor Award for the Best Book for Children on Texas History is given …
Apply for a Dissertation Fellowship in US Latino Literature
The Center for Mexican American Studies Is Now Accepting Applications for a Dissertation Fellowship in US Latino Literature Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, 2018-2019 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS The Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Houston is now accepting applications for the IUPLR/Mellon Fellowship Program (academic year 2018-19) funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The program supports doctoral students in the humanities who are writing dissertations in Latina/o studies. The fellowship at the University of Houston specifically supports doctoral students writing their dissertation on a theme related to US Latino Humanities. The fellowship facilitates completion of the dissertation and provides professional development, writing support, and mentoring from Latina/o faculty members. The fellowship includes a $25,000 stipend, participation in an intensive summer institute in Chicago, and professionalization and writing workshops and programs. For more information about the program, please see the program website: https://iuplr.uic.edu/iuplr/mellon-fellows-program Eligibility Applicants are required …