On February 7, 2022, I participated in "Dialogues,” Chatham's annual conversation around socially relevant themes. This year featured the theme HOME and was hosted by City of Asylum.
I read and talked with Malcolm Friend and Adriana Ramirez, about our work and Sandra Cisneros’ "The House on Mango Street," a seminal text in the exploration of home.
“Choosing a college can present a stressful challenge for any young person. When you’re the first generation in your family to continue your education after high school, that process, while exciting, can be even more difficult to navigate. A Pittsburgh-based author explores this idea in a new book that draws on her own life as a child of immigrants.”
Click to read my interview with Pittsburgh City Paper!
This beautiful starred (!!!) review from School Library Journal makes me tear up every time I read it!
And Lulu and Milagro made SLJ’s "Seven Not-to-Miss 2022 YA Books with Latinx Protagonists"!
Lulu and Milagro is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard pick! The Junior Library Guild is a library organization that gets books in the hands of librarians across the country, and I’m so grateful for this honor!
This means so much to me, especially when I think about the sheer number of hours I’ve spent in the library. My sister and I would get dropped off at the library after the school, and we’d spend hours reading and quietly doing homework until our parents got off work. It felt magical – I could read any book I wanted (mostly Sweet Valley High spinoffs) and I always had first dibs on the newest releases. I wish I could go back and tell my younger self that one day, I’d get to see my own book on the shelves.
I was thrilled to participate in City of Asylum’s incredible Latinx & Proud! reading series. I read alongside some supremely talented poets and musicians. Check it out below!
Last December, I was Blick’s featured artist of the weekend! I led a watercolor postcard demo for holiday shoppers and got to make some fun art in the process.
