The Latinx Kidlit Book Festival Podcast

Join Latinx Kidlit Festival co-founders Mayra Cuevas, Ismée Williams and Alex Villasante for morning announcements, classroom set of books giveaways and details on how to apply for our new author and illustrator school visits fund. They will be joined by special guest, NPR’s Latino USA host, award-winning journalist and author Maria Hinojosa. Mayra will be in conversation with María about her new book for young readers Once I Was You , Finding My Voice and Passing the Mic.

About María:

Maria Hinojosa dreamt of a space where she could create independent, multimedia journalism that explores and gives a critical voice to the diverse American experience. She made that dream a reality in 2010 when she created Futuro Media, an independent, nonprofit newsroom based in Harlem, NYC with the mission to create multimedia content from a POC perspective. As Anchor and Executive Producer of the Peabody Award-winning show Latino USA, distributed by PRX, and Co-Host of Futuro Media’s award-winning political podcast In The Thick, Hinojosa has informed millions about the changing cultural and political landscape in America and abroad. Maria's seven-part podcast series, "Suave," won the Pulitzer Prize for audio reporting in 2022.

In this special craft workshop, picture book authors e.E. Charlton-Trujillo and Mirelle Ortega lead students on a journey to creating their own picture books.

Bring paper, writing and illustrating materials to follow along.

Stressed about your debut book release? You are not alone! These authors have been in the trenches and survived to share their tales.

In this publishing panel, brought to you by The Authors Guild, Claribel A. Ortega, Amparo Ortiz, Adriana Hernandez Bergstrom, and M. Garcia Pena/Mia Garcia give you a behind-the-scenes look at:

• release publicity strategies that worked (and the ones that did not)
• pre-order campaigns
• the social media conundrum
• launch events
• book events and school visits
• what happens when your publisher is not involved
• what to do when your book doesn’t sell as expected
• how to handle rejection for following books
• keeping your peace of mind!

This event is brought to you by The Authors Guild.

oin us for Latinx KidLit Book Festival's FIRST ever virtual book club! Meg Medina joins Alexandra Villasante and students from York Academy, York PA to chat all things Merci Suarez Plays It Cool, writing, and more.

Join authors Anika Fajardo (Meet Me Halfway) and Jennifer Torres (Lola Out Loud) as they discuss how writers draw inspiration from favorite books and movies and use those to tell a NEW story all of their own. Bring your notebook or laptop and come ready to write!

A conversation between award-winning author Pam Muñoz Ryan and acclaimed illustrator Jacqueline Alcántara. Moderated by Latinx Kidlit Book Festival co-founder Ismée Williams.

In this bootcamp for writers, Muñoz Ryan and Alcántara discuss how to enrich stories with multicultural elements to create books that offer authentic representation of ourselves and our communities. They will explore how authors and illustrators can add cultural nuance and depth to create a world where readers can see themselves.

This event is brought to you by SCBWI.

Past NCTE President Alfredo Celedón Luján and Co-Chair of the NCTE Latinx Caucus, Tracey Flores, talk with award-winning author Ruth Behar about their experiences as educators working to free students to write about their ethnicities, accents, home languages, and identities, whatever they are. They discuss the use of Spanglish, tactical run-on sentences, magical realism, non-linear plots, and more to make fascinating classroom storytelling that doesn't follow all the "rules."

Join these award-winning and debut picture book authors for an interactive read aloud! Grab a pillow and a blanket and snuggle in! With Anika Aldamuy Denise (Phenomenal AOC: The Roots and Rise of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), Cynthia Harmony (Mi Ciudad Sings), Michael Genhart (May Your Life Be Deliciosa), Anna Orenstein- Cardona (The Tree of Hope: The Miraculous Rescue of Puerto Rico’s Beloved Banyan) and, Mariana Ríos Ramírez (Santiago's Dinosaurios).

Short and sweet (or sometimes horrifying), when a writer takes on a short story, what are the best craft practices for making the characters, plot, and tying it all up? How does an author make their shirt story just as impactful as a novel?

Join authors Ari Tison, Maika Moulite, Camille Gomez-Tavarez and Margarita Longoria in a conversation with Anna Meriano all about short stories: from writing them to what makes them so great.

Comics and graphic novels represent a more than $1.28 billion market. Their popularity can be an asset in the classroom. Join educator and Library Services Coordinator in Leander, Texas, Becky Calzada as she talks to authors Jose Pimienta (Twin Cities) and Amanda Castillo (Mapmakers and the Lost Magic) about the power of the visual narrative in aiding reading comprehension and fostering a love of literacy. Authors will also discuss how their stories have helped to combat the disparities in representation in the middle-grade graphic novel space. Bring your questions for a lively discussion!

Educators in attendance can sign up to receive a professional development certificate via email.

This event is sponsored by Random House Children's Books.

Stories that celebrate the wondrous, fantastical, and the beauty of Latinx cultures are here, so let's shine light on some of these magical authors and their books.

Karla Arenas Valenti talks with Laekan Zea Kemp, Guadalupe Garcia McCall, Rex Ogle, and Julian Randall about kidlit Latinx fantasies and all the amazing reasons we should be paying attention to them.

In a time when queer and BIPOC books are being taken away from libraries and classrooms, we continue writing stories for the young people who look like us, who love like us, and who deserve stories that center us in all the ways: our struggles, our power, our joy.

Jonny Garza Villa talks with Crystal Maldonado, Racquel Marie, and Vincent Tirado on writing as a queer Latine and all the ways our identities inspire the incredible stories we tell.

Whether it's standing up for their communities, their families, or themselves, young Latinas can turn to books to see stories of empowerment through a myriad of lenses and settings.

Marcia Mickelson joins Francesca Padilla, Debbie Rigaud, Lilliam Rivera, and Natalia Sylvester on their stories and the young women they write about and for.

Kokila brings together an inclusive community of authors, illustrators, and readers to examine and celebrate stories that reflect the richness of our world.

Join Kokila editor Joanna Cárdenas and Kokila authors Celia C. Pérez (TUMBLE), David Bowles (THEY CALL HER FREGONA), Diana López (FELICE AND THE WAILING WOMAN), and Stephanie Rodriguez (DOODLES FROM THE BOOGIE DOWN) as they discuss the importance of centering Latinx stories to add depth to the way readers see the world and their place in it.

This event is brought to you by Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

From STEM to deep ocean dives, Latinx authors are showing that young Latinx readers they can be the main character in any interpretation of life. In these contemporary stories, authors explore the joys and  struggles their characters face in our own world.

Featuring Monica Brown, Angela Dominguez, Nina Moreno, and Sallie Anne Rodriguez in conversation with Rebecca Balcárcel.

Let's celebrate comic books and graphic novels! Storytelling with the use of pictures is an extraordinary way of bringing characters to life and seeing Latinx characters on the page, whether as superheroes or heroes of their own communities and families, carries undeniable value.

Featuring Jarod Rosello, Rodrigo Vargas, Chuck Gonzales and Kat Fajardo in conversation with Juliet Menéndez.

Authors are commonly heard saying that we "write the books we wish we had in our youth," but what is it to really write those stories that are plucked from the memories, both beautiful and difficult, of our own lives and the lives of our communities? What advice would authors give to those who want to tell stories directly inspired by our pasts and all the ways our own lives shape who we are today?

Featuring Alexis Castellanos, Raquel Donoso, Jasminne Mendez, and Vanessa Torres in conversation with Adrianna Cuevas.

The real world brings plenty of opportunities to live our best main character lives. Whether as celebrities or high school students just trying to make it to Saturday, contemporary stories can be incredible opportunities to show life as it is. Laura Taylor Namey joins Olivia Abtahi, Emery Lee, Gabriela Martins, and Eric Smith for a discussion on their own books and the legacy of Latinx-centered contemporary YA fiction.

In this craft panel authors Angela Velez (Lulu and Milagro's Search for Clarity) and Maritza Moulite (Our Shadows Have Claws) ask how do authors use character wants to influence what happens in their stories? What happens when something gets in the way of what they want?

It's time to add some sazón to our fantasies! In landscape, language, skin color, cultures, and histories Latin America holds so much beauty and potential for inspiration when it comes to writing fantasy novels.

Lizz Huerta, Linda Nieves Pérez, Gabe Cole Novoa, and Aiden Thomas join Francesca Flores to discuss the ways Latin America has influenced the stories they tell and how that makes them even more magical.

To be a Latinx author writing Latinx stories is inherently a political act. An act of reclaiming power and of resistance. NoNieqa Ramos joins Mayra Cuevas, Alda P. Dobbs, and Karina Nicole González to discuss their own stories that lean on exactly that premise, and what it means to write books in today's world that seek to empower the specific Latinx audiences they write for.

What makes a great novel-in-verse? How does someone, equally author and poet, construct a single storyline solely through the use of poetry?

To answer these questions and discuss their own gorgeous work, Andrea Beatriz Arango brings together fellow poets and novels-in-verse writers Margarita Engle, Terry Catasús Jennings, Alessandra Narváez Varela, and Edd Tello.

New York Times bestselling author, Adam Silvera explores the complicated and multi-layered facets of identity and the role that his ancestry and cultural heritage play in his life and his writing. Adam will be in conversation with debut YA author Aaron Aceves.

Adam Silvera is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Infinity Reaper, Infinity Son, They Both Die at the End, More Happy Than Not, History Is All You Left Me, and—with Becky Albertalli—What If It's Us and Here’s to Us.

Aaron H. Aceves is a bisexual, Mexican-American writer born and raised in East L.A. He graduated from Harvard College and received his MFA from Columbia University. His debut novel, This Is Why They Hate Us, releases in 2022.

Join Pura Belpré Award winning authors and illustrators Duncan Tonatiuh and Eric Velasquez as they discuss the transformative power that illustration has to make un cuento come to life, whether they're working with an author's words or their own. Learn the different ways that both illustrators use the text to create subtext and layers of meaning in their artwork, to bring the fullest expression to the narrative.

Moderated by Monica Mancillas.

Join Newbery and Pura Belpré award-winning author Donna Barba Higuera as she discusses the power of oral history and storytelling.

Across communities family history is carried from generation to generation, across space, and time. Storytelling remains a familiar and ancestral way to guide us toward the future, while carrying the past with us. We are all cuentistas!

This panel will be moderated by debut author Alyssa Reynoso-Morris.

Come on an extraordinary journey to explore the many worlds of middle grade fantasy! From musas to brujas, to time traveling pirates and life and death adventures, these stories will lure you in and never let go. With Olivia Abtahi (PERFECTLY PARVIN/ROSTRAM AND THE RED DWARF), Carlos Hernandez (SAL & GABI FIX THE UNIVERSE), Victor Piñeiro (TIME VILLAINS), and Kaela Rivera (CECE RIOS AND THE DESERT OF SOULS). Moderated by Chantel Acevedo (MUSE SQUAD).

Edited by The Bronx Is Reading founder Saraciea J. Fennell, Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed is a groundbreaking anthology highlighting different myths and stereotypes about the Latinx diaspora.

Wild Tongues is full of sorrow and joy, speculative stories, and homespun tales. Fennell joins contributors Natasha Diaz, Jasminne Mendez, Lilliam Rivera, and Mark Oshiro for a dialogue on their stories, experiences, and what it is to be “Latine.”

Kids love a character who makes them laugh! Meet authors whose books not only inspire, but entertain. Join our middle grade authors as they reveal how they tickle readers’ funny bones, discuss the power of humor to connect people, and explore how having fun goes with finding your power. With Terry Catasús Jennings (ALL FOR ONE), Adrianna Cuevas (THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF NESTOR LOPEZ), Donna Barba Higuera (LUPE WONG WON’T DANCE), and Nina Moreno (JOIN THE CLUB, MAGGIE DIAZ) Moderated by Loriel Ryon.

Whether we’re whisked away to a new world or a reimagined one, fantasy readers everywhere love stories with unique heroes, magical creatures and set in far away places. Join authors Francesca Flores (SHADOW CITY), Romina Garber (CAZADORA), Maya Motayne (OCULTA), Laura Pohl (THE GRIMROSE GIRLS) and Aiden Thomas (LOST IN THE NEVER WOODS) as they discuss writing fantastical stories and tropes and how the Latinx point of view shapes their storytelling and their protagonists journeys. Moderated by Amparo Ortiz (DRAGONBLOOD RING).

From meet cutes to insta-love to “here the whole time,” nothing presents such a delicious selection of addictive tropes like love stories. These unforgettable protagonists try to get the attention of their crush, steal a first kiss, or fall for their rivals. With Aaron H. Aceves (THIS IS WHY THEY HATE US), Emery Lee (MEET CUTE DIARY), Gabriela Martins (LIKE A LOVE SONG), and Raquel Vasquez Gilliland (HOW MOON FUENTEZ FELL IN LOVE WITH THE UNIVERSE). Moderated by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo (FAT ANGIE SERIES).