Libropalooza™ : A Festival of Latino/a Authors

Damas y caballeros
Ladies and gentlemen

Niños de todas las edades
Children of all ages

Bienvenidos al show de Libropolooza
Welcome to show of Libropolooza

Pero ¿Qué es Libropolooza?
But what is Libropolooza?

Four award-winning authors are ready to visit your school, library, festival, or fair to deliver empowering literary performances geared for inspiring youth to read, dream, and tell their stories. Malin Alegria, Monica Brown, René Colato Lainez, and Reyna Grande have come together to share their rich array of stories. As authors and educators, they’ve learned how to engage young people through multi-sensory and interactive storytelling. Between them, they have over four decades of teaching experience.

To book Libropalooza, contact Susan Katz at Susan@connectingauthors.com or call 1-866-528-9269 or 415-312-1212.

Malin Alegria is the author of two young adult novels Estrella’s Quinceañera (Simon & Schuster, 2006) and Sofi Mendoza’s Guide to Getting Lost in Mexico (Simon & Schuster, 2007). Her short stories are included in Once Upon a Cuento, and 15 Candles: 15 Tales of Taffeta, Hairspray, Drunk Uncles, and other Quinceañera Stories. She was raised in San Francisco’s Mission District, is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and earned her MA in Education. She’s a teacher, permaculture consultant, eco-warrior, Aztec dancer, and actress.

Inspired by her Peruvian-American heritage, Monica Brown is the author of award-winning bilingual Spanish-English books for children, including My Name Is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz (Luna Rising), which was awarded the Américas Award for Children's Literature and a Pura Belpré Honor. Her other books include Butterflies on Carmen Street (Arté Publico Press) and My Name Is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez, and the forthcoming Pelé, King of Soccer (HarperCollins Rayo). She is also an Associate Professor of English at Northern Arizona University.



Known by his students as "the teacher full of stories,” René Colato Laínez is the author of I Am René, the Boy/ Soy René, el niño, Waiting for Papá/ Esperando a Papá, and Playing Lotería/ El juego de la lotería. His picture books have been honored by the Latino Book Award, the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, the New Mexico Book Award and the California Collection for Elementary Readers. René was named “Top Ten New Latino Authors to Watch (and Read).” He has an MFA from Vermont College’s program in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

Reyna Grande, born in Guerrero, Mexico, entered the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant in 1985 at nine years old to join her parents. These experiences inspired her American Book Award winning novel, Across a Hundred Mountains (Atria, 2006), a novel that depicts the harsh reality of the children who are left behind. Her novel was also awarded the 2006 El Premio Aztlan Literary Award. Grande received her B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is currently working on her M.F.A.

Click on the flier below