Silver Meadows Summer

By Emma Otheguy

Hardcover: 240 pages

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1524773239

ISBN-13: 978-1524773236

Eleven-year-old Carolina's summer--and life as she knows it--is upended when Papi loses his job, and she and her family must move from Puerto Rico to her Tía Cuca and Uncle Porter's house in upstate New York. Now Carolina must attend Silver Meadows camp, where her bossy older cousin Gabriela rules the social scene.

Just as Carolina worries she'll have to spend the entire summer in Gabriela's shadow, she makes a friend of her own in Jennifer, a fellow artist. Carolina gets another welcome surprise when she stumbles upon a long-abandoned cottage in the woods near the campsite and immediately sees its potential as a creative haven for making art. There, with Jennifer, Carolina begins to reclaim the parts of the life she loved in Puerto Rico and forget about how her relationship with Mami has changed and how distant Papi has become.

But when the future of Silver Meadows and the cottage is thrown into jeopardy, Carolina and--to everyone's surprise--Gabriela come up with a plan to save them. Will it work?

Review

"A warm depiction of family and of standing up for what you believe in."—Kirkus

"An introspective, character-driven tale that will appeal to artists, introverts, or any child who has felt like an outsider."—SLJ

"With comforting warmth and gentle realism, this is a hopeful exploration of what home means."--The Bulletin

 “Silver Meadows Summer, beautiful and wise, is a gem of a book. Its characters are sparkling and unique, its themes utterly universal. We are lucky to have Emma Otheguy writing books for children . . . and for all of us.” —Adam Gidwitz, Newbery Honor–winning author of The Inquisitor’s Tale



"Emma Otheguy’s exquisitely poetic novel, Silver Meadows Summer, is an absolute joy to read. Summertime becomes a magical season of discovery in her beautifully conjured and unforgettable story of immigration and hope for new beginnings. Every reader will fall in love with Carolina and her tender quest to create a home of the heart in an abandoned cottage in New York’s woodlands after losing homes in both Cuba and Puerto Rico. Daring to address vulnerability on the deepest level, this novel cultivates empathy and compassion. With its stunning evocation of the poems of Frost and Machado, its attention to family ties and class tensions, and its faith in friendships that create cultural bridges, Silver Meadows Summer is a magnificent contribution to the diversity of the new American literature for young readers."
—Ruth Behar, author of Lucky Broken Girl

“Silver Meadows Summer is a delightful story . . . framed by nostalgia and questions of identity.” —Margarita Engle, Young People’s Poet Laureate and Newbery Honor–winning author of The Surrender Tree


Biography

EMMA OTHEGUY is the author of the bilingual picture book MARTÍ'S SONG FOR FREEDOM/MARTÍ Y SUS VERSOS POR LA LIBERTAD (Lee & Low, 2017) about Cuban poet and national hero José Martí, as well as the forthcoming POPE FRANCIS: BUILDER OF BRIDGES (Bloomsbury, 2018) and SILVER MEADOWS SUMMER (Knopf, 2019). MARTÍ'S SONG FOR FREEDOM received starred reviews, from School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Shelf Awareness. MARTÍ was also named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, the New York Public Library, and the Bank Street Center for Children's Literature. Otheguy’s short story for children “Fairies in Town” was awarded Magazine Merit Honors by SCBWI, and her scholarly article “Sermonizing in New York: The Children’s Magazines of Mary Mapes Dodge and José Martí” appeared in ETHICS IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE (Ashgate, 2014).

Emma attended Swarthmore College, where she studied children’s literature with Donna Jo Napoli and graduated with Honors. Later, she worked in farm-based education, at a children’s bookstore, and as an elementary school Spanish teacher. She is now a Ph.D. Candidate in History at New York University, focusing on Spain and colonial Latin America. Emma has held fellowships and grants from the American Historical Association, the Council of Library and Information Resources, and Humanities New York. Emma lives in New York City, where she was born.

BIRDIE'S BEAUTY PARLOR

By Lee Merrill Byrd  

Illustrated by Francisco Delgado 

• Age Range: 3 - 7 years
• Grade Level: Preschool - 2
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press; Bilingual edition (February 13,  2018)
• ISBN-10: 194102680X
• ISBN-13: 978-1941026809

Birdie and Grandma are having a girls’ day! They must have had fun because Grandma’s all worn out now. Birdie has a solution: a makeover! It’ll give Grandma a chance to relax. Birdie insists that Grandma lie down because this beauty parlor has a lot of moving parts—chinny-chin-chin hair removal, long stretches of blush, slashes of lipstick, and eyeshadow. Earrings, scarves, the works! Birdie knows best: she owns this beauty parlor!

Birdie’s Beauty Parlor is the second collaboration between Lee Byrd and Francisco Delgado. Lee tells the stories of her grandchildren, but the images belong to Francisco’s kids.

Lee Merrill Byrd is the co-publisher of Cinco Puntos Press so she can, without hesitation, write and publish books about her grandchildren who—she claims—are brilliant and beautiful. Her previous picture books, Treasure on Gold Street and Juanito Counts to Ten, featured Hannah and John Andrew. Lee is the author of Riley’s Fire (Algonquin) and My Sister Disappears (SMU Press).

Francisco Delgado, a fronterizo artist, was born in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua in 1974. He received his MFA from the Yale School of Art. His paintings have been on book covers, in national art exhibits, private collections and community institutions. Delgado’s picture books include ¡Si, Se Puede! and Juanito Counts to Ten. He also provided the illustrations for Out of Their Minds, by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite.

The First Rule of Punk

By Celia C. Pérez

•           Age Range: 9 - 12 years
•        Grade Level: 4 - 7
•        Hardcover: 336 pages
•        Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers (August 22, 2017)
•        Language: English
•        ISBN-10: 0425290409
•        ISBN-13: 978-0425290408

From debut author and longtime zine-maker Celia C. Pérez, The First Rule of Punk is a wry and heartfelt exploration of friendship, finding your place, and learning to rock out like no one’s watching. 

There are no shortcuts to surviving your first day at a new school—you can’t fix it with duct tape like you would your Chuck Taylors. On Day One, twelve-year-old Malú (María Luisa, if you want to annoy her) inadvertently upsets Posada Middle School’s queen bee, violates the school’s dress code with her punk rock look, and disappoints her college-professor mom in the process. Her dad, who now lives a thousand miles away, says things will get better as long as she remembers the first rule of punk: be yourself.

The real Malú loves rock music, skateboarding, zines, and Soyrizo (hold the cilantro, please). And when she assembles a group of like-minded misfits at school and starts a band, Malú finally begins to feel at home. She'll do anything to preserve this, which includes standing up to an anti-punk school administration to fight for her right to express herself!

Black and white illustrations and collage art throughout make The First Rule of Punk a perfect pick for fans of books like Roller Girl and online magazines like Rookie.

PRAISE FOR THE FIRST RULE OF PUNK:

“Extremely relatable and creatively inspiring, with a voice that is equal parts witty and sharp.”

—Bustle.com

"In The First Rule of Punk, Celia C. Pérez brings us Malú, a girl whose talents are as diverse as the images and words she snips for her zines. Malú is an irrepressible force, one that readers will long remember."

—Diana López, author of Confetti Girl and Nothing Up My Sleeve

Celia C. Pérez has been making zines inspired by punk and her love of writing for longer than some of you have been alive. Her favorite zine supplies are a long-arm stapler, glue sticks, and watercolor pencils. She still listens to punk music, and she’ll never stop picking cilantro out of her food at restaurants. Originally from Miami, Florida, Celia lives in Chicago with her family and works as a community college librarian. She owns two sets of worry dolls because you can never have too many. The First Rule of Punk is her first book for young readers.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

By Erika L. Sánchez

•             Hardcover: 352 pages
•             Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (October 17, 2017)
•             Language: English
•             ISBN-10: 1524700487
•             ISBN-13: 978-1524700485

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian meets Jane the Virgin in this poignant but often laugh-out-loud funny contemporary YA about losing a sister and finding yourself amid the pressures, expectations, and stereotypes of growing up in a Mexican-American home. 

Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family.

But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role.

Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed.

But it’s not long before Julia discovers that Olga might not have been as perfect as everyone thought. With the help of her best friend Lorena, and her first kiss, first love, first everything boyfriend Connor, Julia is determined to find out. Was Olga really what she seemed? Or was there more to her sister’s story? And either way, how can Julia even attempt to live up to a seemingly impossible ideal?

To read an excerpt visit http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/545723/i-am-not-your-perfect-mexican-daughter-by-erika-l-sanchez/

Erika L. Sánchez is a poet, a feminist, and a cheerleader for young women everywhere. She was the sex and love advice columnist for Cosmopolitan for Latinas for three years, and her writing has appeared in the Rolling Stone, Salon, and the Paris Review. Since she was a 12-year-old nerd in giant bifocals and embroidered vests, Erika has dreamed of writing complex, empowering stories about girls of color—what she wanted to read as a young adult. She lives in Chicago, not far from the setting of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. Erika is fluent in Spanish, Spanglish, and cat. You can find out more about her at erikalsanchez.com or @erikalsanchez.