Virtual Author Events 2020-2021
As part of our efforts to encourage the importance of reading, and to also help our students take a much-needed break from screen time, we are introducing a series of virtual author events showcasing diverse authors and stories.
Zoom links for author events are shared here, via ParentSquare, and on the district Facebook page prior to the event.
THESE EVENTS TOOK PLACE DURING THE 20/21 SCHOOL YEAR.
Marina Budhos is an author of award-winning fiction and nonfiction. In her book The Long Ride she tells the story of three friends in 1971.
As mixed-race girls, Jamila, Josie, and Francesca have always felt like outsiders in their mostly white neighborhood. Now it’s seventh grade, and they’re part of an important experiment: kids will go on a long bus ride to integrate a new school in a black neighborhood. How do they find their place in a school divided between black and white? And what about the boys wanting to be friends–and maybe more? Can kids come together when grown-ups stay apart?
In this tender story of friendship and family love, Budhos captures what it’s like to tip from twelve to thirteen, and try to carry the dreams of adults.
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Available via Sora/OverDrive Middle School Collections: |
Other Titles in the High School Collections: |
Pablo Cartaya's award-wining book Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish is a story about 8th grader Marcus Vega. After a fight at school leaves Marcus facing suspension, Marcus’s mom decides to take Marcus and his younger brother to Puerto Rico to spend a week with relatives they don’t remember or have never met. So begins Marcus’s incredible journey of discovery that changes his life.
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Middle School Collection: |
Other titles: Each Tiny Spark eBook / Downloadable audiobook
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora eBook / Downloadable audiobook
El épico fracaso de Arturo Zamora |
Alicia D. Williams's award-winning book Genesis Begins Again is a story in which thirteen year-old Genesis Anderson hates her dark skin shade and kinky, coily hair. She prays every night for one thing—to be beautiful.
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Middle School Collection: |
Juana Martinez-Neal discusses her award-winning books including Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story [Illustrated by Martinez-Neal] and Alma and How She Got Her Name [written and illustrated by Martinez-Neal] as well as other books and her life as an artist/illustrator.
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Mae Respicio discusses her award-winning books including The House that Lou Built and her most recent Any Day with You, a story about a young Filipina girl who hopes by winning a filmmaking contest, she will convince her great-grandfather not to move back to the Philippines.
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Aida Salazar’s writings for adults and children explore issues of identity and social justice. Her newest book, Land of Cranes, tells the story of a little girl and her pregnant mother who are caged in an immigration detention facility and subjected to unimaginable cruelty, yet still find the hope to dream and carry on.
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