Today, we are celebrating the book birthday of Danilo Was Here by Musa Tamika Burgess! We sat down with Tamika to learn more about this book.

Tell us about Danilo Was Here: Danilo Was Here is a timely coming-of-age story about a young boy’s fight to save his family and his dreams in the aftermath of the US military invasion of Panamá. Perfect for fans of Janae Marks, Adrianna Cuevas, and Chrystal D. Giles! 

Danilo Osorio Jr.’s baseball skills were once the pride of his father and entire hometown of El Chorrillo, Panamá. But that was then, and this is now
​
Following 1989's Operation Just Cause, a US military invasion that left his neighborhood  decimated, Danilo couldn’t care less about baseball or the father who abandoned him for opportunities in the States. Now Danilo’s focus is taking care of his mamá and sister and trying to save them all from needing to relocate to a refugee camp.

When Danilo unintentionally catches the eye of a baseball recruiter and is offered the opportunity to visit and train in California—the same place as his father’s last known address—he is tasked with deciding to go or stay. But if playing baseball could help him find his father and secure the extra funds his family needs, Danilo is willing to travel anywhere, even to the very country responsible for destroying his home.

Between his tough-as-nails baseball coach, ultracompetitive teammates, and overly enthusiastic host family, Danilo’s plans encounter some curveballs. And when his turn to bat finally comes, he’ll have to decide what and who he’s actually fighting for. 

What an important story to share with readers!

Join us in celebrating the book birthday of Bodega Cats: Just Kitten Around by Hilda Burgos! Read on to enjoy our conversation with Hilda about her new project. 

Hilda, please tell us a little about Bodega Cats
Bodega Cats: Just Kitten Around is an illustrated middle grade story written in alternating points of view—ten-year-old Yesenia and her newly adopted kitten, Candy. Everyone thinks Yesenia has it all under control, but she’s struggling to keep up with her three perfect overachieving older sisters. When one bad grade threatens to expose just how stressed she’s been lately, Yesi will lean on her kitten for comfort. But all Candy can think about is adventure. When Candy escapes and gets lost in New York City, she realizes maybe the big open world isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Can Yesenia and Candy help each other find a way out of feeling so lost?​

Today we celebrate the book birthday of This is the Year by Musa Gloria Muñoz. We sat down with Gloria to learn more about this book.

Tell us about This is the Year:
This dazzling YA cli-fi written in prose and verse will speak to any reader struggling with the state of our world and how to understand their place in it.

Seventeen-year-old self-proclaimed Goth and aspiring writer Julieta Villarreal is drowning. She’s grieving her twin sister who died in a hit-and-run, her Florida home is crumbling under the weight of climate disaster, and she isn’t sure how much longer she can stand to stay in a place that doesn’t seem to have room for her. Then, Juli is recruited by Cometa, a private space program enlisting high-aptitude New American teens for a high-stakes mission to establish humanity’s first extraterrestrial settlement.

Cometa pitches this as an opportunity for Juli to give back to her adopted country; Juli sees it as her only chance to do something big with her life. Juli begins her training, convinced Cometa is her path to freedom. But her senior year is full of surprises, including new friendships, roller skating, and first love. And through her small but poignant acts of environmentalism, Juli begins to find hope in unexpected places.

As her world collapses from the ramifications of the climate crisis, Juli must decide if she’ll carry her loss together with her community or leave it all behind. Told in gripping prose interspersed with poems from Juli’s writing journal, this genre-bending novel explores themes
of immigration, climate justice, grief, and the power of communities.

This sounds fantastic! Read more below...

Today we celebrate the new year with a brand new book birthday! Help us cheer for Taco Tuesdays by Musa Mónica Mancillas. We sat down with Mónica to learn more about this book.

Tell us about Taco Tuesdays:
This is Nacho average foodie WISH book! Mónica Mancillas explores themes of family, food, and identity wrapped up in a sweet, commercial title.

Dulce doesn’t want to spend the summer helping at her family’s restaurant, but with the business needing all the help it can get, she doesn’t have a choice. Julian doesn’t want to be in California. But his food vloger parents have relocated the family as part of an attempt to keep their marriage going, so he doesn’t have a choice, either.

When the two literally crash into each other, it’s so not the beginning of a beautiful friendship. But as they’re both forced to enroll in a cooking class together and slowly get to know each other, things get heated—and not just the tacos! Julian and Dulce each have something to learn from the other about friendship, family, community, and food.

Read more after the link...