Are you starting your Holiday shopping early? Las Musas has got you covered! Get the book-lovers in your life gifts curated by the authors themselves. 

Check out the rest of the series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

Are you starting your Holiday shopping early? Las Musas has got you covered! Get the book-lovers in your life gifts curated by the authors themselves. 

Check out the rest of the series: Part 1, Part 2.

Are you starting your Holiday shopping early? Las Musas has got you covered!
Get the book-lovers in your life gifts curated by the authors themselves.
Check out our first in a Holiday Gift Guide series!

Las Musas is ecstatic to reveal the cover of The Cot in the Living Room by Hilda Eunice Burgos, illustrated by Gaby D’Alessandro!
​
But first, here is a little bit about the book…

A young Dominican American girl in New York City moves from jealousy to empathy as her parents babysit children whose families work the overnight shift in this honest and warm picture book debut.

Night after night, a young girl watches her mami set up a cot in the living room for guests in their Washington Heights apartment, like Raquel (who’s boring) and Edgardo (who gets crumbs everywhere). She resents that they get the entire living room with a view of the George Washington Bridge, while all she gets is a tiny bedroom with a view of her sister (who snores). Until one night, no one comes, and it’s finally her chance! But as it turns out, sleeping in the cot in the living room isn’t all she thought it would be.

With charming text by Hilda Eunice Burgos and whimsical illustrations by Gaby D’Alessandro, The Cot in the Living Room is a celebration of the ways a Dominican American community takes care of one another while showing young readers that sometimes the best way to be a better neighbor is by imagining how it feels to spend a night sleeping on someone else’s pillow.

And now, the moment you have been waiting for… the absolutely gorgeous cover of The Cot in the Living Room:

The Cot in the Living Room is available to preorder from here! 

Hilda Eunice Burgos is the author of the middle grade novel Ana Maria Reyes Does Not Live in a Castle (Lee&Low). Her parents emigrated from the Dominican Republic before she was born, and she grew up in Washington Heights as one of four sisters. She now lives with her family near Philadelphia, where she works as a lawyer.

Gaby D’Alessandro is a Dominican illustrator based in Brooklyn. She attended Altos de Chavón in the Dominican Republic and moved to New York to complete her degree in Illustration at Parsons School of Design. Her work has appeared in many publications and projects for clients such as The New York Times, The Library of Congress, The Botanical Garden of Padua, and New York City’s MTA.

​We are thrilled to celebrate the book birthday of QUIET NO MORE by Nikki Barthelmess!
 
But first, here is a little bit about the book:
 
QUIET NO MORE...

College freshman Victoria Parker is trying to move on with her life after surviving sexual assault by her father and six months in foster care. She's focusing on the positives--attending college, living on her own, repairing old relationships and making new ones, and getting involved with an abuse survivors activist group on campus. But everything's thrown into disarray when a strange woman shows up, claiming to be Victoria's aunt and asking Victoria to lie about what happened to her.

With her father's sentencing in a few months, she's nervous about having to share the truth of what happened with a judge. She's not even sure if she has the strength to go through with it. But when her fellow club members begin pressuring her to speak out, Victoria has to decide how to share her story while remaining true to herself.

​Las Musas wishes Alexandra Alessandri, author of Feliz New Year, Ava Gabriela! the happiest of  Book Birthdays! Read on for Zara González Hoang’s interview and learn all about the book, New Year’s traditions, and Alexandra’s writing process!
 
First, a bit about the book:
Ava Gabriela is visiting her extended family in Colombia for the holidays. She’s excited to take part in family traditions such as making bunuelos, but being around all her loud relatives in an unfamiliar place makes Ava shy and quiet. How will Ava find her voice before she misses out on all the New Year’s fun?
 
Kirkus awarded the book a starred review, saying “This gentle family story lets readers know that shyness is nothing to worry about.”
 
Now on to the interview!
 
I loved Feliz New Year, Ava Gabriela! It’s such a sweet story about tradition and family, and I could totally relate to Ava Gabriela’s feelings of shyness when meeting extended family she doesn’t often see!
 
Aw, thank you so much! I’m so glad you liked it!!
 
I have some questions from Las Musas and myself, so should we dive in?
 
Let’s do this! ☺

We are so excited to celebrate the book birthday of BLAZEWRATH GAMES by Amparo Ortiz!  But first, a little bit about the book:
 
Dragons and their riders compete in an international sports tournament in this alternate contemporary world fantasy

Lana Torres has always preferred dragons to people. In a few weeks, sixteen countries will compete in the Blazewrath World Cup, a tournament where dragons and their riders fight for glory in a dangerous relay. Lana longs to represent her native Puerto Rico in their first ever World Cup appearance, and when Puerto Rico’s Runner―the only player without a dragon steed―is kicked off the team, she’s given the chance.

But when she discovers that a former Blazewrath superstar has teamed up with the Sire―a legendary dragon who’s cursed into human form―the safety of the Cup is jeopardized. The pair are burning down dragon sanctuaries around the world and refuse to stop unless the Cup gets cancelled. All Lana wanted was to represent her country. Now, to do that, she’ll have to navigate an international conspiracy that’s deadlier than her beloved sport.

We are incredibly excited to announce our newest Hermanas!

Las Hermanas is a selection-based 6-month mentorship program for traditionally unpublished Latinx kidlit writers and illustrators which connects aspiring writer/illustrators with current Musas and Madrinas. 

The below Hermanas are working in the fields of picture book, middle grade, and young adult with projects as varied and complex as the writers themselves. 

Meet the Fall 2020 (Oct 1-March 1, 2020) Hermanas...

Paulina Alexi
Andrea Beatriz Arango - Instagram
Judith Valdes Breidenstine - Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website
Norma Cárdenas - Twitter | Instagram
Angela Peña Dahle - Twitter | Website
Nathalie Djurdjevic - Twitter | Instagram
Maria Dones - Twitter
Sara Andrea Fajardo - Twitter
Indiana Ferrera - Twitter | Instagram | Website
Andrea Floren - Instagram | Website
Mona Alvarado Frazier - Twitter
Irena Freitas - Twitter | Instagram | Website
Cat Galeano - Twitter | Instagram
Merce Garcés - Instagram | Website
Maria Ally Gil - Twitter | Instagram
Romy Natalia Goldberg - Twitter | Website
Haydil Henriquez
Rachel S. Hobbs Gunn - Twitter | Website
Luisa Leal - Instagram | Website
Yeneisy Piñeiro - Twitter | Instagram
Lemny Pérez, M.A.,Psy.D - Instagram
Vanessa Ramos - Twitter | Instagram | Website
Mabelle Reynoso - Twitter | Instagram
Amy Rocha 
Elba Luz Rosado - Twitter
Paola Santos - Twitter | Facebook
Ellen Armendáriz Stumbo - Twitter | Facebook | Website
Katherine Trejo - Instagram
Silvia Rodriguez Vega -Twitter | Website

The offensive tradition? Teaching every 7th grader to square dance. Sounds innocent enough you say? Au contraire. While promenading and do-si-do-ing is fun to the grown-ups around her (in fact, Lupe’s mom remembers the moves and busts them out at the most embarrassing times), Lupe disagrees. Number one, square dancing isn’t cool. Number two, it’s not as athletic as climbing ropes or playing a sport. And what about the weird songs and lyrics? Lupe Wong is about to investigate!