  Today we celebrate the book birthday of CALL ME ROBERTO! / ¡LLÁMENME ROBERTO! We sat down with Musa Nathalie Alonso to learn about the inspiration behind this book. Tell us a little bit about the book: CALL ME ROBERTO! / ¡LLÁMENME ROBERTO! is a picture book biography about Puerto Rican baseball icon Roberto Clemente that shows the emotional highs and lows of Clemente’s career as he fought bigotry and racism to become one of the greatest baseball players of all time. The title is a reference to Clemente’s plea for the media to not anglicize his name to “Bob.” English and Spanish words are intermingled in the text. Sounds amazing! Follow the link... Where did you get the idea to write this particular story? I work in sports journalism. I am a senior content producer at LasMayores.com, the official Spanish website of Major League Baseball. Like many people in the U.S., I knew Roberto Clemente primarily as the ballplayer who lost his life in a plane accident while trying to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. But over the course of my career, I realized that in Roberto’s native Puerto Rico and elsewhere in Latin America, it’s Roberto’s fight for social justice that truly makes him a revered figure. So I decided to write a children’s book that tells his story from that perspective. What was the most difficult scene to write in this story? The scenes in which Roberto is on the field running, throwing, sliding and hitting were all challenging because the pace of the writing needs to match the pace of the action. It has to move quickly. In these scenes, I had to be mindful of not using too much baseball jargon that young readers might not be familiar with. What was your favorite part of the publication process with this story? Watching Rudy Gutierrez bring Clemente’s story to life through his signature vivid, energetic style was amazing. This is my first nonfiction picture book, and it was incredible to see how Rudy chose to depict major moments in Clemente’s life and how he layered and infused the book with Puerto Rican imagery. From the moment I saw his sketches, I knew my book was in the best of hands. Even though we didn’t communicate much during the process, we established trust early on. What message are you hoping readers will take away from this story? Roberto Clemente refused to bow to the bigotry of those who wanted to erase his Puerto Rican identity. He was unapologetic about his identity and fiercely proud of his roots. That’s been an important lesson for me in my career as a Latina and person of color working in baseball, a field dominated by white men. I hope readers come away feeling they don’t have to change who they are to succeed. What 3 recommendations would you give writers who are starting out? 1. Read as many recently published books in your genre as possible. This is cliché, but it really is the best way to understand what editors are looking for and what does well in the market. In the case of picture books, understanding page turns and pacing is key, and the best way to do this is to “study” other books. 2. Let your work sit for a while before revising. Walking away for a week or two, I find, does wonders for my ability to see my manuscript with fresh eyes and identify what’s working and what’s not. I don’t know what the neuroscience behind this is, but I find revising less overwhelming when I’m not staring at the manuscript 24/7. 3. Listen to feedback. You don’t have to take all the advice you receive if it doesn’t resonate with you, but be flexible and keep an open mind because, if you want to sell books (writing is a creative endeavor, but publishing is a business), you are going to have to deviate from your original ideas.
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