Today we celebrate the book birthday of Sing it Like Celia. We sat down with Musa Mónica Mancillas to learn all about the inspiration behind this book. But first, a little bit about the book: Sing it Like Celia is about a twelve-year-old girl named Salvadora Sanchez (Salva for short) whose life is turned upside down one day when her mother disappears without explanation. She winds up living with her long-absent investigative journalist father in a camper van while he travels to a campground in Northern California to work on a story about a woman who has been separated from her own children and is facing deportation. While navigating the emotional uncertainties of her new circumstances and unraveling the mystery of her mother’s disappearance, Salva befriends a group of local kids and is coaxed into lending her amazing vocal talents and love of salsa music to their band. The shake-up that ensues leads to drama amongst the band, but ultimately helps Salva to find her voice (both literally and figurately) as she fights for what she believes in and learns to stand up for herself and others. Sounds amazing, right? Read on to learn more... How would you describe your main character? Why did you create your character that way? Salvadora Sanchez is a twelve-year-old girl whose mother disappears mysteriously one night, forcing her to live with her somewhat estranged investigative journalist father in a camper van. Initially, Salva is wracked with anxiety and insecurity as she wrangles with the question of why her mother left and where she fits into her new environment. She struggles with feelings of guilt and the idea that maybe it’s her fault that her parents divorced when she was young and that her mother is gone. She deals with this internal struggle by listening to music and eventually learns to channel her grief, anxiety, confusion, and anger through singing. In spite of all of her emotional turmoil, Salva is (like so many kids facing these kinds of challenges), both empathetic and resilient. She finds her way through her struggles by standing up for others and learning to stand up for herself. I hoped, in creating an emotionally layered character like Salva, that I would help young readers to see themselves in her story. What I wanted to give them was something that it took me many years (and into adulthood) to find myself – a belief that they are not to blame for the mistakes their caregivers made, and that they deserve to be seen and given space to express their own feelings. Where did you get the idea to write this particular story? The seeds of this story were planted when my editor and I were talking about possibilities for my next project. She asked about a line in my bio where I mention my love of salsa dancing and wondered if this might be an interesting topic for a book. As I sat down to brainstorm, I was drawn back to memories of my first experience with salsa music. My father (who was not at investigative journalist but did own a camper van in which we traveled together one summer) took me to see Celia Cruz in concert. I was about the same age as Salva is in the story and absolutely mesmerized by the music, the energy, the dancing. I knew that I absolutely had to bring my own love of music into the story. But as I started to think more about the larger themes I wanted to address in the story, I thought of my own family’s experiences with immigration, divorce, and incarceration. I thought of all the kids I know who are dealing with similar challenges – who have similarly destabilizing family dynamics, or who have lost a parent in one way or another. I decided that I wanted to write a story that would give voice to everything those children are going through, while also somewhat cathartically rewriting the ending to my own story. Can you share the path to publication for this book? This book came to publication in a different manner than my previous books. I had just sold my third picture book, How to Speak in Spanglish, to Elizabeth Lee at Penguin Workshop. My agent mentioned to her that I had an interest in taking on IP projects (essentially, work for hire). My editor then expressed her enthusiasm for acquiring contemporary middle grade novels and we set up a chat to discuss possible ideas. Instead of then writing a manuscript and sending it out on submission hoping for a sale, I worked on a synopsis and sample pages of the book, which Elizabeth helped me to revise before submitting directly to the publisher for approval. The result was the book being acquired in a two-book deal! What message are you hoping readers will take away from this story? There is so much that I hope readers take from this story. I hope that young readers who perhaps haven’t experienced the challenges Salva and her friends face in the story will learn to approach others who have with empathy and compassion. I also hope that readers who do see themselves in the story finish the book with a feeling of hope and a belief that they too can use their voice to champion change within themselves and others. What comes next for you as an author? I am currently working on an unannounced dystopian middle grade novel for Penguin Workshop. Additionally, I have two books coming out next year. Taco Tuesdays (Scholastic) is a dual POV romcom featuring Dulce and Julian, two kids dealing with their own familial challenges who start as enemies and eventually become more through the shared complicated relationship with food. The second book is a middle grade non-fiction compendium of biographies entitled Leyendas/Legends: Sixty Extraordinary Leaders, Icons, Innovators, Scientists, Athletes, Artists, Change-Makers, and Trailblazers (Chronicle). ![]() Mónica Mancillas is a musician and educator who authors picture books and Middle Grade fiction and non-fiction. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley. Her books include award-winning title Mariana and Her Familia (Balzer + Bray), The Worry Balloon (Roaring Brook Press), How to Speak in Spanglish (Penguin Workshop), Sing it Like Celia (Penguin Workshop, 2024), Taco Tuesdays (Scholastic, 2025), and Leyendas/Legends (Chronicle, 2025). Twitter: MonicaMancillas Facebook: Monica.Mancillas IG: monicamancillasauthor Threads: monicamancillasauthor TikTok: monicamancillasauthor Comments are closed.
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