The Award The Pura Belpré Award (PBA) has been awarded on 20 occasions: every other year from 1996 to 2008, and annually since then. Each year, there is a Medal winner in the categories of Children’s Narrative, Youth Illustration, and (as of 2021) Young Adult Narrative. Honor Books may also...
Welcome to our celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Pura Belpré Award, founded in 1996 by REFORMA and the American Library Association to honor Latino and Latina creators of children’s and young adult literature whose work “best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience.” But before I pass...
Octopus Stew by Eric Velasquez; illus. by the author Primary Holiday 40 pp. 9/19 978-0-8234-3754-2 $17.99 With love and humanity — and humor — Velasquez (Looking for Bongo, Grandma’s Gift) once again affirms young Black Latinx boys’ identities and family experiences. Inspired by her cape-wearing grandson’s painting of an octopus...
Across the Bay by Carlos Aponte; illus. by the author Primary Penguin Workshop 32 pp. g 9/19 978-1-5247-8662-5 $17.99 Aponte explores a young child’s physical and emotional journey coping with his father’s absence from his life and learning to love all that is around him. Carlitos lives with his mother,...
Birdsong by Julie Flett; illus. by the author Primary Greystone Kids 56 pp. 9/19 978-1-77164-473-0 $17.95 e-book ed. 978-1-77164-474-7 $17.95 In spring Katherena, her mother, and their dog Ôhô pack up their “little home in the city by the sea” and move to their “new home [that] sits on a...
Becoming Beatriz by Tami Charles High School Charlesbridge Teen 262 pp. g 9/19 978-1-58089-778-5 $17.99 Charles (Like Vanessa, rev. 3/18) presents the story of an Afro–Puerto Rican teen, Beatriz Mendez, who is torn between her own desire to be a dancer and the expectations of her blood and chosen families...
Dealing in Dreamsby Lilliam RiveraHigh School Simon 328 pp. g3/19 978-1-4814-7214-2 $18.99e-book ed. 978-1-4814-7216-6 $10.99Rivera (The Education of Margot Sanchez) presents an action-filled dystopian novel about loyalty, power, and losing and finding oneself. Nalah, a.k.a. Chief Rocka, is the leader of the all-girl gang Las Mal Criadas, which owns the...
Soaring Earthby Margarita EngleMiddle School, High School Atheneum 160 pp. g2/19 978-1-5344-2953-6 $18.99e-book ed. 978-1-5344-2955-0 $10.99In this companion verse memoir to Enchanted Air (rev. 7/15), Engle provides a glimpse into her high school years in Los Angeles and early adulthood as a Cuban American person coming to an understanding of...
Photo: Petite Shards Productions.Meg Medina is the winner of the 2019 Newbery Medal for Merci Suárez Changes Gears (read The Horn Book Magazine's starred review here). For our February issue of The Horn Book Herald: ALA Youth Media Awards Edition e-newsletter, Medina answered Five Questions posed by Horn Book reviewer,...