USBBY at LibLearnX Phoenix

Learn about considerations informing their craft in creating stories in both Spanish and English and discover forthcoming titles, from the acclaimed Pam Muñoz Ryan, , bilingual advocate Monica Brown, and author Violet Duncan
About the speakers: 

Monica Brown, Ph.D. is the Peruvian-American author of many award-winning multicultural books for children that have garnered multiple starred reviews and awards, and are available in a dozen languages. Her books include biographies of writers, musicians, and politicians from throughout Latin America. She writes the Lola Levine series (Little Brown Young Readers), her newest book is Doña Fela's Dream: The Story of Puerto Rico's First Female Mayor (Hachette Book Group) and she has books on musicians like Celia Cruz (My Name is Celia/Me llamo Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz/la vida de Celia Cruz, Cooper Square) and Tito Puente (Tito Puente, Mambo King/Tito Puente, Rey del Mambo, HarperCollins) authors such as Pablo Neruda (Henry Holt) Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People / Poeta del pueblo and Gabriela Garcia Marquez (My Name is Gabito / Me llamo Gabito: The Life of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Cooper Square), and Sharuko: El Arqueólogo Peruano/ Peruvian Archaeologist (Lee & Low) about the first Peruvian Indigenous archeologist, Waiting for the Biblioburro/Esperando al Biblioburro (Tricycle), about a donkey book mobile in Colombia, and El Cuarto Turquesa/The Turquoise Room (Lee & Low).

Violet Duncan is the author of the National Book Award Finalist Buffalo Dreamer (Penguin/Random House). She has toured nationally and internationally as an author, educator, dancer, and storyteller, and facilitates workshops to promote spiritual wellness and cultural education across the globe. She is currently the Indigenous Cultural Advisor at the Tempe Center for the Arts, where she aims to create space for a permanent program of Indigenous performance and practice. 
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Pam Muñoz Ryan is a multi-award-winning author, who is the most recent recipient of the prestigious ALSC Legacy Award. El Niño (Scholastic), which will be simultaneously published in English and Spanish in May 2025, is an adventure story about a young swimmer who’s navigating grief and family relationships in the wake of his sister’s death. After Kai discovers a book of his sister’s about an underwater realm and a mysterious place called the Library of Despair and Sorrow, details from the story begin to appear in his own life: dolphin pods, imposing rock towers, unusual sea creatures, and even Cali’s beloved bracelet. As myth and reality collide, El Niño unleashes its fury, and Kai is swept up in a storm of events that will change his understanding of love, death, grief, and how best to honor those we’ve lost.

Following the program, the 2025 Outstanding International Books (OIB) will be announced.

​Presented by the United States Board of Books for Young People (USBBY) the U.S. section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).