Monday, October 24, 2011, 3:30 pm
Tri-County Mobile Library Headquarters, 79 N. 100 W.
Spanish/English Children’s author Amada Irma Pérez will read from her books, discuss them and answer questions. A book sale and signing will follow. In Spanish and English. Earlier in the day she will be at a local elementary school (TBD).
Nana's Big Surprise/Nana, Que Sorpresa!
Finally, the day arrived when we all piled into our old blue station wagon and drove to meet Nana at the bus station.
"There she is!" I cried. Through the bus window, I could see her familiar flowered rebozo... It was strange not seeing Tata next to her.
Nana's move from Mexico should be a joyous occasion. But this summer Nana is coming to California because Tata, beloved husband and abuelo, has died. Amada and her five brothers hope to cheer her up with a surpriseÑa coop full of fluffy yellow chicks, just like the ones Nana raised with Tata in Mexico. But no matter how hard everyone tries to make Nana feel better, it seems like nothing can bring a smile to her face. That is, until one day the chicks reveal a little surprise of their own.
My Diary from Here to There/Mi Diario De Aqui Hasta Alla
One night, young Amada overhears her parents whisper of moving from Mexico to the other side—to Los Angeles, where greater opportunity awaits. As she and her family make their journey north, Amada records her fears, hopes, and dreams for their lives in the United States in her diary. How can she leave her best friend behind? What if she can't learn English? What if her family never returns to Mexico? From Juárez to Mexicali to Tijuana to Los Angeles, Amada learns that with her family's love and her belief in herself, she can make any journey and weather any change—here, there, anywhere.
My Very Own Room/Mi Propio Cuartito
"Aha! This was it! This could be my room. I imagined it with my own bed, table, and lamp—a place where I could read the books I loved, write in my diary, and dream."
Five little brothers, two parents, and a house full of visiting relatives make a young Mexican American girl feel crowded. She loves her family, but how can she get a little space of her own? Her loving and understanding family works together to turn a small storage space into her very own room. This delightful memoir of a childhood in El Monte, California, pours from the pen of first-time author and bilingual teacher Amada Irma Pérez with exuberance and skill. Renowned painter Maya Christina Gonzalez brings the captivating scenes to life with bold colors and whimsical details.
Amada Irma Perez. Everyone has a dream of leaving a mark in the world. We have the power to do this if we dream big dreams, are willing to put our passions to work, and are not afraid to change lives.
Amada Irma Perez changed her life after more than 25 years of being a classroom teacher for kindergarten through university graduate classes when she wrote her first story in her journal the summer of 1998. MY VERY OWN ROOM-Mi propio cuartito (Children‘s Book Press, 2000) won numerous awards including the prestigious, Tomas Rivera Children’s Book Award, was inducted into the Latino Literature Archives of the University of Southwest Texas, San Marcos, and is given to every newborn in San Antonio, Texas through the Library Foundation‘s “Born to Read” program. It has sold more than fifty thousand copies.
In 2002 her second autobiographical fiction bilingual picture book, MY DIARY FROM HERE TO THERE-Mi diario de aqua hasta alla (Children’s Book Press)_was also published and also won awards including the Pura Belpre Honor Book Award which is given by REFORMA through the American Library Association.
Her third book, NANA’S CHICKEN COOP SURPRISE-Nana, que sorpresa! (Children’s Book Press) is set to come out in Fall 2006.
Amada is a leading advocate of programs encouraging multicultural understanding through the universal themes she explores in all of her books and through other projects at UCLA,UCSB, Cal State Long Beach, and the Global Learning Technology Network. She has been a frequent presenter at local, state, national, and international conferences as well as visiting schools, libraries, community centers, and bookstores for many years offering writing workshops as well as motivational talks.
She lives in Ventura with her teacher husband, Arturo and their two dogs and has two grown sons, Marco and Nico. She is writing more children’s books, poetry and is working on a novel. She continues to dream big dreams while she travels all over the country and the world sharing her books with anybody that wants to hear them.