Corazonadas

2019 Pura Belpré Aceptance Speech. ALA Washington DC.

2019-09-04T12:58:00.001-07:00

Watsonville, California.
School windows open to the land
And the skies
Drawings of monarch butterflies
Fly through the hallways
I am there to read to the children 

A teacher tells me “Esta escuela habla español”
That every child there
Is brought each morning
By their Spanish speaking familia migrante.
For a moment she smiles
But then she says
People are afraid 

Last month
She continues
A little boy saw his father
Arrested by ICE
Deported. 

So days latter
A fire alarm goes off
At school
And even though there was no fire
The firefighters arrived
As they always do
In their blue uniforms and their badges 

And what should have been
A moment of relief
Became a moment of terror
For a little child

Who could not be calmed
Could not be consoled
Could not be reassured
That blue uniforms
Are not there to catch you and
Take you away.   

At the end of last year, just days prior to receiving the news about Dreamers having been chosen to receive the Pura Belpré medal for illustration, I was in El Salvador with the hummingbird man, the poet Jorge Argueta. Jorge received me in his house in the neighborhood of San Jacinto, constructed of colored concrete with an earth patio that opens its view toward the Quezaltepec volcano, and right there, at the very back, nestled among trees, sits La Biblioteca de los Sueños, The Library of Dreams, that Jorge built with his own hands. The library is a single room where planks of wood attached to the wall hold a precious tesoro: a collection of some 3500 books that Jorge himself has brought in his suitcase every time he has returned from USA. And while not all of these books are in Spanish, much less in one of the indigenous languages spoken in Central America, the magic holds, because these are picture books, and you and I know where the main powers of picture books comes from, right? 

Yet the most incredible thing is that the Library of Dreams even exists. It is there, nestled on the truce zone of two rival gangs; around the bend from the street guarded by stray dogs; in a neighborhood where children have been expelled from school because of their relatives’ gang affiliations. There, in this unlikely place is where the Library of Dreams exists, warm, luminous, and brimming with books to offer niñxs what is most likely the first and only children’s books they would see in their lives. 

Twenty-five years ago I entered for the first time my own library of dreams--the place Borges referred to as what he imagined paradise must be like. My first paradise was the Ygnacio Valley Library in the city of Walnut Creek California. My son was a few months old. I had just been given a temporary resident visa that allowed me to...feel lost in a country I had never imagined would become my own. At that time there were a huge number of things I hadn't imagined. For instance I had never, never imagined that a place like the library I had in front of me existed. I hadn’t imagined that in a library books could be taken off the shelves and read freely without somebody stopping you from messing with them. I hadn’t imagined that in such place a new mother, who didn’t understand English and was afraid to speak, and her newborn baby could be welcome. I hadn’t imagined that in a library could be a special place called the children’s books section, because I had never imagined in the first place that a piece of humanity was dedicated to creating books for children that were more beautiful than I could ever dream of! 

In Mexico my friend Alma works in what is called acompañamiento, a most difficult job. It consists of giving companionship and support to families, but mostly women, who have had a son, a daughter, a partner, a close loved one who has been disappeared by the government. When I asked Alma one day how does she do it to stay sane amongst so much pain and irreparable tragedy, she smiled and responded, “He sobrevivido por mi capacidad de imaginar.” “I have survived because of my capacity to imagine.” 

What is imagination? Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Let yourself fall inside you, a little deeper, and a little more. You are at a forest, look at your feet; you stand at the beginning of a luminous, vibrant, beautiful and strong path. The path is mysterious, you don’t know where it would take you, but nevertheless, the path calls you and you want to take it. Do it! Some would say imagination is this vibrant path of energy our mind takes. Most of us here rely doing our job in the belief that the books we make take readers through this path, where imagination becomes so powerful that a book can even change a child’s life. And we might be right! Because when the mind of a reader moves through the path of imagination, their body will follow. Imagination creates reality. 

But while we can declare that our capacity to imagine is infinite, it is also true that there are things we cannot imagine if we do not have the context, the experience, or the language to capture the feeling into reality. 

When I started finding at the library a world that had never occurred to me, at the Western Addition Library, and then at the Mission Library of San Francisco , there was one more thing my mind could have never imagined to be true, and it was this: One day, I took a book from the shelves and this book was like no other. And although I might never be able to remember what book this was, what I will never forget is that in the pages of this book a child, brown just like the child I had been or like my son; who spoke Spanish too, the only language I knew, was the protagonist. Here was a “real” book, hardcover, shiny papers, library wrappings and stickers, amazing illustrations, words and all, which proved that people like my son and I could also be the heroes of stories! Not only that, but the name of the author told me something else that was undreamable to me: a Latinx person could be the writer of a book that lived on the shelves of the public library. I don’t remember the title of this book that gave me this never imagined reality, but when I peel the layers of my memory, one after another, the name that comes to my mouth is Calling the Doves/ El Canto de las Palomas, written by Juan Felipe Herrera and Illustrated by Ellis Simmons.
 
When you hear the names of books like El Canto de las Palomas, you feel the emotions too, don’t you? If you have been as fortunate as I have been, you have also received the light from authors like Juan Felipe Herrera, Jorge Argueta, Susan Guevara, Gloria Anzaldúa, Gary Soto, Alma Flor Ada, Francisco Jiménez, Sandra Cisneros, and many more. They might have been your companions too in this path of recognizing that you too are part of books and stories. And you probably loved their work because their books are much more than entertaining stories and artful images; in fact their job is to tell you the truth, like some 25 years ago I had never heard either, that we, brown people, Spanish speaking gente, people born in other countries, migrants with dreams cannot only be the ones who clean the floors of the library, but we are the patrons, the readers, and we can be the librarians, and the editors, and we can be the authors and the heroes of our life stories as we are too the shapers of unimagined possibilities. 

There has been much reference to this time as a golden era of Children’s books where diversity and own voices are pointing toward a new way of creating literature. And it might look like we are on our way, but the truth is that we have just put our feet at the beginning of a never before walked path. Our steps will be guided by our capacity to imagine and then make true a world of children’s books for what we don’t have a reference yet; where we replace the normalized voices of superiority and discrimination with critical, historical, and inclusive voices of possibilities. 

I am most grateful to the Pura Belpre committee for choosing Dreamers as representative of the work they had always fought for, to lift the voices of those who are usually not heard and usually not seen, or that when we are seen we are deformed and dehumanized. Their recognition humbles me, because I am aware of the responsibility in having Dreamers become a thread in the much needed embroidering of a just literature for children, one that could become so strong that could never, ever, be represented in a single book, but could only grow from the strength of our collective voices. 

I am also grateful to Neal Porter, my editor, and Charlotte Sheedy, my agent, for being this incredible team who kept insisting that a story like Dreamers had a place in the world of books, even when I myself thought my story was devoid of great adventures to be of interest to readers. They and the unstoppable team of Holiday House reminded me constantly that any person who has migrated has a story worth telling. My son Kelly, my journey companion, my learning mate, my teacher since he was a baby, his little hand holding mine constantly while we run to catch a bus, or when I felt lost in places and him always saying, “we can do it, Mama.” His little hand also letting mine go to find his own way through this suspicious, improbable, unbelievable, surprising, unimaginable new world an immigrant like me had never imagined existed. Kelly is the most amazing gift I brought with me when I crossed the border into this country, and he is the true meaning of Amor, Love, Amor.

Last year I toured bringing Dreamers to readers, and while I was freely crossing from México to the USA and back, I learned, along with our nation, of the caging of children at the border and the separation of families asking for asylum. My stomach churned. Here I was, celebrating in a book the opportunity and the hands that had extended towards me and my son when we came to the USA, while at the border many families were and are being tortured in punishment for aspiring entry to a more luminous future for themselves and their families. I heard author Reyna Grande say the other day that the policies of the USA create immigrants in our countries of birth, only to punish people when they dare to come. 

And so, here we are, dreaming that out work and our books could help us imagine and thus create a world freed from violence and oppression. And perhaps we can do it. Together. Because the way I understand the power of books has all to do with imagination. When a child journeys through the path of a book, what they live in there becomes real. The wants, the struggles, the emotions, the triumphs, the hopes become all true. In the same manner, when a child’s existence is denied, made invisible, caricatured, denigrated, rejected, erased from the pages of a book, they become victims of what we authors, illustrators, editors, booksellers, teachers, librarians, critics have created for them. Despite what many of us would prefer to believe, violence and oppression are not just something children imagine. Our books might be pieces of fiction if we decide them to be, but for children violence is real. “Don’t even dream about it”, oppression shouts, “The dream is not for you.” 

When I was making Dreamers I learned about animales migrantes. And I was so impressed with animal migratory patterns that I covered Dreamers with kaleidoscopes of Monarch butterflies. Monarch butterflies, such delicate insects, are one of the most amazing migratory animals in the world, and their migration is an incredible story of survival. After monarchs have spent the cold months of the year in México, they give birth to a generation of butterflies that will fly north in search of milkweeds and a place to thrive. These butterflies will live for about a month, allowing them to reach the southern part of the USA. There they will rest and reproduce. They will also die. But the newborn generation of monarchs will fly again, this time arriving beyond the central part of the USA, where they will reproduce into a new generation of monarchs that will replace the tired butterflies. The newborn monarchs will take flight again; this time they will reach their destination in Canada, where they will rest, feed, and give birth to the last generation of monarchs to be part of this great migration. I was amazed when I learned how this last batch of butterflies is not like the others. They are born super monarchs, butterflies that will live up to eight and nine months. This last generation will return to México for the winter in one single trip. Don’t you find this fantastic too? I am sure you have super monarchs in your life. Look at our niñxs. Look at the minors caged inside perreras. Look at children crying for their parents. Look at the brown children going to school hoping that when they get home their parents will still be there to receive them. These super monarch children have not been brought here to take or steal the American Dream. They are the Dream.

Cascabel del horizonte
Nos llamaste a otra tierra
A cruzar ríos y el monte
Y el desierto que nos lleva
Hacia los United States
Pa cruzarnos la frontera

Ay como rezumba y suena
Cascabelito migrante
Que si la bestia no embiste
Llegaremos Dios mediante.

No cruzamos por quitarles
Venimos a trabajar
Darle escuela a los chiquitos
Y a encontrar un nuevo hogar
Donde podamos cuidarlos
Como no se pudo allá.

Ay solita ay soledad
Compañera del camino
Llegamos en caravana
Por que sola hay más peligro

Los papeles que trajimos
Son del sol y de la luna
Que pregunten a la tierra
Para ver si hay algunas
De las que llaman razones
Pa quitarnos las criaturas

Huye, huye animalito
Que nos quieren agarrar
Y aunque a mi me deportaran
Ni aun así te he de soltar

Criaturita majestuosa
Te trajimos a crecer
No habrá jaula pa tus sueños
Aunque te quieran vencer
Como si a las mariposas
Las pudieran detener

Cascabel cascabelito
Juntos vamos a llegar
Mas si acaso nos separan
Yo te volvere a encontrar.

~Yuyi Morales

A conversation with my editor

2018-08-17T18:50:00.001-07:00

I had a conversation with my editor, Neal Porter, about our journey of making Dreamers. You might like to check it out.

Live Art

2018-08-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

In this interview with Maria Russo at the NYT, I responded to questions while I drew and they filmed it. Not an easy task!

An Immigration Story to Tell

2018-08-17T17:48:00.001-07:00

At the SLJ Day of Dialog I was asked to give the closing keynote

2018-08-17T15:47:00.003-07:00

It has been a long time! I have things to share: Joy, change, memories, and event gratefulness.
Here is a letter of gratitude I needed to write some 20 years later.

The Science of Happiness project

Read Every Day, Lee Todos Los Dias

2013-11-11T08:47:00.000-08:00

Scholastic has launched a wonderful reading campaign, and many free resources are offered at their site here.

In the meantime, here is a video with an interview about my work and the creation of my poster for this project.

Being among a 100 list rocks

2013-10-01T12:34:00.004-07:00

The New York Public Library unveiled their 100 Top Children’s Books of the Last 100 Years, and guess who made the list! I'll give you a clue, a very old woman and a very thin skeleton.
Three more Pura Belpre titles include Gary Soto's Chato's Kitchen, Illustrated by Susan Guevara, Lucia Gonzalez for The Bossy Gallito/El Gallo de Bodas, Illustrated by Lulu Delacre and Pam Munoz-Ryan's Esperanza Rising.

Find the complete list here

Betsy Bird helps you find your next book

2013-10-01T10:13:00.002-07:00

Brought to you by:Noodle.org

Books that children (Latinos and no-Latinos) might enjoy.

2013-09-26T12:33:00.001-07:00

Here I am trying my hand at embeding some of my postings from Face Books. Let's see how it works.

Post by Yuyi Morales.

Together we are the Revisionaries

2013-08-02T12:50:00.003-07:00

As I am preparing to go live, make my books, and be carried away by more creative projects in Mexico, I have started to say my good-byes to many of the people that had been the pillars of my life her in the United States. Earlier this week, my critique group and I had a party to celebrate the great years we have shared together creating children's books.
Jim Averbeck, Maria Van Lieshout, Lynn Hazen, Karen Ehrhardt, Gianna Marino, and I have been the Revisionaries since 1997. We met during a Berkeley extension class for learning how to write children's books. When the course ended, about twenty of us agreed to continue meeting so that we could read and work together in our stories; out goal was to be able to write publishable works. By the third meeting only a handful of us remained.
To this day, we are six, and for nearly 16 years we have met two times at month to read, critic, revise, and create children's books. Together we have gone though births and rising children, heartbreaks and new beginnings, we have learned and we have taught, we have published and received prize and awards for our works.
At our party this week I had my son take some pictures of us. Here is an slide show of a handful of them.

Together We Are The Revisionaries from Yuyi Morales on Vimeo.

I am for even and ever in love with my Revisionaries.

Revisionaries 1999

2003

2005

2013

Let's make Niño Lucha's mask (and other things in betwen)

2013-07-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, when we had the Niño book release party, the lucha mask making activity was a blast. One teacher told me that she thought she could have their annual school play based in my book if she could have access to the mask templates I had created. So, by her request I have made the masks' printout (featuring the faces of every character in the book ) available for downloading here. I have also started a Pinterest board with all Niño Wrestles the World images and links that explore in more depth themes such as lucha libre and the origen of the out-of-this-world characters of the book.
Finally here is the main page with all Niño things.
I hope you enjoy them.

A very important question with a diversity of answers

2013-07-08T14:56:00.000-07:00

When earlier last month Lee & Low Books posted this question in their blog, "Why Hasn’t the Number of Multicultural Books Increased In Eighteen Years?" many responses began circulating that touched everything from how we feel about white authors and illustrators writing books about people of other races, and about the role (and the criteria to select winners) of ethic book awards such as the Coretta Scott King Award or the Pura Belpre or the Asian Pacific American Book Award and many others, as well as about the need for books that represent other cultures while still been fun rather than focusing on historical periods of a people, and much more. Roger Sutton posted his two own answers--as he describe them--one only semi-facetious and one perhaps semi-impolitic. I hope that most everybody could be part of this conversation.
As we continue talking about multicultural book, the publishing industry, and the demands of the readers continues, I only hope that 1) We can move into creating significant lasting changes, and 2) that we do it while still honoring what award committees, publishers, librarians, booksellers, and even authors and illustrators have been doing to this day to have a more diverse and inclusive children's literature.

2013-06-20T12:59:00.000-07:00

There has been such a great welcoming to Niño Wrestles the World, and while we get ready for the book party this weekend, here are a few posting about the book:

The Horn Book included Niño into this article about the blend between imagination and reality in picture books.

Julie Danielson, the author of the 7-IMP blog made a nicely detailed review of Niño, and later featured some thumbnails, sketches, and other bits of the process of making the images for Niño.

Here is the Kirkus review
And here a starred review at Publishers Weekly

I hope you enjoy these.

Niño Wrestles the World book party, to wich you should come

2013-06-20T00:58:00.003-07:00

It has been a busy, busy season with many changes, and much growth. But for now it is time to celebrate!
This Sunday we will have a book party for my newest book, Niño Wrestles the World, at the tiniest and most wonderful book store in San Francisco, Luna's Press, hosted by my dear friend and poet Jorge Argueta.
Here the poster invitations, both in Eglish and Spanish.
Hope you come!

A fruitful year

2012-12-31T19:18:00.001-08:00

This was such a busy and fruitful year that I had very few opportunities to write about it. Here a brief look back at what made it wonderful:

The Mexican sun in the mornings

Yotopia, its people, and the best frozen yogurt in town

Mi sisters

Tamarindo with lemon at the park in Xalapa

My brother (and the painting of his house)

Xico, where I will live some day

The publication of Gerogia in Hawaii

The last of Soli's days

Embroidering venaditos

Miguel, Sita, and my Bay Area family

El Son and zapateado in my garden

Fogo and SF Carnaval!

Kelly

Luna


Kelly's graduation

Kelly's wisdom teeth extraction

Nest in unexpected places in my garden

Participating in America the Beautiful book


the arrival of Tigerand mojo


Alex

Visitors I love


Making Frida

Painting venadito

Becoming a citizen

Painting Jose's face for Dia de los Muertos celebration

planning tattoos

Getting my tattoo inked

My tattoo oulined


Voting (with my son Kelly) for the first time in our lives

Painting Frida

Making papel picado

Selfportrait


PBS testimonial and strangers telling me they have seen me.

Planning Kelly's tattoo

Inked tattoo

Mojo, who never left


Tim and I


Us

May new jouneys welcome all of us. My path takes me now back to Mexico where I will live part-time huging my family, making my books, and helping Kelly to forge his own path. Much love for everybody

Why I love picture books

2012-10-10T12:47:00.001-07:00

Candlewick Press is celebrating its 20th anniversary and to add to the festivities they asked many authors, illustrators, book makers, and book lovers to tell about their love for picture books in videos. These videos are part of a year-long celebration and are being posted one per day.

When I began thinking about the video I would made I was highly inspired. Picture books are very important to me because they changed the course of my life, and they gave me direction as an immigrant in this country and a as creator in this world. I wanted to make something special! So, how could I tell about my love for picture books? To me the best way is always through storytelling and, of course, pictures.

With the help of my Friend Miguelito Martinez , whose talent for music measures to his talent for love and friendship, here is the video I created to celebrate:

Author and illustrator Yuyi Morales tells her story of falling in love with picture books from Candlewick Press on Vimeo.

I hope you all like it.

P.S. Yes, those are my real pen drawings from when I was about four years old.

Talking for PBS

2012-09-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

Last year PBS came to my house to film a testimonial about the influence of public television in my life. This is what they have released just recently:

Hermosa Gente.

Reading my readers

2012-09-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

Thank YOU for the conversation

2012-04-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

8 ways to join the World Book and Copyright day celebration (recommended by the UNESCO):

1. Download books published over 100 years ago on Kindle, they’re free.
2. Share your passion for an author and offer his book to people around you.
3. Take this opportunity to discover something new from what you're used to read.
4. Leave a book on a park bench or a metro seat with a note saying “Happy Book and Copyright Day!”
5. Find out how to send your old books to schools and libraries in countries facing a post-disaster situation.
6. Educate yourself on books pirating: respect for copyright encourages the dissemination of knowledge and rewards their creators and publishers.
7. Never throw away your books, get involved in local community or online book swapping and donation campaigns and initiatives.
8. Plan local reading events in schools and libraries and encourage famous guest readers to get involved.

Books by Latinos: predicting the Pura Belpre

2012-01-21T15:59:00.000-08:00

I regularly visit bookstores looking for the new published books; among those I also look for those written or illustrated by or about Latinos. Unfortunately, these are not usually easy come about; unless you know the specific titles to look for, these books might not even be found in the stores at all.

So, when the time for the ALA children's book awards comes, while I might have my favorites to win awards such as the Caldecott, I find it difficult to have an opinion of the strongest contenders to win the Pura Belpre Medal.
(From the Pura Belpre Award site: "The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.")

However, not been able to find these books easily, doesn't stop me from becoming the fan of some I have managed to find during the year. And so, this time, these three are my favorites for the 2012 Pura Belpre illustrator Award Winner:

Waiting for Biblio Burro, written by Monica Brown, and illustrated by John Parra

John has an illustration style that feels nostalgic and earthy, that seems filled with memories and colors from the past. I have always loved everyone of his books. This one is not an exception. Here is John's site.

The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred, written by Samanthat R. Vamos, and illustrated by Rafael Lopez.

About a year ago, in one of my trips to Mexico, I was able to visit Rafael at his studio in San Miguel de Allende, and see some of his work in progress for a book about Tito Puente. Rafael never ceases to amaze me with his work.

Diego Rivera: His Wold and Ours, by Duncan Tonatiuh.

Ok, tell me, who can resist illustrations such as these ones?

When trying to find more titles written and /or illustrated by Latinos in the last year, I finally found a good list of books (both picture books and chapter books) at the REFORMA mock Pura Belpre.

Here, the titles:

• 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente - Santiago, Wilfred
• Alicia Alonso: Prima Ballerina - Bernier-Grand, Carmen T.
• Clara and the Curandera/Clara y la curandera - Brown, Monica
• The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred - Vamos, Samantha R.; illus by López, Rafael
• Dancing Home - Ada, Alma Flor & Gabriel M. Zubizarreta
• Diego Rivera: His World and Ours - Tonatiuh, Duncan
• Good-bye Havana! Hola New York - Colón, Edie
• Hey, 13! - Soto, Gary
• How Tía Lola Ended Up Starting Over - Alvarez, Julia
• How Tía Lola Saved the Summer - Alvarez, Julia
• Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck - Engle, Margarita
• I Kick the Ball/Pateo el balón - Zepeda, Gwendolyn
• If I Could Fly - Cofer, Judith Ortiz
• Illegal - Restrepo, Bettina
• The Land of Lost Things/El país de las cosas perdidas - Bursztyn, Dina
• Ladder to the Moon - Soetoro-Ng, Maya; illus by Morales, Yuyi
• Let's Dance!/¡A Bailar! - Cofer, Judith Ortiz
• Mamá and Me - Dorros, Arthur; illus by Gutierrez, Rudy
• A Mango in the Hand: A Story Told through Proverbs - Sacre, Antonio
• Marisol MacDonald Doesn't Match/Marisol McDonald no combina - Brown, Monica
• Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel - Garza, Xavier
• Milagro of the Spanish Bean Pot - Romero-Anderson, Emerita
• The Monster in the Mattress and Other Stories/El monstruo en el colchón y otros cuentos - De Anda, Diane
• Pepita and the Bully/Pepita y la peleonera - Lachtman, Ofelia Dumas
• SkateFate - Herrera, Juan Felipe
• Ten Little Puppies/Diez perritos - Ada, Alma Flor
• Tía Isa Wants a Car - Medina, Meg
• Under the Mesquite - McCall, Guadalupe Garcia
• Waiting for the Biblioburro - Brown, Monica

If you know of other books that could be included in this list, please, let me know. In the mean time, I'll be getting ready to watch the webcast anouncement of the ALA Media Awards this Monday Jan. 23, 2012 - 7:45 CT.

Raising Soli

2011-10-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

The last four months of my work have been impregnated and defined by a dog. And not any dog but a dangerous one, some would say.

Soli arrive to our family in May when her original foster person, one of my neighbors, became too terrified of the pup to be able to handle him any more due to his aggressive behavior. At the time Soli was about four months old.

Last week, Soli was accepted at Miranda's animal Rescue, thus beginning a new journey of recovery and learning for both Soli and our family. Here is a series of images I have collected of our journey with my Soli.

And now Soli becomes also art.Threshold, by Yuyi Morales. toilet paper tubes , paper, and light.
Assignment for Heroes Art Journey workshop

Mexican summer production

2011-08-20T23:20:00.000-07:00

At the silversmith workshop this year, Lalo taught me how to do lost wax work. I began carving and sculpting my pieces in wax.
A botanical sacred heart, a seashell pendant,

And a necklace with a stone insert

Lalo attached all of my pieces, and other student's productions, into a wax tree to make a plaster mold.

The melting of the silver took place in Lencho's ovens at his studio in Coatepec. Vulcano's place was invaded by wild cats. I couldn't count them all, neither pet them.

Melted silver entered the mold in a centrifugal machine

The mold accepted the silver and it looked like sushi

The water boiled instantly while it liberated the silver from the plaster mold

Now a silver tree still to be separated piece by piece. Nothing looked like silver artwork yet

but soon things began to appear...

Here the finished pieces:

My Mexican production

2011-07-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

My friend Alex deserved to have a cumbia made to him. He would dance it, I know. That was how masses of friends from his Zumba class decided to join me and made this video for him. Yes, he is that kind of teacher who would take his shirt off in the middle of the class. Below are the lyrics.

LA CUMBIA PROMETIDA
by Yuyi morales and Kelly O

Ay, sabrocita
Esta cumbia la tengo muy bien pegadita.

Ay, sabrocita
Esta cumbia la tengo muy bien pegadita.

Es la cumbia de la Zumba que un día yo a el prometí.
Es una cuenta concentrada de virtudes y valores,
excedentes, pertinentes, ocurrentes, oponentes
que tan solo son posibles en cholos aquí presentes.

Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.
Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.

El es perfecto. Si
No es creído. No
Un papichulo. Si
Muy pizpireto. Yo?

El es muy guapo. Si
Comprometido. No
Conmigo zumba. Si
Solo conmigo. Hmmm...

Yo era muy bien portadita, niña buena, aerobics girl,
cuando sin ni mas ni menos escuche su regatón.
Ay chiquito, que fue eso? De repente apareció,
como bajado del cielo, llego Alex es Amor.

Los gritos fueron mi alivio, los bochornos acepte,
que el corazón se acelere , y que el sudor a mi me de.
800 calorias, cada dia el prometio,
si le muevo al merengue y le salto al hip -hop

Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.
Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.

Tentaciones―Si
Artimañas―No
Una samba―si
La lambada. Ay Dios.

Se cree muy sexi―Si
No es celoso―No
a mi me quiere.―Si
Zumba!

Ay mamita, santa madre, no me juzgues por favor.

Es cierto que había puesto a san Antonio en un rincón,
lo tenia de cabeza y le ofrecí una oración.
La respuesta fue del cielo. Así fue como paso,
que llegara un Zumba instructor como el que quería yo.

Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.
Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.

Mueve los hombros―Si
Shakea las nalgas.―No
Da vuelta y media.―Si
Ay, que impresión!

Da el warming up―Si
Trae substitutos―No
Tira besitos―Si
La camisa se quito!

Que puedo hacer, mamita linda, si del cielo me bajo,
un Dios tatuado, acelerado, bien peinado, muy bronceado,
acholado, PUA entrenado, zumbeando al ritmo de cumbia,
tantísima perfección.

El lo sabe de antemano, la verdad es su prisión,
que el carece de defectos la mejor de sus virtudes
es que el me quiere un montón.
el me quiere un montón
el me quiere un montón

Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.
Ay, perdí la cuenta, me distrajo su boom boom.

Photos from the show

2011-07-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

Some images from this years ALA in New Orleans are in PW
Here my own offerings Can you tell who there people are?:

Getting ready for the Quiceañera!

2011-06-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

It is only a few hours before I fly to New Orleans for an grand ALA celebration.
If you are around, here are a few places where you will find me:

Saturday, June 25
9:30-11 am, Maya Soetoro-Ng and I will be signing Ladder to the Moon in the Candlewick booth #1023
12:00-1:30pm, Maya and I will be speaking at Many Voices, One Nation, at the Hotel Monteleone --Queen Anne Br.
3:00-4:00pm. Signing in the HMH booth #1539-1540

Sunday, June 26
a great day!
1:00-4-00pm The Pura Belpre Award celebrates ist 15th aniversary with a big "Quinceañera" party. (convention Center-RM 293-296).
7:00pm. Caldecolt/Newberry Awards Banquet, including a reception with a Red Carpet event.

Who want s to come with me?