Newbery-winning Latina writer spreads joy of reading at United Community Center school

When Newbery-medal winning author Meg Medina visits schools, her goal is always to "be a book friend to children."

And her method is to give one-minute book talks.

"I believe that, in one minute, I can tell someone, anyone, about a book I'm reading, what I love about it and why I think they may like it, all in an intriguing way," Medina said.

Medina, who is the first Latina writer to serve as national ambassador for young people's literature, gave a few book talks as part of a visit with third and fourth graders at the United Community Center on Milwaukee's south side on June 25.

And Shaba Martinez, the UCC school's director of academics and technology, said Medina succeeded in intriguing her audience.

"She's a great spokesperson for knowing what it takes to engage kids in reading, how important it is to find that little thing that intrigues them or excites them," Martinez said. "She introduced one book about walruses by playing a YouTube clip of the sounds walruses make, and now I want to find the book to read to my kids."

Medina sees these book talks as an engaging way to combat the idea that kids can pick up in school that "reading is often seen as something you have to master to do well on the test, to check the book off the list, to do a report and a vocabulary test off of it, all until you've beaten the joy out of books."

She also sees the book talks as a casual, friendly way to respect children's opinions about their reading experiences.

At the UCC, after Medina spoke about some of her favorites, she invited third grader Francisco Paredones and fourth grader Valentina Vega, who had been chosen ahead of time to be cuentistas — the Spanish word for storytellers — to share their own book talks.

Medina said she invites children to share their book talks by starting with the Spanish welcoming phrase, "Cuéntame."

"It translates loosely to 'so, tell me,' like an opening welcoming phrase among friends," Medina said. "It's like, 'hey, what's up, tell me about this book you love.'"

For Vega, it was an Arthur book that was the first book her parents read to her as a young child, and for Paredones, who Medina explained is "a big nonfiction person," an "I survived" book about Sept. 11.

After their book talks, Medina asked follow-up questions, encouraging Paredones to talk about what he does when he reads something uncomfortable or scary, and asking Vega to talk about how she feels when her parents read to her.

"I also asked the audience if they remember those moments of their parents reading to them, and, yes, of course, everyone remembers that," Medina said. "Book talks show our commonalities and knit us together. What happens is you learn about the book, yes, but you learn about the people who love the book, and that creates community."

'An affirmation of Latino culture'

Community is a recurring theme in Medina's books, some of which UCC teachers integrated into classroom lessons in the last few weeks of the school year in anticipation of Medina's visit.

Many students enjoyed two of Medina's bestselling books. One, "Merci Suárez Changes Gears," is the first in a series about a middle-school-aged girl as she navigates growing up in a close, extended bilingual family. Medina won the Newbery Medal for the 2018 book, which is awarded each year to "the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year," according to the American Library Association .

Younger children enjoyed Medina's picture book, "Mango, Abuela and me."

"It's about a little girl who doesn't speak fluent Spanish and her grandma who speaks no English, and the parrot who helps them communicate," Medina said. "I think that has ended up being a bestseller because so many kids have the experience of living in families where different people speak different languages, or communicating with a new classmate who doesn't speak English."

Medina, who centers Latino children, often with big families, in her books, appreciated the community atmosphere of the UCC.

"Everywhere you look, it's an affirmation of Latino culture, the voices, the history, all in the most beautiful way," Medina said. "What stayed with me is that many of the kids, when they finish school there, they come back with their own children. That really speaks to how Latino families and many immigrant communities operate, how you get here, you establish yourself and you give a hand to the next people coming behind you."

Medina — who is first-generation Cuban American — said her mother didn't read English well and didn't "know the canon of American children's literature."

"But none of that stopped me from being a reader and finding stories and figuring out how to bring my own family story to add to the American story," Medina said. "That piece has always felt very important to me, to give kids a chance to raise up their own vision as well and to allow for all kinds of roles and aspirations and stories for themselves."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Newbery-winning Latina writer spreads joy of reading at United Community Center school