Mónica Brown (born October 24, 1969) is an American academic and author of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

. Known for her ''Lola Levine'' and ''

Sarai Sarai, Serai, or Saraj may refer to: Places * Sarai (city), a large medieval city, and the capital city of the Golden Horde * Saray-Jük, the ''Little Sarai'' of the Golden Horde Azerbaijan * Sarai Village, an old Turkic village in Absheron ...

'' chapter book series, as well as numerous biographies covering such Latin American luminaries as

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also k ...

Celia Cruz Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of , earning the nickna ...

Dolores Huerta Dolores Huerta (born April 10, 1930) is an American labor leader and feminist activist. After working for several years with the Community Service Organization (CSO), she co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) with fellow activ ...

, and

Cesar Chavez Cesario Estrada Chavez (; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and lesser known Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), ...

, she writes relatable characters that highlight the nuance and diversity of the Latinx experience and girl empowerment. Her motivation is to show that bicultural children are not made up of cultural fractions but whole people with a rich and vibrant cultural heritage, such as her character the bicultural red-headed Peruvian-Scottish-American Marisol McDonald. Brown is also an English professor at

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1899, it was the third and final university established in the Arizona Territory. It is one of the three universities gove ...

Early life

Brown was born on October 24, 1969, in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mountain V ...

, to Isabel Maria Vexler Valdivieso from Piura, Peru, and Daniel Doronda Brown from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Monica is Mestiza and Romanian-Jewish on her mother's side and Hungarian Jewish, Scottish and Italian on her father's side. Brown was raised Catholic and converted to Judaism as an adult. Throughout her childhood, Brown took numerous vacations to visit her mother's family in Peru. Her diverse upbringing influences her work most notably in the character Lola Levine whose Jewish-Peruvian-American ancestry mirrors Brown's.

Career

Brown earned a B.A. in English from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

, in 1991, an M.A. in English from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

in 1994, and a Ph.D. in English from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

in 1998. She is a tenured professor at Northern Arizona University, where she teaches courses on Chicano, African American, and Multi-ethnic literature. She has been a recipient of a Most Significant Creative or Artistic Achievement Award from Northern Arizona University. Giving birth to her daughters motivated Brown to begin writing children's books that reflected the significant contributions of the people of the Americas. Brown finds inspiration in her Peruvian and Jewish heritage and a commitment to bring diverse stories to children Brown's books are often published as dual language editions. She has even had one translated into

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...

an indigenous language of the Andes. Brown published her first children's book, ''My Name is Celia: the Life of Celia Cruz'' (''Me llamo Celia: la vida de Celia Cruz''), published bilingually in English and Spanish in 2004, for which she won the Américas Award for Children's Literature. In her 2011 book ''Waiting for the Biblioburro'', Brown works to showcase the power of literacy and education by telling the story of a Colombian educator who reaches remote communities in Colombia with a donkey powered library. The book won a

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organizatio ...

in 2012. Brown's 2012 book ''Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People'' won her a second Américas Award for Children's Literature, and in 2015 she won the Judy Goddard Award in Children's Literature. Brown's book ''Frida Kahlo and her Animalitos'' was selected by ''The New York Times'' as one of the best illustrated books of 2017. In that year, she received a Valle del Sol Award for Latino Excellence In Art, Culture & Literature. Brown has also been a recipient of the Victoria Foundation's Professor Alberto Rios Award and an Outstanding Latino/a in the Literary Arts Award. In 2018, Brown launched a chapter-book series ''Sarai'', co-authored with child actress and internet sensation Sarai Gonzalez. The series is targeted at children 7-10 and is inspired by events in Sarai's life.

Bibliography

Children's Books

Source: * ''My Name Is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz / Me llamo Celia: la vida de Celia Cruz''. Luna Rising, 2004. ; Américas Award for Children's Literature * ''My Name Is Gabriela: The Life of Gabriela Mistral / Me llamo Gabriela: La vida de Gabriela Mistral''. Luna Rising, 2005. ; Críticas starred review * ''Butterflies on Carmen Street''. Piñata Books, 2007. * ''My Name Is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez / Me llamo Gabito: la vida de Gabriel García Márquez''. Cooper Square Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-0873589086;

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

starred review, Críticas Best Books of 2007,

Junior Library Guild Junior Library Guild, formerly the Junior Literary Guild, is a commercial Book sales club, book club devoted to juvenile literature. It was created in 1929 as one of the enterprises of the Literary Guild, an adult book club created in 1927 by Samue ...

Premier Selection * ''Pelé, King of Soccer / Pelé, el rey del fútbol''.

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, 2008. ;

Kirkus ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, non ...

starred review * ''Side by Side: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez / Lado a lado, La Historia de Dolores Huerta y César Chávez''. HarperCollins, 2010. ISBN 978-0061227813;

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

Nominee, Smithsonian Institution's Notable Book for Children * ''Chavela and the Magic Bubble''.

Clarion Books HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the " Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster. HarperCollins is ...

, 2010. ;

Charlotte Zolotow Award The Charlotte Zolotow Award is an American literary award presented annually for outstanding writing in a picture book published in the United States during the preceding year. By contrast, the Caldecott Medal is for outstanding illustration in a ...

– Commended book * ''Waiting for the Biblioburro''.

Tricycle Press Ten Speed Press is a publishing house founded in Berkeley, California, in 1971 by Phil Wood. It was bought by Random House in February 2009 and became part of their Crown Publishing Group division. History Wood worked with Barnes & Noble in 1962 ...

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

, 2011. ;

for Literature for Young People,

International Latino Book Awards The International Latino Book Awards (ILBA) are annual awards given to authors, translators, and illustrators for books written in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. Founded in 1997, the ILBA is listed as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquar ...

: Best Children's Fiction Picture Book – Bilingual (second place) * ''Clara and the Curandera / Clara y la curandera''. Piñata Books, 2011. * ''Pablo Neruda, Poet of the People''.

Henry Holt and Co. Henry Holt and Company is an American book-publishing company based in New York City. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt. The company publishes in the fields of American ...

, 2011. ; Américas Award for Children's Literature, Orbis Pictus Award Honor for Outstanding Nonfiction Honor for Outstanding Nonfiction, Kirkus starred review * ''Tito Puente, Mambo King / Tito Puente, Rey del Mambo''. HarperCollins, 2013. ;

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

Association for Library Service to Children The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is a division of the American Library Association. ALSC has over 4,000 members, including children, experts in children's literature, publishers, faculty members, and other adults. The Associa ...

(ALSC) Notable Children's Books, Tejas Star Book Finalist, School Library Journal's “Top 10 Latino-themed Books of 2013, Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature Best Multicultural Books of 2013 * ''Conoce a Pablo Picasso''. Loqueleo, 2014. * ''Girl Power 5-Minute Stories''.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company ( ; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, and reference works. The company is based in the Financial District, Boston, Boston Financial District. It was fo ...

, 2015. * ''Maya's Blanket / La Manta de Maya''. Children's Book Press/Lee & Low, 2015. * ''Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos''. NorthSouth Books, 2017. ISBN 978-0735842694; Pura Belpré Honor for Illustration * ''Meet the Joobles / Iconoce a los Jobbles''. Fair Indigo, 2020. * ''Sharuko: el arqueólogo Peruano / Peruvian Archaeologist''. Children's Book Press/Lee & Low, 2020. ; Pura Belpré Honor for Illustration, The Horn Book starred review, School Library Journal starred review, Booklist starred review * ''Small Room, Big Dreams: The Journey of Julián and Joaquin Castro''. Quill Tree Books, 2021. * ''She Persisted: Diana Taurasi''. Philomel Books, 2022. Marisol McDonald picture books * ''Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match / Marisol McDonald no combina''.

Children's Book Press Lee & Low Books is an independent children's book publisher focusing on diversity. History Lee & Low was founded in 1991 by Chinese Americans Tom Low and Philip Lee as a children's book publisher specializing in books featuring people of color a ...

/ Lee & Low, 2011. ; Tejas Star Book Award, American Library Association Notable Book Award, Pura Belpré Honor, International Latino Book Award for Best Bilingual Book
Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award Nominee
(picture book), Kirkus starred review, Junior Library Guild Premier Selection * ''Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash / Marisol McDonald y la fiesta sin igual''. Children's Book Press/Lee & Low, 2013. ; Tejas Star Book Award, International Latino Book Awards: Best Children’s Fiction Book, School Library Journal’s “Top 10 Latino-themed Books of 2013" * ''Marisol McDonald and the Monster / Marisol McDonald y El Monstruo''. Children's Book Press/Lee & Low, 2016. Lola Levine series * ''Lola Levine Is Not Mean!''

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

, 2015. * ''Lola Levine Drama Queen''. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2015. * ''Lola Levine and the Ballet Scheme''. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2016. * ''Lola Levine meets Jelly and Bean''. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2017. * ''Lola Levine and the Vacation Dream''. Brown Books for Young Readers, 2017. * ''Lola Levine and the Halloween Scream''. Brown Books for Young Readers, 2017. Sarai series, with Sarai Gonzalez * ''Sarai and the Meaning of Awesome''. Scholastic, 2018. * ''Sarai in the Spotlight''. Scholastic, 2018. * ''Sarai Saves the Music''. Scholastic, 2019. * ''Sarai and the Around the World Fair''. Scholastic, 2019.

Academic Book

* ''Gang Nation: Delinquent Citizens in Puerto Rican, Chicano and Chicana Narratives''. University of Minnesota Press, 2002.

References

External links

Official website
''Cynsations'', March 3, 2013
Meet Monica Brown
''Reading Rockets'', August 30, 2016
Picture Perfect How Diverse is your Classroom Library?
''Teaching Tolerance'', Issue 46, Spring 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Monica 1969 births Living people People from Mountain View, California Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences alumni Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Northern Arizona University faculty American children's writers American people of Peruvian descent American people of Italian descent American people of Scottish descent American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Converts to Judaism from Roman Catholicism Jews from California