Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with award-winning author Margarita Engle at the annual meeting of ANCA, the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, located in Fresno, California.
On Friday, September 25, following a reception at 6:00 p.m., Margarita will deliver her presentation “Finding the Poetry in History”. ANCA president Denise Sciandra will then introduce a presentation of Jane Addams Award-winning books by community activist Ellie Bluestein. There is no admission charge for this event but you must make a reservation so click here for details.
Margarita is the Cuban-American author of three novels, written in free verse, for young people:
* The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, which won the Pura Belpré Award, the Americas Award, and many other national awards;
* The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom, about a freed slave who treated the wounded from both sides in Cuba’s 19th-century struggle for independence; winner of the Pura Belpré Award, the Americas Award and the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, and a 2009 Newbery Honor book;
* Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba, published in April 2009, and already winning rave reviews.
Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards are given annually to children’s books published the preceding year that effectively promote the cause of peace, social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races, as well as meeting conventional standards for excellence. Margarita’s book The Surrender Tree won this year’s award in the Books for Older Children category.