Featured Authors

Below is the 2007 list of authors who will be part of the exciting Feria del Libro: A Family Book Fair on Saturday, June 2nd, 2007. We are proud to say that we are bringing a varied group of prize winning authors for you and your family to enjoy. You will hear and see some of them on the stages and you will meet many of them in the exhibitor booths where they will be signing their books for you.

Rigoberta Menchú Tum was born on January 9, 1959 to a poor Indian peasant family and raised in the Quiche branch of the Mayan culture. In her early years she helped with the family farm work, either in the northern highlands where her family lived, or on the Pacific coast, where both adults and children went to pick coffee on the big plantations.

Over the years, Rigoberta Menchú Tum has become widely known as a leading advocate of Indian rights and ethno-cultural reconciliation, not only in Guatemala but in the Western Hemisphere generally, and her work has earned her several international awards.

She was the recipient of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize and Prince of Asturias Award in 1998. Menchú is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. She is the subject of the testimonial biography I, Rigoberta Menchú (1983) and the author of the autobiographical work, Crossing Borders.

On February 12, 2007, Menchú announced that she would form an indigenous political party and that she would stand in the 2007 presidential election. If elected, she would be Latin America's fourth indigenous president after Mexico's Benito Juárez, Peru's Alejandro Toledo and Bolivia's Evo Morales, and the second Nobel laureate after Costa Rica's Óscar Arias to become president. She would also be Guatemala's first female president.

Henry Franklin Winkler is a Golden Globe Award-winning actor, director, producer and author who is most famous for his role as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the popular sitcom Happy Days (1974–1984). Winkler gained national fame for his auto mechanic-greaser role as "The Fonz", starting out as a minor character at the show's beginning but having top billing by the time the show ended.

"I am so looking forward to meeting and reading to the children on June 2nd, and to let them know that there is greatness in every one of them."
  
  "Yo estoy emosionado por saludarlos y de leerles a los niños el 2 de Junio, y les dejo saber que todos los niños son maravillosos."

José-Luis Orozco is a nationally-recognized children's author,songwriter, performer, and multicultural educator . Orozco was born in Mexico City, where he grew fond of music at a young age, learning traditional songs from his paternal grandmother. He is the author of three children's bilingual songbooks: De Colores and Other Latin American Folk Songs for Children (Dutton 1994), Diez Deditos: Ten Little Fingers (Dutton 1997), and Fiestas .

José-Luis Orozco's latest book Rin, Rin, Rin...Do, Re, Mi, is a fully illustrated bilingual (English and Spanish language) children's book which features delightful lyrics and tells the story of a child asking his family to sing to me, count with me, say letters to me, say words to me, and read to me.  Beautiful illustrations by Coldecott Medal Recipient artist David Diaz take the boy through his day as he enjoys the company of his loving family. 
http://www.joseluisorozco.com

Max Benavidez is a teacher, writer, art historian, and independent scholar working in Los Angeles. He, along with Cheech Marin, Constance Cortez and Tere Romo co-edited the 2002 compilation Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge. His most recent work includes consultation for Los Angeles' La Plaza de Cultura y Arte and a book entitled "Maria De Flor/ a Day of the Dead Story: Una Historia Del Dia De Los Muertos".

"Reading is the greatest gift we can give our children. When children know how to read they realize that anything is possible: you just have to imagine it."

Victoria Rowell is the founder of the Rowell Foster Children’s Positive Plan, which provides scholarships in arts and education to foster and adopted youth. She also serves as national spokesperson for the Annie E. Casey Foundation/Casey Family Services and National Foster Care Month (www.nationalfostercaremonth.org). In recognition for her humanitarian work, she has received numerous awards, including the United Nations Association Award, and was selected by 193 members of congress as a congressional Angel in Adoption. 

Amada Irma Perez is a third-grade teacher in Oxnard, California, and a leading advocate of programs encouraging multicultural understanding. Like many of her students, Amada Irma was born in Mexico and came to the United States as a young child.  True to the "write what you know" philosophy, Amada Irma based My Diary from Here to There on her own journey across the border as a girl with her large family. Her diary helped her express her feelings, and is also a way to keep the story alive for others.

Ignacio Gomez is the feria artist for 2007. Ignacio Gomez was born and raised in East Los Angeles, California. His father was an immigrant from Piedras Negras, Mexico and his mother from Zacatecas, Mexico. A graduate of Roosevelt High School, he studied commercial art at Los Angeles Trade Technical College. He worked at McDonnell Douglas to save money to enter Art Center College of Design which is now in Pasadena. His works have been shown in New York, Europe, Japan and Mexico. His vast collection of posters, encouraging youth to strive for the highest in education, have become a positive enforcement to many Latino students.

Authors in Schools
(These authors have been visiting the schools during the month of May and you are very likely to find them in a book vendor booth signing their books and visiting with students!)

• Jorge Argueta
• Caroline Arnold
• Max Benavidez
• Rene Colato
• Titus Campos
• Shelly Corwin
• Sean Diviny
• Mary Gallardo
• Christie Gregory
• Matthew Gollub
• Loreta Lopez
• Carolyn Marsden
• Richard Meyers
• Ogo Okoye-Johnson
• Sola Sabina
• Ann Stalcup
• Brenda Roberts
• Tom Waldman
• WriteGirl (3-4 high school students)
• Debbie Yamada

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