Spotlight: Moraline by Cintia Alfonso Fior

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Twelve-year-old Moraline Reed is about to run away from her problems—again.

Since moving from New York to California, Moraline has been pushing against a hot, dry wind whenever trouble happens. When she ends up on the wrong end of a cruel prank, she leaves the school camping trip, running, as always. This turns into the chance of a lifetime as Moraline meets a Lakota holy man who tells her she is the girl who runs against the wind, destined to put the winds back into balance by combatting injustice wherever she finds it.

A breath of magic leads her to new friendship and a mysterious stray fox who support her as she advocates for building peace both close to home and throughout her community. Together, they face some of the biggest issues of their time head-on.

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About the Author

Children’s fiction author Cintia Alfonso Fior first realized she wanted to be a writer after working with diverse underserved populations in South America, North America, and Africa. The perception of injustices and the great need to advocate for underserved populations, particularly children, inspired her to write her magical realism novel for young readers, Moraline. The book follows an outcast sixth-grade girl and covers important themes of racial literacy, social justice, and interconnectedness with the earth and the people around us.

Cintia Alfonso Fior is an educator, clinical psychologist, and the founder of Rising Advocates, an advocacy and educational platform dedicated to promoting children’s rights and environmental justice through storytelling and education.

Fior has a MA in Peace and Justice Studies from the Kroc Institute of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego and serves as the current chair of the American Family Therapy Academy’s (AFTA) Family Policy and Human Rights committee. 

When she isn’t writing impactful and socially conscious books for middle-grade readers, Fior is a qualitative researcher working in Africa and a Ph.D. candidate. She enjoys being a mother of three, tending to her garden, cooking, and running. Originally from Argentina, she lives in San Diego, California. Moraline is her debut novel.

Spotlight: Just Shake It Off! by Anh Sphabmixay

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Date Published: January 2023

Children, like grownups, feel a wide range of complicated emotions.

Children's social-emotional development, including their capacity for empathy and resilience building, may benefit greatly from adult support as they learn to recognize and constructively express their emotions. Emotions are neither positive nor negative; they just exist. Words are essential for children because they allow them to put names to their experiences and understand their environment.

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About the Author

Anh Sphabmixay lives with her family and a Yorkie named Abbie in Colorado. She is a wife and a devoted mother to a lively child who gives her all the motivation she needs. The love of her daughter made her want to write books and share them with everyone. When she's not looking for a word that rhymes with "love," she can be found spending time with her daughter, learning a new recipe, and taking way too many pictures of her daughter and dog. She also hopes that her books will make everyone who reads them happy and give them memories they will never forget.

Spotlight: Olive's Birthday by Elizabeth & Roger Milbourn

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Genre: Children's Picture Book

Olive is very excited about her birthday! What presents will she get? What sort of party will she have? What will her birthday cake be like? Help Olive Choose. In this first book of the Choosy Olive series, the reader gets to decide how Olive's birthday unfolds. See if you can dodge the odd outcomes. Help children feel empowered and learn about the consequences of choice from an early age in a fun and silly way with Olive as she embarks on her day to day childhood journey.

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About the Author

Elizabeth and Roger's children's book, Olive’s Birthday, has been a work in progress for over 5 years. Life got in the way a bit as did running around after their young children. Olive’s Birthday is the first book in the 'Choosy Olive' series, which allows readers to choose how the stories unfold. Elizabeth and Roger wanted to create something a bit different in a picture book and are passionate about giving children choices (within appropriate boundaries!) to empower them. Elizabeth is an avid reader and will read anything and everything but can barely go a day without an Agatha Christie fix. Roger loves children's books and reading to their children and is partial to a non-fiction. Elizabeth is Australian but has called England her home for nearly two decades. Her and Roger (originally from Liverpool) live in the Worcestershire countryside with their two children and quite a lot of pets. When not writing or reading, they spend most of their time washing mud off the children and the dog. 

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Spotlight: The Adventures of Winston the Pig: Meet Winston by Sarah Ambrosia Mulleneaux and Illustrated by Nadiya Lobanova

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Genre: Children's Picture Book 

Winston the pig is not like the other animals where he lives. He has big red glasses and loves eating more than almost anything. He also has a habit of getting into trouble. Join Winston on the first of many adventures as he tries to find his place in the world and learns some valuable lessons along the way. 

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About the Author

Sarah lives in Arizona with her husband, kids, and menagerie of pets including Winston the pig. She is a surgical nurse who loves writing and has enjoyed working on this book with her friend and colleague, Nadiya. She and her two sons also run a pooper scooper business called The Poop Fairy.

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About the Illustrator

Nadiya Lobanova is a medical and scientific illustrator with a surgical nursing background. Due to her wide interest in other fields, she is also keen on creating illustrations for children's books and thus teamed up with Sarah to visualize a wonderful story in hopes of bringing a bit more kindness to this world through a growing generation.

Spotlight: Hope and Fortune by Marissa Bañez

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Hope and Fortune is a modern-day fairytale, featuring multicultural, multiracial (e.g., Filipina, African-American, Latina, Asian, Muslim, etc.), multigenerational, and multigender (including a boy) fairies of different shapes and sizes who help a sad little child who has lost her way to find her path.  Each fairy represents an ideal - Hope, Innocence and Wonder, Truth and Virtue, Generosity and Kindness, Strength and Courage, Respect and Dignity, Confidence, Imagination, Happiness, Beauty, Wisdom and Intelligence, and Love and Friendship. Although the protagonist is a little girl, the life advice given by the fairies is non-gender-specific and could resonate with anyone facing a difficult situation at any point in her/his/their life.

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About the Author

A first-generation immigrant to the U.S. from the Philippines, Marissa Bañez is a graduate of Princeton University and a lawyer licensed to practice in New York, California, and New Jersey. She has published legal articles for the prestigious New York Law Journal and the American Bar Association, but her true passion is in her children's stories. She currently lives in New York City with her husband and daughter, whose childhood was filled with many original stories and puppet shows made up entirely by her mom. In her free time, Marissa likes to travel, design and make clothes, cook, binge-watch Star Trek shows and Korean dramas, and occasionally strum a guitar.

She is currently working on her second book, Hues and Harmony (How the Singing Rainbow Butterfly Got Her Colors), a story about mixed or multiracial children, self-discovery, and respect for others as told through the life and adventures of a caterpillar. It is scheduled for publication on July 20, 2023.

You can find her online:

Website: https://www.marissabanez.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marissa.banez.7/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissa-banez/

Spotlight: Invisible Trap by John Clay

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Release Date: January 3rd, 2023

Publisher: Archway Publishing

This book is a tool to help parents and children become aware of their emotions, why they feel the way they do, and work together to embrace the journey of life.

The Invisible Trap is an allegorical story of a child who leaves the safety and comfort of home. Soon he is overwhelmed by his new reality. Realizing he is all alone, he has to overcome his big emotions to gain clarity.

The Invisible Trap is the effect limiting beliefs have on our ability to function. This book embraces Integrated Psychological Leadership Theory and intends to help people learn emotional intelligence as early as possible.

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About the Author

John Clay served in the US Army from 2011 until 2022. The impact of his service left him angry, frustrated and scared. In 2017, his first daughter was born, and he realized he needed to address his emotional trauma. That's when he discovered his on Invisible Trap.

Connect:

Website: https://theinvisibletrap.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-c-clay