Boricuas Live in Resistance...
with Karina Nicole González author of The Coquíes Still Sing
#NuevasPaginasconLupita is a space that is both an archive and resource aimed to "spotlight" Hispanic/Latinx/e authors with newly published books. The goal is to connect readers to new and/or old favorite Hispanic/Latinx/e authors and their books! So give this & every post a share to help us reach more readers!
How does it work?!
Here’s the deal, I came up with a set of casual/random/funny questions to ask each Hispanic/Latinx/e author, I interview. For now, the questions will all be the same but maybe in the future I’ll launch this into more specific questions to the author or maybe I’ll turn this series into a mini-podcast, or maybe……well, you get it! The possibilities are endless.
If you are new here don’t forget to check out all the other amazing interviews! We also have a great line-up of guest authors coming up so make sure you don’t miss an issue by subscribing now!
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Hey Heyyy Book Franz!
I know it’s been a while. Summer has gotten the best of me and life has been hectic (in a good way) and to be honest, there are still a few more big-ish events coming my way before things start to settle down for me. For example - my wife got me a ticket to go see BAD BUNNY in concert in DC just last night (its the reason this is showing up in your inbox on a Wednesday instead of a Tuesday)!! It was an EPIC night and I sort of lost my voice singing along so hard (see evidence below lol).
But for real between things like the Bad Bunny concert and the bookish events, I get to host or the TikToks/Posts I’m making about books I’m reading - it gets hard to juggle everything. So thank you for your patience while I gather myself to keep bringing you all these wonderful interviews with authors you must get to know!
Today’s special guest author could honestly not be more perfect (I promise I didn’t plan it this way)! She’s got so many amazing things to say about resistance, home, hope and so much more. I’m really excited for you all to read this one and please make sure to share it with friends and family!
Without further ado, our special guest author today is….Karina Nicole González author of The Coquíes Still Sing….
Could you tell me a bit about where this photo was taken? Is it special to your book in some way?
This photo was taken inside of my classroom at the school I work at in Brooklyn, NY. The night before, I received the first copies of my debut picture book! Seeing my book in a bookstore or library will be an emotional experience for me, but placing it on my spotlight bookshelf in my classroom is an incomparable feeling. I couldn’t stop looking up at it with pride and amazement. It’s still so wild to me!
Tell me about your book without telling me about your book - share any literary inspirations behind your book! If there are none, the gap you wanted to fill in the literary canon with your book.
In my undergraduate college years, I attended the University of Puerto Rico Recinto Mayagüez, and while there I began reading and studying the poetry of Julia de Burgos and the soul-stirring stories of Eduardo Galeano. Isn’t it amazing how people you’ve never met, and who have since passed away, can change your life forever? I never conceptualized writing as an art form or a tool for personal and political liberation until I read their poems and books. And it wasn’t until I began working with school-aged children that I discovered the magic of picture books. The Coquíes Still Sing is an attempt at capturing the poetic nostalgia of home and love for humanity and madre tierra that is at the core of the written artistry of Julia de Burgos and Eduardo Galeano. In my heart, they live on.
What are two central themes in your book that you connect with the most and why?
I connect most with themes related to resistance and hope. Like other colonized populations, Boricuas live in resistance. We have resisted the erasure of our culture and history for more than a century within the archipelago of Puerto Rico and in the diaspora. Therefore, our creative expressions reflect that reality whether explicitly or implicitly. And to resist is to hold hope in your heart – hope that the unjust conditions you’re experiencing will change for the better.
Resistance doesn’t only look like a protest, it can be as simple and peaceful as cultivating your own garden or sharing food with neighbors. Even though Puerto Rico has plenty of arable land, Boricuas living in the archipelago rely heavily on imported produce from the U.S. because of policies and laws created to profit from colonization. Similarly, many public schools have been shut down or privatized for profit, forcing students to commute to schools farther away. There are a few scenes in the book where we see Elena reading under her tree, and to me, those scenes depict resistance as well. She resists the unjust conditions in her life, including her school being shut down, by feeding her mind with knowledge through books. Books can teach us how to think critically, to question, and to ultimately, become a free thinker.
If a book was home, where would your home be?
Aguadilla! When I’m there, I get to wake up to birdsongs and feel the breeze whip around me. It’s a reawakening to the natural, tropical world that I miss so dearly when I’m in Brooklyn. And in Aguadilla, I’m so close to the ocean. Looking out at the ocean’s horizon gives me butterflies. It feels like the most powerful, energetic force on the planet. A force that implores honesty and simplicity.
If your book was a famous musician who would it be?
COQUÍES would be a mix of two musicians whose music has had an influence on me and thereby this story. Firstly, Mercedes Sosa, the voice of América Latina, sang with incomparable passion about humanity and the environment. Her concert in Switzerland from 1980 is available on Youtube and it’s astoundingly beautiful. When she sings, I feel energized with tremendous hope for humanity.
And of course, el sonero mayor, Ismael ‘Maelo’ Rivera, sang so lovingly about Puerto Rico. Borinqueneando is a favorite, and served as a musical backdrop during some of my revision sessions.
What comfort food could a reader pair with your book?
There’s a scene in The Coquíes Still Sing where we see the family and neighbors cultivate the garden after Hurricane María. I love to imagine the harvest that they’ll discover in the garden months later, perhaps an array of starchy vegetables like yuca, batata, or plátano. When I think of comfort food, I think of root veggies like in a garlicky sopa de viandas.
My Abuela would also incorporate ripe mangos that I’d collect from her tree into a fruit juice with parcha and guava. I could also imagine that same tart yet sweet juice placed alongside The Coquíes Still Sing at a dining room table covered in that plastic tablecloth that seemingly all families had in Puerto Rico in the 90s – and perhaps, even now in the present?!
In what ways has access (or little to no access) to Hispanic/Latinx/e literature defined you as a writer?
Wow – when I was a kid, not only did I never see my culture reflected in a picture book, but I craved hearty stories with human characters. I loved animal stories, but after age 7, anthropomorphism felt tired. We can communicate human emotions and convey the intricacies of family relationships/friendships through human characters, too, not only through inanimate objects or animals.
I struggled connecting to picture books or even chapter books because I had a very atypical childhood, and I turned to books to help me understand, but to no avail. During my first years as a bilingual speech-language pathologist at an elementary school, I sought out contemporary picture books that reflected not only racial diversity, but also stories that centered families from a working class background. Mi Papi Tiene Una Moto/My Papi Has a Motorcycle, by Isabel Quintero, was a favorite amongst my students because many of them have fathers who work in construction or ride motorcycles and bikes. They immediately connected to the text, and of course, were drawn in by Zeke Peña’s delightful illustrations. That was a major lightbulb moment.
Early reading experiences are so important because educators and parents can foster a love for reading by simply presenting stories that resonate with children. They are formative because they can either cultivate a love for literature or alienate them from reading entirely. The stakes are high. Children from low-income households are acutely aware of the challenges of daily living, and deserve books that encourage them to access their prior knowledge or first-hand experiences to comprehend the meaning of a text. This awareness is what inspires me to write stories that center families from a working-class background, and particularly families from Latinoamérica.
Where can readers keep up with your work?
You can find me posting book updates and info about language/narrative development most frequently on IG: @karina.nikole and Twitter: @wordsbykarina. You can contact me through my website, too: www.karinanikole.com.
A huge thank you to Karina Nicole González for taking the time to chat with me about her book! Please please make sure you purchase a copy (or request your local library carry a copy) of her book #SupportLatinxLit!
Karina Nicole González spent her childhood between New Jersey and Puerto Rico. She is an educator and speech-language pathologist for NYC public schools, where Karina uses story-telling as a tool for language development with her elementary school students. Karina lives in Brooklyn with her partner, Aaron. She is the author of The Coquíes Still Sing.
Synopsis for The Coquíes Still Sing Bookshop website:
A powerful story about home, community, and hope, inspired by the rebuilding of Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in 2017, written by debut author Karina González and illustrated by Krystal Quiles.
The coquí frogs sing to Elena from her family's beloved mango tree--their calls so familiar that they might as well be singing, "You are home, you are safe." But home is suddenly not safe when a hurricane threatens to destroy everything that Elena knows.
As time passes, Elena, alongside her community, begins to rebuild their home, planting seeds of hope along the way. When the sounds of the coquíes gradually return, they reflect the resilience and strength of Elena, her family, and her fellow Puerto Ricans.
The Coquíes Still Sing is also available in Spanish.