| SAN
MARCOS, TEXAS — “I loved my brothers.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be near them. I
just needed a place of my own.”
In Amada Irma Perez’s book My Very Own Room: Mi propio
cuartito, a young girl realizes her dream of getting her
own room (a converted closet) through determination and the
help of her family, a dream taken for granted by most but
treasured by many.
Because
of its originality in presentation and its heartwarming message
of family unity and determination, My Very Own Room: Mi
propio cuartito, written by Perez and illustrated by Maya
Christina Gonzalez, is being awarded the 2000 Tomas Rivera
Mexican American Children’s Book Award.
The
award, sponsored by Southwest Texas State University’s
College of Education and endowed by the Anheuser-Busch Companies,
Inc., will be presented at 6 p.m. Sept. 27 in Southwestern
Writers Collection, Alkek Library, 7th floor. Perez will give
a presentation and sign copies of My Very Own Room
at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 27 on JCK’s 11th floor.
Perez
and Gonzalez, both from California, are the sixth set of winners
of the Tomas Rivera award. Perez is a third-grade teacher
in Oxnard, Calif. and a learning advocate of programs encouraging
multicultural understanding.
Perez
immigrated to the United States from Mexico as a child and
writes My Very Own Room based on her experience growing
up in poverty with five brothers. The book is written in both
Spanish and English with vivid artwork.
Gonzalez
is from San Francisco, Calif. where she works as a painter
and graphic artist. She is a mentor in the Children’s
Book Press outreach program and serves as an artist-in-residence
for a local elementary school.
According
to members of the committee, My Very Own Room is not
only a delight for children, but it epitomizes the significance
of the award, which is to raise awareness of the Mexican American
culture.
SWT
developed the award to congratulate and acknowledge authors
and illustrators dedicated to depicting the values and culture
of Mexican Americans. Tomas Rivera, who passed away in 1984,
graduated from SWT with both his bachelor’s and master’s
degree before receiving a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma.
He was the first Hispanic Distinguished Alumnus of SWT.Rivera
published his landmark novel in 1971, entitled ...y no
se lo trago la tierra/ ...And the Earth Did Not Part.
In 1979, he was appointed chancellor of the University of
California, the first Hispanic chancellor named to the University
of California system. |
