Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina

Her works have been called “heartbreaking,” “lyrical” and “must haves for every collection.” Her books include the Suárez family trilogy including Merci Suárez Changes Gears, 2019 John Newbery Medal winner, and 2019 Charlotte Huck Honor Book Merci Suárez Can’t Dance, one of the 50 most anticipated novels of 2021, according to Kirkus and Merci Suárez Plays It Cool, which was named a Best Book of 2022 by PARENTS, Kirkus, and The Horn Book magazines. She is an award-winning and New York Times best-selling author who writes picture books, as well as middle grade and young adult fiction. Meg dances a mean, mean salsa.Meg Medina is the current National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature. When she’s not writing or community organizing, you’ll find her playing with her dog, chowing down Milk Duds, or salsa dancing.

Meg lives with her family in Richmond, Virginia. Today, she writes the kinds of stories she would have wanted to have as kid. Meg was a lifelong reader, but it wasn’t until she was in her twenties, when she picked up House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, that she saw herself and her life experiences on the written page. She grew up in a Spanish-speaking household filled with aunts, uncles, and grandparents, all of whom were tireless storytellers. Meg serves on the Advisory Committee for We Need Diverse Books, the grassroots organization working to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people.īorn in Alexandria, Virginia and raised by her mother in Queens, New York, Meg was the first natural American citizen in her family. In addition to writing, Meg is active in community projects that support girls, Latino youth, and writing. Her 2016 YA novel, Burn Baby Burn, was long listed for the National Book Award and shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize. Her work has earned several distinctions, including the 2019 Newbery Medal for Merci Suárez Changes Gears (Candlewick 2018), which was also a Kirkus Prize finalist and a Charlotte Huck 2018 honor book the 2016 Pura Belpré Honor medal for her picture book, Mango, Abuela and Me the 2014 Pura Belpré medal for her young adult novel, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass and the 2012 Ezra Jack Keats New Writers Medal for her picture book Tia Isa Wants a Car. Her work features strong Latinx characters, and it examines the places where culture, family and growing up intersect. Meg Medina writes picture books, middle grade novels, and teen fiction.

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina