School Visits

PRESENTATIONS FOR STUDENTS

Read Alouds and Q&A (Grades 1 and up)

In this presentation, I share a read-aloud of one of my books and engage students in a lively Q&A about how stories come to life — from choosing a topic to turning an idea into a finished book. Depending on the title, the session may focus on either fiction or nonfiction.

Students are welcome to read the book ahead of time and come prepared with questions — I love when they ask me anything! Most of my books are available in both Spanish and English, and as a native Spanish speaker, I’m happy to lead a bilingual session.

Research Skills (Grades 3 and up)

Creating nonfiction books means becoming a detective — and using many different types of sources to uncover the facts. In this presentation, I walk students through the research process behind Call Me Roberto!: Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos, highlighting how I used newspapers, biographies, websites, and multimedia to tell Roberto Clemente’s story.

I also share behind-the-scenes insights from my other nonfiction books — Hispanic Star: Sonia Sotomayor, Hispanic Star: Ellen Ochoa and ¡Viva Valenzuela!: Fernandomania Erupts in Los Angeles — and the unique research challenges each one presented.

We’ll wrap up with a Q&A and a hands-on activity where students brainstorm topics they’re curious about. Together, we’ll explore the variety of sources they could use to start their own research journeys.

The Many Kinds of Writing (Grades 3 and up)

Before becoming a children’s author, I was (and still am!) a journalist and content writer. That means I’ve done a lot of different kinds of writing. In this presentation, I introduce students to the wide range of writing I do, from newspaper and magazine articles to science explainers, profiles and picture books.

Together, we’ll explore how each type of writing serves a different purpose: to inform, to entertain, to explain, or to inspire. I’ll share real examples from my work and walk students through how my approach changes depending on the audience, the format, and the topic.

This presentation encourages students to think about the kind of writing they enjoy and to see themselves as writers with many possible paths. There will also be time for questions, and depending on grade level, we can include a short writing activity in which students try out different tones and purposes.

Writing Fiction vs. Nonfiction  (Grades 3 and up)

In this presentation, students explore the similarities and differences between fiction and nonfiction, and how each type of writing serves a unique purpose. We’ll look at examples from my own books to see how storytelling techniques change depending on whether the goal is to entertain, inform, or inspire. We’ll also examine how the approaches can overlap—for example, doing research for a fiction book to make it believable, or using techniques of fiction to make nonfiction more exciting.

Baseball and American History (Grades 4 and up)

As a sports journalist for nearly 20 years, I am passionate about using baseball as a lens into American history, culture and social change. In this presentation, I draw from my work as a sports journalist and my baseball-focused picture books to discuss how the sport intersects with American history. Depending on the grade level and what the students are currently learning in their curriculum, the presentation can focus on baseball and civil rights, baseball and the World War II era and the impact of technology on baseball or a combination thereof.