YOUR VOTES HAVE BEEN COUNTED!
7 days of nominations! 7 days of voting!
And now we have a winner for the November book of 2020.
The Mocha Girl Read Book of the Month for November 2020 is Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Take a minute to see what this book is all about.
Synopsis
Winner of an American Indian Youth Literature Award
New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith turns to realistic fiction with the thoughtful story of a Native teen navigating the complicated, confusing waters of high school — and first love.
When Louise Wolfe’s first real boyfriend mocks and disrespects Native people in front of her, she breaks things off and dumps him over e-mail. It’s her senior year, anyway, and she’d rather spend her time with her family and friends and working on the school newspaper. The editors pair her up with Joey Kairouz, the ambitious new photojournalist, and in no time the paper’s staff find themselves with a major story to cover: the school musical director’s inclusive approach to casting The Wizard of Oz has been provoking backlash in their mostly white, middle-class Kansas town. From the newly formed Parents Against Revisionist Theater to anonymous threats, long-held prejudices are being laid bare and hostilities are spreading against teachers, parents, and students — especially the cast members at the center of the controversy, including Lou’s little brother, who’s playing the Tin Man. As tensions mount at school, so does a romance between Lou and Joey — but as she’s learned, “dating while Native” can be difficult. In trying to protect her own heart, will Lou break Joey’s?
About the Author
Cynthia Leitich Smith is a best-selling, award-winning children’s-YA writer, writing teacher, and the author-curator of the Native-centered Heartdrum imprint at HarperCollins Children’s Books.
Her debut picture book, JINGLE DANCER, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu, is widely considered a modern classic. She was named Writer of the Year by Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers for RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME and won the American Indian Youth Literature Award for Young Adult Books for HEARTS UNBROKEN, which also was named to YALSA’s Amelia Bloomer list and received the Foreword Reviews Silver Medal in Young Adult Fiction. In addition, Cynthia is the New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestselling YA author of the TANTALIZE series and FERAL trilogy.
Forthcoming, Cynthia looks forward to the release of her middle-grade anthology ANCESTOR APPROVED: INTERTRIBAL STORIES FOR KIDS, her novel SISTERS OF THE NEVERSEA, and THE BLUE STARS middle-grade graphic novel series, co-authored by Kekla Magoon and illustrated by Molly Murakami.
Cynthia lives in Austin, Texas, and is a citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation. The Austin chapter of SCBWI has instituted the Cynthia Leitich Smith Mentor Award in her honor. She also serves on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults, where she is the Katherine Paterson Endowed Chair and leads the annual We Need Diverse Books Native Writing Intensive.
Cynthia holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas and a J.D. from The University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor. She studied law abroad at Paris-Sorbonne University.
Author Links
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | Pinterest
Buy the Book
Click the cover to get your copy from Amazon
Congratulations Cynthia for being the winner of November’s book of the month for 2020!
Feel free to leave comments below or at Goodreads.com. We are looking forward to hearing what you all think of this month’s selection.
Keep the pages turning ladies.
Mocha Girl Alysia
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