Books with author Mandy Gonzalez

Better Nate than Ever meets Love Sugar Magic in this spooky middle grade novel from Hamilton and Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez about a group of young thespians who must face the ghost haunting their theater.The Ethel Merman Theater is cursed. No one is sure how or why, but the evidence speaks for itself. Show after show has flopped and the theater is about to close. Enter twelve-year-old Monica Garcia, who has been cast to star in a Broadway musical revival of The Goonies, the theater’s last chance to produce a hit before it shutters its doors for good. The kids in the cast each have their own reasons for wanting to make the show a success, and all eyes in the theater world are on them. Will this show finally break the curse of the Ethel? The kids aren’t quite sure if the curse is even real, but when their first performance doesn’t quite go as planned, it certainly feels that way. Then they realize the ghost light—the light that is always kept on at every theater in order to appease the ghosts—wasn’t lit! When the kids rush to flick the switch back on, they find themselves locked in the theater—but that’s the least of their problems when the ghost of the Ethel makes her debut appearance! Can the cast overcome their fears and reverse the ghost’s curse before opening night so they can save the show—and their dreams?

Better Nate than Ever meets Love Sugar Magic in this spooky middle grade novel from Hamilton and Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez about a group of young thespians who must face the ghost haunting their theater.The Ethel Merman Theater is cursed. No one is sure how or why, but the evidence speaks for itself. Show after show has flopped and the theater is about to close. Enter twelve-year-old Monica Garcia, who has been cast to star in a Broadway musical revival of The Goonies, the theater’s last chance to produce a hit before it shutters its doors for good. The kids in the cast each have their own reasons for wanting to make the show a success, and all eyes in the theater world are on them. Will this show finally break the curse of the Ethel? The kids aren’t quite sure if the curse is even real, but when their first performance doesn’t quite go as planned, it certainly feels that way. Then they realize the ghost light—the light that is always kept on at every theater in order to appease the ghosts—wasn’t lit! When the kids rush to flick the switch back on, they find themselves locked in the theater—but that’s the least of their problems when the ghost of the Ethel makes her debut appearance! Can the cast overcome their fears and reverse the ghost’s curse before opening night so they can save the show—and their dreams?

Self-Care for Kids! This is not your usual kid’s book! This book is a call to BE, to step forward and LOVE yourself, LOVE your community, know your history and your powerful place in it and strengthen your own creative power! This book is a tool to use. I created it because I know you are an important part of our world and your strength matters.Bullying is real, but we can change the story by changing the focus. Begin with yourself. Begin the journey of art activist. You are the artist. You are the storyteller. Change yourself. Change the world!Playful ink and watercolor illustrations support a powerful journey that touches on bullying in the founding history of the US, how that history may still be impacting kids and families today, and ways to use creativity and self respect in the face of negative messages for all marginalized communities. The first part of the book briefly acknowledges the United States' past and present and shows some basic forms of activism that kids engage in. The next part talks about walking away from a bully or de-escalation and focusing on how to take care of yourself and community. Finally practical ways creativity and portraiture can be used to support self respect and spread respect in community are explored. Communities reflected include Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Chicanx, LGBTQ Americans, disabled Americans, Americans who identify as women and girls, Muslim and Sikh Americans, Jewish Americans and Asian Americans. The back includes related resources and referrals and art & witnessing worksheets to copy. (Hardcover includes a Reading Guide and Community Project)This book is not a hero’s tale or the journey of a brave fight. This book is for the in between moments, the middle of the night, the long afternoon: those moments when kids are haunted by what someone said to them in the hallway, a sideways stare at the store or what they heard on the news. It’s about gathering strength for life’s every day journey and supporting a strong full self all the time.Award-winning children’s book artist and author Maya Gonzalez draws from 20 years working with kids using her Claiming Face curriculum, to provide a place for kids to land during difficult times and counteract the impact of oppression with truth, expression and personal creative power.

Self-Care for Kids! This is not your usual kid’s book! This book is a call to BE, to step forward and LOVE yourself, LOVE your community, know your history and your powerful place in it and strengthen your own creative power! This book is a tool to use. I created it because I know you are an important part of our world and your strength matters.Bullying is real, but we can change the story by changing the focus. Begin with yourself. Begin the journey of art activist. You are the artist. You are the storyteller. Change yourself. Change the world!Playful ink and watercolor illustrations support a powerful journey that touches on bullying in the founding history of the US, how that history may still be impacting kids and families today, and ways to use creativity and self respect in the face of negative messages for all marginalized communities. The first part of the book briefly acknowledges the United States' past and present and shows some basic forms of activism that kids engage in. The next part talks about walking away from a bully or de-escalation and focusing on how to take care of yourself and community. Finally practical ways creativity and portraiture can be used to support self respect and spread respect in community are explored. Communities reflected include Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Chicanx, LGBTQ Americans, disabled Americans, Americans who identify as women and girls, Muslim and Sikh Americans, Jewish Americans and Asian Americans. The back includes related resources and referrals, a reading guide for adults, community project and art & witnessing worksheets to copy.This book is not a hero’s tale or the journey of a brave fight. This book is for the in between moments, the middle of the night, the long afternoon: those moments when kids are haunted by what someone said to them in the hallway, a sideways stare at the store or what they heard on the news. It’s about gathering strength for life’s every day journey and supporting a strong full self all the time.Award-winning children’s book artist and author Maya Gonzalez draws from 20 years working with kids using her Claiming Face curriculum, to provide a place for kids to land during difficult times and counteract the impact of oppression with truth, expression and personal creative power.

Lost in the Wild is about two young teens who leave the sanctuary and safety of their home after a series of traumatic effects there caused them severe mental anguish and distress to the point that they could not withstand it any longer. After much thought, they figured out a plan for their escape. They bring along their faithful dog, Spotty, and the journey begins in an inhospitable, unpredictable wilderness.

“I cry for all of us who bear the burden of these times.”Aaaaaaaaaaaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!One day at the river changed everything.So begins the terror from the pale ones who remake the lands and the people to suit their pale vision. But the ghost woman and her one true love conjure a plan.Will La Llorona’s heart be strong enough to fulfill it? More importantly, when the time comes….will the people be ready?In times filled with terror and torment, one woman's haunting grief rises from beyond to become the people's howl in the dark. Sometimes a heartache is so great, it belongs to everyone. Sometimes a healing is so powerful it holds within it the spark to change everything….if we're ready.A queer reclamation of the classic Mexican ghost story, La Llorona, that spans the ages and the Americas (MesoAmerica 1500 to present day San Francisco) to reunite the people with their ghosts and mend what was torn apart.In her debut YA novella, award-winning children’s book artist and author Maya Gonzalez takes readers on an emotional and layered journey that weaves history with love, spirit with flesh, and merges ancient myths with current political times. Powerful themes of love, pre-colonial queer identity, sacred feminine, loss and endurance course through the pages as the story gathers and flows and gathers again to support healing, negotiate deep ancestral trauma and ultimately, transformation. In a style akin to poetic prose with a potent cathartic undercurrent that lies shimmering just beneath the surface, Ma Llorona’s reach doesn’t end at the page. Like a river, she will flow into your dreams, call up your ghosts and have you howling in the night.“They called you La Llorona And told terrible tales But I know who you were I know the truth You are the woman As big as all the stars You are the woman As big as all the land and sea The river mirrors your face The wind carries your wail The grass and cool soil your beautiful body When I am here I am with you in total You are never alone… I know because I am the woman Who loves you forever I will count every star and say I love you A thousand times Like our last night together, my love I will tell the truth of your tale A thousand times So you remember who you once were Your name is my name now I am La Llorona I cry for you I cry for me I cry for all of us Who bear the burden of these times.”

Focusing on the very big idea of peace, i see peace uncovers the truth about a very real and personal experience of peace and how we each can begin creating it in our own lives. Surprise! it's often not what we think. Award-winning children's book illustrator/author and educator, Maya Gonzalez uses simple words and even more simple ink drawings to create both a universal and intimate experience of peace. Encouraging kids to allow peace to become something real and personal and possible and from there be able to talk about and work for it effectively. This peace movement begins within with the trust that the more we know peace for ourselves the more we create it. Come play with Maya and learn that peace is often closer than we think. A great companion to When a Bully is President: Truth and Creativity for Oppressive Times, i see peace extends the practice of mindfulness and self-care into the every day. An opportunity for kids to learn how to support themselves as the world continues to radically shift and change.

I started writing these tales for my grandsons who love their bedtime stories. They live in Arizona and we don't get to see them often enough, so I thought by writing some stories myself, that it would give them a bit of closeness that we don't have otherwise. The stories are designed to help in the growth process and provide some positive reinforcement for some of the awkward situations that children face every day. Hopefully there are a few ideas in here to help them through. "Small Bear With A Big Wish" is about trying new things and not getting discouraged. "Martin, the Left-Handed Monkey" is learning that different is not wrong or stupid, and never easy. "Freckle-face" is about being happy with your self. These stories have all come from things that I have experienced after being an aunt, mother, stepmother, grandmother, and school bus driver. Children are an endless source of inspiration and learning. They can teach as well as be taught and we all have a lot to learn. "A Worm's Tale" is and example of how each teller of a story sees it differently.