María Dolores Águila, "A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez" (Roaring Brook Press, 2025)

Summary

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Podcast Summary:

Podcast: New Books Network – Children’s Literature Channel
Episode: María Dolores Águila, "A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez"
Host: Mel Rosenberg
Guest: María Dolores Águila
Date: May 5, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth interview between host Mel Rosenberg and author María Dolores Águila about her new middle grade historical verse novel, A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez (Roaring Brook Press, 2025). The discussion centers on the little-known 1931 Lemon Grove desegregation case, Águila’s approach to writing historical fiction in verse, Mexican-American identity, the creative process, and advice for aspiring children’s authors.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Story Behind "A Sea of Lemon Trees"

• Book Overview:
  Águila describes her novel as a middle grade historical fiction novel in verse, rooted in the real-life 1931 Lemon Grove desegregation case in California.

  • "[It] is about the 1931 Lemon Grove desegregation case...During that time...Mexican and Mexican American people were sent back to Mexico without due process...The story is set during that time." (Águila, 02:40–03:28)

• Themes:
  The novel explores injustice, courage, identity, and the experience of young Mexican Americans fighting for their right to equal education during the Great Depression and Mexican repatriation.

• Writing in Verse:
  Mel notes the lyricism and flow of the verse, likening it to the Mexican corrido tradition. He asks Águila to read a poignant courtroom scene, showcasing the emotionally rich style of the novel (04:28–06:09).

  "To separate all the Mexicans in one group can only be done by infringing the laws of the state of California. Therefore, I order the school board to immediately reinstate Roberto Alvarez and the other 74 students back to the Lemon Grove Grammar School." (Águila, 06:07–06:16)

2. The Path to Publication & Artistic Choices

• Journey to Middle Grade:
  Águila initially envisioned the story as a picture book, but after learning another picture book on the topic was being published, she was encouraged by her editor and agent to adapt it for a middle grade audience and in verse (06:40–08:16).

• Editorial Collaboration:
  She credits her editor at Roaring Brook Press, Luisa, for guiding her to begin the novel earlier in the timeline, which strengthened the narrative (08:16–09:05).

• Illustration & Imagination:
  Águila and Mel discuss the role of illustration. The cover art is by Rafael Lopez, but the lack of interior illustrations gives readers space to imagine and encourages classroom engagement through illustration activities (09:33–10:22).

3. Personal Connection & Mexican-American Identity

• Biographical Roots:
  Águila shares her background growing up in Chula Vista, California. She experienced the reality of residential segregation and the absence of books reflecting her identity (11:13–12:36).

  "There wasn't a lot of books with kids that look like me...so I was like 10 years old...if there's not like representation in books, like I'm going to write a book." (Águila, 12:36–14:02)

• Cultural Duality:
  She describes the feeling of being "too much of one thing and not enough of another" as a Mexican American, referencing the movie Selena:

  "We're too Mexican for the Americans and we're too American for the Mexicans. And that's always how I felt." (Águila, 27:56–28:18)

  Spanish was her first language, and she still speaks mostly Spanish in her daily life in San Diego, while feeling a spectrum of cultural connection depending on context (27:25–30:44).

• Writing in Spanglish:
  Águila frequently incorporates Spanglish for authenticity, despite occasional reader pushback:

  "For me...English is like when you're speaking in one language and there's something that you cannot convey in that language where I pull from the other one." (30:32–31:03)
  She gives examples from her books and expresses the natural blending of languages in her community.

4. Research & Craft as a Writer

• Learning the Craft:
  Águila describes her self-education through resources like the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Anna Whitford Paul’s “Writing Picture Books,” Mary Oliver’s poetry handbooks, and Anne Lamott’s “Bird by Bird” (17:36–20:07).

  "Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and it's some instructions on writing and life...She just gets being a writer...One moment you're like, I'm a genius...And then you come back and you're like, oh my God. Like, what is going on here?" (Águila, 20:07–20:36)

• Revision & Persistence:
  She faced over five years and 60+ rejections before obtaining representation and finally selling her work at auction (21:30–23:56). Her belief in structure, story beats, and her agent’s advice proved crucial.

5. Other Works & Representation

• Upcoming and Previous Books:
  Águila briefly previews her forthcoming picture book “You Don't Have to Say” about a speech-delayed child (24:08–25:23), as well as her earlier titles:
  • Barrio Rising – On the making of San Diego’s Chicano Park (26:23–26:56).
  • Menudo Sunday – A bilingual counting book about family and tradition.

6. Advice for Aspiring Writers

• Core Advice:
  Águila distills her advice into two main points: master story structure and believe in yourself more than anyone else.

  "Learn story structure. Sideways, upside down, backwards, forwards...And my second bit of advice would be to believe in yourself more than anyone else." (Águila, 36:24–36:59)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Lemon Grove Case:

  • “The Mexican repatriation was during that time, Mexican and Mexican American people were sent back to Mexico without due process...being scapegoated for the economic downturn.” (Águila, 03:03)

• On Victory in the Courtroom:

  • "[The judge says] to separate all the Mexicans in one group can only be done by infringing the laws of the state of California. Therefore, I order the school board to immediately reinstate Roberto Alvarez and the other 74 students back to the Lemon Grove Grammar School." (Águila, 06:07–06:16)

• On Representation:

  • “For me, as a child, that's what I longed for. That's what I wanted so bad, just to see myself in a book.” (Águila, 32:49–33:55)

• On Cultural Identity:

  • “Being Mexican American is always being too much of one thing and not enough of another. And what that thing is depends on the company you’re with.” (Águila, 27:40–27:56)

• Bittersweet, Not Bitter:

  • “Honestly, I don't feel bitter at all... what I feel is relief because the story is out there...people are reading it, they're relating to it, they're understanding it.” (Águila, 32:49–33:55)

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Important Timestamps

• 02:40 – Águila explains the Lemon Grove desegregation case & historical context
• 04:28 – Emotional excerpt: the judge's verdict
• 06:40 – Águila’s journey from picture book to middle grade in verse
• 09:33 – Discussion of illustrations & classroom use
• 11:13 – Águila's background growing up in San Diego
• 12:36 – Lack of representation in childhood reading
• 17:36–20:07 – Details on self-teaching and craft resources
• 23:56 – Publication journey and trusting editorial guidance
• 27:40–28:18 – Mexican-American duality, Selena reference
• 30:32 – Spanglish in writing
• 36:24–36:59 – Core advice for aspiring writers

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Conclusion

This warm, wide-ranging conversation offers insights into how historical fiction can bring little-known events into the light while giving underrepresented readers a chance to see themselves and their histories reflected on the page. Águila’s honesty about the long, non-linear journey to publication, her dedication to craft, and her powerful sense of cultural identity make this an inspiring episode for writers, educators, and readers alike.

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Highlights for Listeners:

• Deep dive into the 1931 Lemon Grove case and its contemporary resonance
• Honest discussion of creative setbacks and publishing realities
• Practical advice for aspiring children’s and YA writers
• Moving reflections on family, language, and representation
• Readings from A Sea of Lemon Trees showcasing lyrical verse and emotional depth

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Transcript

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I am your host, Ryan Michelle Bathe with my husband Sterling.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

What's up?

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[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Woo.

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[Maria Dolores Aguila]

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[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Welcome to the New Books Network.

[Mel Rosenberg]

So hello everybody. Welcome to another episode of of the Children's Literature channel for the New Books Network. I'm Mel Rosenberg, your host. And I have a very, very special guest today, Kidlit author. I'm not gonna say picture book author, which I usually say you are a picture book author, multi picture book author. But we're here today to talk about your new book, which is for 8 to 12. I'm guessing it's middle grade. And it's called A Sea of Lemon Trees. And I want to welcome the amazing Maria Dolores Aguila.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Hi.

[Interviewer Assistant or Co-host]

Thank you for having me on your show.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Como estas?

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Muy bien.

[Mel Rosenberg]

I'm also muy bien. I'm actually better than muy bien, but I think we'll speak in English for the meantime and then when we get to know each other better, we can do a little bit of espanol.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Okay, Sounds good.

[Mel Rosenberg]

So we are celebrating a unique, gorgeous book which is way outside my comfort zone, but when I heard about it, I just had to interview you and I'm so lucky that we're meeting. Tell us about this book, which is in verse. It's won multiple awards already. It's selling like tacos.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

So this is a sea of lemon trees. It's a middle grade historical fiction novel in verse. It's about the 1931 Lemon Grove desegregation case and basically what that's about. So we're gonna. Let me paint the picture for you. During the Great Depression, there was also

[Interviewer Assistant or Co-host]

the Dust bowl, right?

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

And during that time of the Great

[Interviewer Assistant or Co-host]

Depression and the Dust bowl, there was

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

also the Mexican repatriation. And so what is that? The Mexican repatriation was during that time, Mexican and Mexican American people were sent back to Mexico without due process. And because of the. They were being scapegoated for the. For the economic downturn. Right. And so this story is set during

[Interviewer Assistant or Co-host]

that time, which a lot of people don't really know about.

[Mel Rosenberg]

So now I hope a lot. A lot more will know. And it's a kind of historical fiction based on the true story. And it's written in such. Is this some kind of classical Mexican corrido? Is it this special Maria form of verse? It changes. I'd love you to read something that you like from the book. I was very touched by the part where he's waiting for the verdict. The hero's waiting for the verdict, and. And the first couple of sentences appear to go against him. And then the tide changes in his favor. But there's many, many beautiful parts of this book.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Let me find that part.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Oh, in the meantime, I will sing to you in Spanish.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Okay, let me hear it.

[Mel Rosenberg]

No, not yet. Not yet.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

So I'm going to read the poem

[Interviewer Assistant or Co-host]

beforehand because I think that just, like, gives you a little bit more context. The judge looks at his papers for a long time before he speaks. He coughs, adjusts his robe while he asks questions in a voice soft as a breeze. I sit on my hands. I do my best to be patient, but the silence is too loud. Finally, he speaks. I lean forward, clasping my hands together to stop them from trembling. You can separate a few children to improve their education. If they need special instruction. The this cannot be the end of everything. My shoulders tremble and my eyes fill with tears while I struggle to stay upright in my chair. Random bits and pieces of sadness flash through my mind. The golden yellow light silhouetting Mr. Green, Lauda Ramirez and the storm in her bones. Anastasio seeing increases y deportion. Running through the train platform when David left. The photographer saying maybe, depends, probably not. I shake my head, bringing myself back to the courtroom where I am sitting on a wooden bench. Was it all for nothing? And Mr. Noon and Mr. Brinkley each put a hand on my shoulder, holding me steady. I try filling my mind with good. With new memories, good ones. Buying candy at Sonka Brothers General store, playing ball in the lot, fishing at the Reservoir with David. Happy memories now tinged with a velvety sadness, but still mostly good. I will be brave for everyone who believes in me and for everyone who can't be here, no matter what happens. The judge keeps speaking and I keep listening. But to separate all the Mexicans in one group can only be done by infringing the laws of the state of California.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Therefore, I order the school board to

[Interviewer Assistant or Co-host]

immediately reinstate Roberto Alvarez and the other 74 students back to the Lemon Grove Grammar School.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Wow. Such a poignant moment. And so beautifully written. So we're talking about events that happened almost 100 years ago. You weren't there, and your great grandparents, maybe, perhaps children. What drew you to write this book instead of the regular picture books that I love?

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yeah. So it is a long and convoluted story. So when I first wanted. So when I first wanted to be a writer, I was drawn to historical fiction. And this is after, like, you know, when I was an adult already. And so one of the first things I looked for was a story to write about. And I came across the lemon grove story. And I was like, oh, my gosh, this is amazing. But when I started writing it, an announcement came out for a picture book about the lemon grove incident. So I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, that's. There goes my chance about this. Right. And so I pivoted and I wrote Barrio Rising and Menilo Sunday. Right. And then later I wrote. I showed my editor. I was like, you know, I have this picture book about the lemon grove incident. And when I showed her that, and it was years later, she's like, another picture book came out about it, and she's like, why don't you write it as a middle grade?

[Mel Rosenberg]

Wow. Well, this is Lindsay Auld, your agent.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

This was Rosie Ahmed when she was at Dial Books for Young Readers. Yes. And so her and Lindsay were like, this is a great idea. Like, you know, do it. So I wrote it. It took me about a year to adapt it from a picture book to a middle grade novel in verse. And I wrote it and I gave it to Rosie, but they passed. And so. Yeah.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Wow. Wow. And. But it's not. It's not just in verse. It's much more than verse. It's kind of flowing poetry, and the words, you know, they move all over the page. And it's such a departure from what I know as the regular picture book.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

And so we sent it out to a few places. It eventually sold at auction, and I ended up at Roaring Brook Press, and I ended up with Louisa at Roaringbrook Press. And Luisa is, like, such an amazing, incredible editor. When I first wrote the book, I had started almost right away near the inciting incident where Roberto and the other kids are told they can't go to the school. She's like, no, no, no, no. We need to go back. We need to push this back. And so she's the one that had me push it all the way back to right before Christmas break, where it starts. And in retrospect, you know, that's what the book needed. But, like, you know, I needed that editor, and I needed her to be the one to tell me, know, like, this is how it needs to be fixed.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Let's now go back, because as you know me, I'm always keen on learning about our successful authors. I mean, you have. First of all, this book is highly successful, as I mentioned, and everybody run out and buy it. It's gorgeous. And I'll say it's gorgeous in the sense of the text and the lyric flow and the poetry and the verse. But essentially, it's not. There's one major illustration that's to cover.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yes.

[Mel Rosenberg]

And at the beginning, I say, well, where are the illustrations? And then I changed my mind, because this is. If I were a teacher teaching this book, and I would definitely teach this book across America, I think that I would ask the kids to illustrate it, to create pictures.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. For. For sure. Yeah. Rafael Lopez did the COVID art for A Sea of Lemon Trees, and he's such an amazing, incredible artist. I feel like he really captured, I don't know, like, Roberto's innocence. Roberto's, like, you know, persistence that he had a show through it. So I'm. I'm thrilled with the COVID you know, but I do have always in my heart, you know, the picture books. I love illustrations, but I love that idea of having the kids illustrate it. Right. Because then they bring their. Their own story into it. Right.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Remind me before we go, I want to know what happened to Roberto, you know, after winning this case. He was a young kid. I want to know what happened in his life in one sentence. Can you share?

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yes. So Roberto and everybody else, they took their success and they just went back to school, and they didn't, like, make a big deal about it. They just wanted to go on with whatever they did. He ended up joining the Navy, and I believe he served in World War II, and he eventually became successful businessman, so he had a great time after that.

[Mel Rosenberg]

That makes me very, very, very happy. Now let's talk about Maria. Where were you born? And how did you grow up and your sensitivity to being both an American with Mexican roots? Talk to us. I want to learn.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yes. So I was born in Chila Vista, California, which is in San Diego, and I grew up in. In south San Diego. So in south San Diego is basically where the majority of the Latino population lives. And what I didn't know is that, you know, I just thought that that's where we live because that's where other poor people lived. But, you know, it's by design. One of the things that I didn't know until I started writing books and doing research on history was how segregated San Diego is. There used to be racial convents that kept certain people from moving into certain communities. So it wasn't by mistake. I lived where I lived. So I grew up. I have one brother and two parents. Eventually. My father worked in construction and my mother cleaned houses. They both did not graduate high school, and my mom only went to fifth grade eventually. But one thing that my parents always supported me was my reading, right? Because I loved reading. Even when I was like a little itty bitty kid, before I could read, I would make my mom read to me and I would make her read. I have this thing where I like to read the same things over and over. Like, I feel like, I don't know, I pick up different things with every reading, right? And so, so I would have my mom read books to me over and over, and she didn't, like, get it. You know, she was like, why is this kid making me do this? But she, she, she obliged me.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Maria, you have to give me now an example of a picture book that you read over and over and over.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

So my favorite one, My favorite one is so embarrassing. It's called the twelve Dancing Princesses. And I loved that book. Oh, my gosh. I used to, like, draw the illustrations. Like, I. That was my book. Like, I loved that book. And so my mom read it to me. And then eventually, you know, I learned to read on my own. And I, you know, I spent so much time at the public library, which has my heart, right, because, like, my parents didn't have money to buy books and stuff like that, but I could get any book at the library, right? So I was always, always at the library. And, and so one thing I noticed, though, is that there wasn't a lot of books with kids that look like me, right? And so I was like 10 years old, and this was like in the early 90s, right? And my parents had bought a computer back then, which was like, it was Huge. It was in the, in the living room. And I was like, all right, well if there's not like representation in books, like I'm going to write a book, right? So I like sat down at my parents computer and like I tried to write a book, but I didn't know how hard it was. Like I thought it was just gonna, I thought I was gonna sit down and I was gonna be like, and like type up a masterpiece. But it was a lot harder than I thought. And I didn't have anyone in my life that had a creative career, right? Like my dad worked in construction, my mom cleaned houses. My grandparents, you know, they didn't even go to school. So nobody was around to show me how to, how to write a book, how to be creative, how to go through that process of revising and, and making things better, right? So I just kind of like it was something that I wanted, but I couldn't figure it out. So I kind of gave up. And so I, I was a pretty average student all the way through high school. I went to community college, but it wasn't until I had my kids. And this was when I was about 27, 28 when I had my first daughter. And then I had my son a year later, a year and a half later. And I was like, I am a mother now and I have two kids and how am I going to tell my kids to follow their dreams if I'm not following my dreams, right? So after that like I threw myself into it. I like, I did a lot of self study. I learned how to storytell, I learned about the parts of story structure. And so you know, I pivoted into trying to write a picture book. And like I said, I tried to write the lemon grove book, but someone else did it. So I pivoted into body of writing.

[Mel Rosenberg]

One second, Maria, first of all. And you also wrote poetry also?

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yes.

[Mel Rosenberg]

And yeah, I have to remind you because I read a bit of your bio. Right?

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yes, I wrote a lot of very angsty poetry when I was a teenager. No one will ever see that because I was really dramatic about it.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Never say never, dear.

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[Maria Dolores Aguila]

See full [e-mail] and so I wrote Buddy of Rising and I thought it was like really good, right? And so I sent it out, but like nobody wanted it.

[Mel Rosenberg]

I can hold on, Maria, we're getting ahead of ourselves. What was your process of learning about? I mean, so many people have the same issue. Me too. You know, in my 20s, I started writing and how hard can it be? I thought an idiot young me to write a picture book, right? You take a pencil, take a piece of paper and you write a picture book. And yeah, how disappointing that nobody wanted to buy them. But they were junk at that time. But what I didn't do until I was 60 is start to follow the journey. How did you follow the journey? How did you self teach? What did it involve? What societies did you join? Critique groups. Please be specific here.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Okay. So when I tried again to be an author now that I was an adult, the Internet was really big now, right? Like all the information was on the Internet. And so I looked at a lot of websites. Most, most importantly was the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. They have a lot of information on their website. Right. And so I did that. But for me, the best way I learned is from reading and from books. So the book Writing Picture Books by Anna Whitford Paul.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yes, I read that one cover to cover, did all the exercises. I also read. It's like almost a textbook. It looks like it says, I read

[Mel Rosenberg]

Anne's book so much that the pages stick together.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yes, I always recommend it. It's such a good book. And from Anne's book she mentions Mary Oliver's poetry handbooks. And so I read those as well because I wanted to make sure That I had. Even though I wrote poetry before that, I wanted to know the fundamentals. So from Mary Oliver's what Is A? I had it on my desk. What was it? But she has two. Two books. And I believe it's like Rules of the Dance and another one. And so I read those. I studied them. I learned the rhythms of. Of. Of words and how it works. And then, you know, even knowing all that stuff and knowing about story structure, it's still so disappointing. The first time you write something and, like, you see it in your head, and in your head is, like, this amazing, incredible thing. And when you write it, you're like, what is going on here? Like, this is nothing like what I imagined. Right.

[Mel Rosenberg]

And first drafts almost always suck.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[Mel Rosenberg]

The only. The only exception that I've. After interviewing over 200 authors like you is Michelle Knudsen's library Lion, where she says, got home and she wrote it in about half an hour. But that. This is for most of us. First drafts suck.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yes.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Go on.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yes. And it was so disappointing. And I think that's probably where a lot of people give up when they see that first draft, and they're like, no, like this. But then you eventually learn that writing is rewriting. Right? And so I ended up reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Have you read that?

[Mel Rosenberg]

I will.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

It's so good. Oh, my gosh. It's one of my favorite books. It's right here. Let me show you. So it's Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and it's some instructions on writing in life. And so she, like, just gets being a writer. And she's so funny, and she's so witty, and she talks about, you know, that feeling, like, the feelings that you get when you're writing. Like, one moment you're like, I'm a genius. Like, this is the best thing anybody has ever written. And then you come back and you're like, oh, my God. Like, what is going on here?

[Mel Rosenberg]

Like, the Jews say, oy vey. What do the Magnificent say?

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

No way. Probably like, you know, so you come back and you see it, and you're, like, devastated. You're like, oh, my gosh. Like, I am not the writer I thought I was. Right. And so there was a lot of that. And eventually I became a stickler for story structure. So I. Even though it's a picture book or a novel in verse and it seems like it's very sparse text, I still religiously follow, like, the inciting incident and the call to action and the midpoint turn, and the, you know, pinch point. Like, I follow those religiously because I see it as like, cake. So all of us have eaten cake. We know what cake's supposed to taste like. We know what the basic ingredients are, right? But if I went to the kitchen and I didn't have a recipe and I tried to make one, it probably wouldn't come out good, right? So that's what the story beats. And the story structure do. They help me make the story the way that I see it, even though I'll have to rewrite it eventually, right? So I spent all this time studying. Eventually, I found a critique group through a Facebook group. And when I was. When I was. When I was on Facebook. And so I connected with them, and I got to read other people's work, right? And I got to see what their process looked like. And seeing other people's process helped my process, right? And so eventually, I. I. So, you know, I. I was writing Body Rising, and I was sending it out, and I was getting rejections. It was, like, five years and over 60 rejections. And at the end, I started getting personalized rejections, right? So I knew I was close because they were like, oh, I can't take this on. Or, like, you know, they were sending me personal notes. So I was like, okay, I know I'm getting closer, but I. I haven't made the hub. Like, I was like, right there. But I couldn't get it past. And so I had almost given up. And I was like, all right, I'm just gonna take a little break for a while and see what happens. And then Lindsay Auld sent me a message, and I had sent her a query a while ago, and she's like, I can't stop thinking about it. Let's talk, right? And so, you know, I was like, oh, my God. I'm gonna get the phone. I'm gonna get the call, right? Like, the big call, and you're gonna have the agent, right? But when I had my phone call, she wanted to revise and resubmit. And so that was like, oh, but okay. Like, I'm not sure about this. And then I was like, wait a minute. This is a masterpiece. What do you want me to change? You know? But she. She was right. She had some good ideas. And so we ended up changing it. And I worked with her, I want to say, for, like, six to eight months before she signed me and before we went out on submission, right? And so it was. It was tough. Everybody was like, why are you taking so long? Like, why Is she making you change all this stuff? And I was like, I don't know what's going on. Like, I'm just going to go along with it. Like, she knows what she's doing. I think, you know, I didn't know anything at that point. And so she says it's ready, right? And we go out on submission and it sells at a sixth house auction. Right. And so, you know, she does know what she's doing. She does what sells. Like, she understands this is her work. Right. And so ever since then, I never doubt anything Lindsay tells me. Like, if she tells me I have to change something, I just go and change it. Like, I do not argue. I just do exactly what Lindsay tells me.

[Mel Rosenberg]

So I want to save your picture books for our next conversation because you have one coming out next year. Can you talk about it for a second?

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yeah. So I have Barrio Rising, which is about the story.

[Mel Rosenberg]

No, one second. Talk about the new ones. I want to see Body Rising. I want you to show them.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

The new one is called you don't have to say. And that's about a speech delay. Child and mother and their day together. And the reason I wrote that is because my kids, all three of them, had speech delays. And so, you know, I wanted to have that representation out there of. Of. Of. Of kids in that situation because one time I was at the store and a woman was trying to talk to one of my. My son, my youngest one. And I was like, oh, I'm so sorry, he doesn't talk. And she said, oh, it must be really hard to say, to not hear I love you. And I remember thinking, you don't have to say I love you. Like, I already know. And so that book came to me like that, and I ended up writing it. Yeah.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Wow. It brings tears to my eyes. It's so beautiful. So at what age did your kids learn to talk?

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

My oldest in speech therapy, she started talking maybe around four and a half. My other one, my middle one, he started about the same age. My youngest one, the third one, he's the one that took the longest. He almost didn't talk till he was like five or five and a half.

[Mel Rosenberg]

I hope they're talking like crazy now.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Oh, my gosh, they don't stop. They talk my ear off all day. But, you know, I didn't think much of it because my mother and my mother's family, there was a history of that, like, of them just not talking. So, you know, I didn't know at the time, like, that was something that, you know, you had to have like an early intervention for until much later. Right.

[Mel Rosenberg]

So, yes, that's. I, that's. I'm. Okay, so we're signed up for next year and then we'll talk at length about your other books, but can you just show them and for a sentence or two on each of them, Barrio Rising.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Each of them, yeah. Yes. So Barrio Rising is about how the Chicano park in San Diego came to be. Menulo Sunday is accounting book about a family celebrating being together and eating Menudo on Sunday.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Can you show our watching viewers?

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Listen, everybody go out, check Faria Agela because she's incredible.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yeah. So this is Barrio Rising, illustrated by Magdalena Mora. And it's about how Chicano park in San Diego was formed. It was a 12 day takeover and it was a community effort to make the park. So, so that's what it's about. Menudo Sunday is about a family spending a Sunday together, making menudo. And it's a counting book, a Spanglish counting book. So this is my second book and I don't have. You don't have to say yet. They're still working on the illustrations, but that's going to be coming out next year with Mirel Ortega.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Wonderful. And now I want to get to the question of which I know very little. I mean, you know, I understand what it is being Jewish in North America and you know, before you're a third generation American. Right. And yet I feel that you have a very, I mean, it's obviously a very strong Mexican sentiment to the extent that I feel that you are. Correct me, you're more Mexican than American.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

I feel like that sometimes it depends. Like it depends on where I'm at. Like,

[Mel Rosenberg]

I need you to explain this for all the people who don't live in the States and aren't sensitive. I want, we, we want to learn more about this.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yes. So being Mexican American is always being too much of one thing and not enough of another. And what that thing is depends on the company you're with. And there's.

[Mel Rosenberg]

That's another book. Write that down. That's another book. Too much, you want to say, and

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

not enough of the other. And I don't know if you've ever seen the movie Selena with Jennifer Lopez. There's this scene where her father tells her we're too Mexican for the Americans and we're too American for the Mexicans. And that's always how I felt. I'm always not enough of one thing and not enough of another. And so for me My family history is a little bit different. So my I, my grandparents, they came from Chihuahua, Mexico and Durango, Mexico and they, and then my parents were born here. But my parents went back and forth from Mexico to the United States. So my parents didn't have like that first gen experience where they come and they're really successful and they assimilate, right? That wasn't my parents experience, even though they were American citizens. Right. And so then when I was born, I had more of that first gen experience, right? Where I'm the one that, that assimilates or not assimilates, but like gets more exposed to like American culture. Right? But like my parents spoke Spanish to me, that was Spanish was my first language. My grandparents spoke Spanish to me, that was my first language. When I was a kid, we went to Tijuana all the time because it's right, you know, here in San Diego, right. And so I do have a very strong connection to my Mexican side, to my Mexican roots, to my Mexican heritage. And then in my everyday life, living in San Diego and living in South County San Diego, I speak Spanish all day. I can go days without speaking English because that's what the people around me speak. Right?

[Mel Rosenberg]

That's incredible.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

So, so, but then when I go, like when I go to Tijuana or I go to Mexico, like they speak a lot faster than I'm used to it. I'm like, what, what, what? I can't hear you. You know, like, and so I'm like, I feel like, oh my gosh, maybe I am pretty Americanized, you know what I mean?

[Mel Rosenberg]

This is incredible to me. So I'm going to ask you. So. So I grew up in Canada and I came to Israel at the age of 17. So I speak English and Hebrew and for many years I wrote in Hebrew. And then I realized that you have to really, if you're writing picture books, you should try to write in your mother tongue, which for me is English, but your mother tongue is Spanish. Do you write in Spanish sometimes and then translate to English?

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

No, I write in Spanglish. So for me, English is like when you're speaking in one language and there's something that you cannot convey in that language where I pull from the other one.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Give me an example. It sounds like English and Yiddish, you know, the same thing.

[Interviewer Assistant or Co-host]

Yeah. So let's see.

[Mel Rosenberg]

You know, you would say in Yiddish, I'm going to chap a shlof. You know, I'm going to grab a sleep.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Yeah, exactly, exactly. Okay. So right here in Barrio Rising, I have we Join hands with our vesinos in a chain around the earth movers. Pequenitos like me, tuviajitos like Dona Laura walk in a circle around them. And so, I mean, for me, it feels very natural, but there's also, like, a lot of pushback, right? Like, sometimes we. So for. For. Especially for a sea of lemon trees where I have, like, a lot of Spanglish, I've gotten emails, and they're like, you know, there's no glossary. You know, why did you use so much Spanish? Like, blah, blah, blah. And it's like, oh, my gosh, like, you. I mean, like, everybody's entitled to their opinion. If that's what you think, that's fine. Like, I get it. But, like, you don't have to send me an email about it because, you know, that's just what felt right to me. That's what felt natural. Like, I. I can relate to Roberto's story because I could. I know that he spoke Spanish with his parents because that's how I was raised, right? And I know that when we speak with other people, we pull from both languages. It's just, like, a very natural thing to do.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Look, it's clear that the story is Maria sharing her modern experience and language with the history. I think that that melding and what makes it so marvelous. So I'm going to ask you now the last difficult question for today. Then I want to ask you an easier question so people might say that you have a chip on your shoulder. I would say that it's a sweet chip. Is it a sweet chip or is it a real chip? Are you bitter or are you bittersweet?

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

You know, I definitely would say it would be more on the bittersweet side. But honestly, I don't feel bitter at all. I don't feel upset. The only thing I feel, really, when I talk about these stories and I bring them forward is this profound relief. And it's relief because it's finally coming forward. Like, we're finally talking about it. We're finally sharing it. You know what I mean? And for me, as a child, that's what I longed for. That's what I wanted so bad, just to see myself in a book. And so for me, it's. You know, I don't. I don't feel bitter. I don't feel. I don't feel, you know, any. Any sort of resentment or anything. What I feel is relief because the story is out there. Like, people are reading it, they're relating to it, they're understanding it. And you know, sometimes, you know, I truly feel like everything in its own time, right? Like certain things just happen to line up the way that they should, right? And if. If it took me until this time to do it, and then that's something I just accept as the way it should be, in the way it was supposed to happen.

[Mel Rosenberg]

So that, in my mind, makes you a modern day Roberto. So I'm going to now, I promise to recite you a profound poem in Spanish, which I learned as a chico. And it goes like this. And everybody else can run to their dictionaries.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Oh, God, that's so cute. Where did you learn that?

[Mel Rosenberg]

I don't remember. Which is the best, right? I mean, when you don't remember something, you can make up as many stories. It was a duck who taught me, actually. Maybe Mother Goose. No, that doesn't work. Okay. And before we say hasta la vista to all of our friends here and urge them to run out, now's the time to show them your beautiful book again. To read another passage. Maybe something from the beginning. I don't know. Yeah, it's your book. You decide.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

I have it right here. I just think it's very funny because I think it's a very. And it's very short. And it's. When Roberto is coming home. It's two. Two very tiny poems. It says, when we get to the giant pine on Buena Vista Avenue, our group falls apart as everyone says goodbye and disappears toward their houses. Mama is outside hanging laundry with Mercedes and Beatrice. I hold back my groan when Mama waves me over. Sometimes school and chores never end.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Beautiful. So you are a modern day heroine. Someday children are gonna write books about you.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Oh, my goodness.

[Mel Rosenberg]

And before we say goodbye, one or two tips for up and coming writers. I mention this because it's so important. One in 3,000 people like you get publishing deals. And especially in your case where you were basically chosen out of the slush pile. It wasn't that you, right? You hadn't met Lindsey at an event or something. You just wrote to her. This is incredible. So this puts you one in the hundred thousand. Give us some advice for the aspiring authors.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

So the first bit of advice would be to learn story structure. Sideways, upside down, backwards, forwards, like no story structure. And make sure your story has those elements right. And my second bit of advice would be to believe in yourself more than anyone else. Because if you don't have. If you don't believe in your story and the work that you're trying to do, no one is going to care as much as you do. Right. So you have to believe in yourself more than anyone and you have to be willing to do the work it takes to bring your dream to life. Right?

[Mel Rosenberg]

Yeah. Part of believing in yourself is believing that you, you can always be better than you are.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Exactly.

[Mel Rosenberg]

This has been, this has been incredible. And I've been here and I'm going to remind people to run out and buy your brand new, lovely book, A Sea of Lemon Trees, published by Roaring Brook just a few months ago. Already multi, multi prize winning Maria Dolores Aguila.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Perfect.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Almost perfect. But you know, almost perfect is the new perfect. And I am Mel Rosenberg, the host of the Children's Literature Channel for the New Books Network. And we've been having a wonderful time. Maria, thank you so much and good luck and please contact me next year and we will celebrate your new picture book.

[Maria Dolores Aguila]

Sounds good. Thank you so much for having me.

[Mel Rosenberg]

We'll talk a lot about a book about not talking.

[Interviewer Assistant or Co-host]

Yes.

[Mel Rosenberg]

Thank you, everybody. See you next week.