Category: reviews

Posted in book lists, books, Financial literacy month, reviews, writing

National Financial Literacy Month

Posted on by ALSanchezBooks

April is National Financial Literacy Month

Personal Finance is a topic I never wanted to read about, but found it essential to. We’ve found important to make Personal Finance a family affair, and involve our kids in an age appropriate manner, and this book helps get those conversations started. It starts off by laying out the basic foundation for understanding money, finance and it’s impact in our lives in an easy to follow manner that’s perfect for young ones.
It’s actually the final chapters of the book that directly relate to just the topic of investing.

By asking questions and posing exercises for kids to figure out where they are, what they want, then laying out what steps they can follow from there.

I firmly believe that starting these discussions with our kids so they will be better prepared to succeed in the future.

I received a digital advance copy for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Here are some of the books we have used and found helpful, along with some on our TBR.

  • Hubs favorite: Total Money Makeover; he read this one a few years ago and has worked in setting our priorities and goals.
  • My favorite: Smart money, smart kids; great tool on how to teach smart money manegement to kids, we’ve adopted many  of the principles in the book with good success so far.
  • Teens favorite: Money for Adulting; our teen has been learning a lot from this book about how to start making smart choices for the future.
  • Unique POV: Die with Zero; this books has a very unique and Interesting approach. It focuses more on how to use your money to enjoy wisely. How to identify things that you love and spending your money to enjoy them, experiences and create memories.
  • For entrepreneurs: Build a business you love; this focuses on 5 stages to build a successful business. He just started, will report back soon!
  • Our TBR: Money for Couples; this addresses the most common money issues in relationships without using boring budgets or restricting plans.
  • Good for parents: The opposite of spoiled; Interesting discussion about how to teach kids about money in age appropriate manner and raise them to be money smart.
  • Kids CR: Investing for Tweens; my younger ones have started to read this and we plan to discuss together as they advance.
  • Very specific: The white coat investor; the book that started our journey. Geared mostly to healthcare sector, but has some universal principles that can apply to a broader audience.

Whether you’re just starting or have been earning your way for quite some time, it’s never too late to learn about personal finance and make take steps to improve your financial outlook. 

What’s a topic you’ve found useful in books for your own life?

Posted in BIPOC / Latinx characters, books, favorites, recipe, recipe and review, reviews, Rom-Com

Recipe and a Review: Only friends

Posted on by ALSanchezBooks

Hello lovelies and welcome to my first Recipe and a review for this new year. And what better way to kick things off than celebrating the pub day of this fantastic novel. Congrats to author Lydia San Andres and many thanks to Primero Sueño Press for the gifted ARC of this book!

Mariel is a struggling writer, trying o to work on her screenplay as her bank account shrinks more and more. Her writing is constantly interrupted by daydreaming of the Duke orlf Harding, Regency era rogue who likes his vicarious adventures in her dreams. That is until the fateful night she runs into Dash, Dashwood, the charming and handsome model/content creator who happens to be cosplaying in Times square.

Soon they’re teaming up to bring the character to life and to the public on his Only Fans account. But pesky things such as undeniable attraction and feelings start getting in the way.

I hope you enjoy this delicious dinner inspired by one the Duke, I mean Dash himself made for Mariel!

Summary:

After being fired from her day job, unceremoniously ghosted, and facing a bad case of writer’s block, twenty-six-year-old aspiring screenwriter Mariel Rivera is one spilled coffee away from crying on the subway. When she’s rescued from a Times Square kerfuffle by a very handsome model dressed in regency costume, Mariel has no idea her life is about to change.

Dashwood Bennet has been modeling for years, though recently, his current portfolio includes some more risqué shots. However, he never imagined that after his encounter with Mariel, he’d be putting on his regency breeches just to take them off again…in front of the camera.

Dash is the answer to Mariel’s prayers in more ways than one. First, he saved her from an unruly mob. Second, he’s the perfect person to play the Duke of Harding, a character she’s created that captured her attention and won’t let go. Third, he’s more than game to be the face of her spicy historical shorts. And last but not least, he’s her perfect partner both in business and in the bedroom. But being work-partners-with-benefits can complicate things. Will their partnership survive or are Mariel and Dash doomed to not have their happily ever

“…I think it’s safe to say that whatever hope we had of keeping this platonic has pretty much flown out the window. So it you’re up for seeing where this takes us, then so am I. I don’t think we were meant to be a slow burn, Mariel.”

If you make it or share it please tag me 🤩

Ingredients

My thoughts:


  • This was absolute perfection. Mariel and Dash were the perfect opposites-attract, friends with benefits, match made in romcom heaven.
    Their attraction is evident from the start, even as they attempt to keep things professional. Each bring previous relationship trauma to the table and that complicates things and makes it hard for each to just ask for what they really want.
    I loved how she included the scenes they were shooting for his Only fans, though I would have loved me some spicy ones too.
    And speaking of spice, the steam was A+, I love how the author manages to make them so open to each other in the intimate moments.
    The secondary characters didn’t feel like props and I love how much support they brought to the story. Also I loved how the city itself felt like a character. It’s really evident how the author loves NYC!
    I’m glad Mariel took her time to work on herself and her traumas and how she figured out what she wanted and worked for it.
    Overall this was such a fun read and I hope y’all jump on it and love it as much as I did!

Are there any new releases you’ve been looking forward to that come out today?

What’s your favorite romance trope? 

Enjoy!

Posted in BIPOC / Latinx characters, books, Books in spanish, multicultural children's book day, Picture books, reviews

Multicultural Children’s book day 2026

Posted on by ALSanchezBooks
Look at this beautiful poster for 2026!

Every year in January I join the outstanding humans at @readyourworld for the Multicultural Children’s book day celebrations

This is my 6th year participating as a reviewer and I was assigned 2 lovely picture books I’m excited to share with y’all today!

🦜 La gran sorpresa de Pésaj / The Passover Pet Surprise by Ana María Shua and illustrated by Angeles Ruiz

This book embodies the multicultural theme as it’s author, an argentinian and Spanish illustrator bring to life the story of Jordanita, whose family travels from Miami to Argentina to celebrate Passover with their relatives. 

It celebrates jewish and argentinian heritage through a story about freedom, family love and love of the little animals that are part of our families.

The illustrations were beautiful and brought the story to life.

This one comes out March 6!

🧚 Fairy Walk Written and Illustrated by Gaia Cornwall

This is such a cute story of a group of children that enjoy the woods around their home as they search for fairies.

It was lovely seeing how the children explored their surroundings, with the fairies hiding just beyond their reach. 

This one is available now!

Thanks to @northsouthbooks and author @gaiacornwall and Read Your World for the gifted e-ARCs for these books.

All opinions are my own.

Read Your World 2026 (1/29/26) is in its 14th year! Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen founded this non-profit children’s literacy initiative; they are two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural diverse books and authors on the market while also working to get those books into the hands of young readers and educators.

Read Your World’s mission is to raise awareness of the need to include kids’ books celebrating diversity in homes and school bookshelves. Read about our Mission and history HERE.

Read Your World is honored to be Supported by these Medallion:

FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Pragmaticmom) and Valarie Budayr (Audreypress.com)

🏅 Super Platinum Sponsor: Author Deedee Cummings and Make A Way Media

🏅 Platinum Sponsors: Language Lizard Bilingual Books in 60 Languages and Jeanne Walker Harvey

🏅 Gold Sponsors: Publisher Spotlight

🏅 Silver Sponsors: Red Comet Press

🏅 Silver Corporate Sponsor: Kathy Choi

🏅 Bronze Sponsors: Fabled Films Press

🏅 Corporate Sponsor: Crayola Education

Read Your World is honored to be Supported by these Author Sponsors!

Authors: Audrey Barbakoff, Federico Erebia, Teddi Ahrens, Stephanie M. Wildman, Maritza M. Mejia, Authors J.C. Kato and J.C., Eugenia Chu, Dorktales Storytime Podcast, Josh Funk,

Frances Díaz Evans, Gaia Cornwall, Eric Clock, Maria Wen Adcock, Diana Huang, Gwen

Jackson, Gea Meijering, Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett, Ismee Williams, Karin Fisher-Golton,

Kathleen Burkinshaw, Tami Lehman-Wilzig, Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou, Nancy Tupper Ling,

Teresa Robeson, Crystal Z. Lee, Karen Leggett Abouraya, Elly Swartz, Robbin Miller, Shifa

Safadi, Tonya Ellis,Lisa Stringfellow, Sylvia Liu, Kimberly Biddle, Robbin Miller, Tonya Ellis,

Nadine Pressley, Natahsa Yim Carter, and Lisa Chong.

Read Your World is Honored to be Supported by our CoHosts and Global CoHosts and by our

Partner Organizations!

Check out RYW’s Multicultural Books for Kids Pinterest Board!

📌 FREE RESOURCES from Read Your World Day

FREE RYW2026 Poster

FREE Building Community with Bilingual Books 2026 Classroom Kit

FREE Mental Health Support for Stressful Times Classroom Kit

FREE Diversity Book Lists & Activities for Teachers and Parents

FREE Homeschool Diverse Kidlit Booklist & Activity Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Activism and Activists Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Empathy Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Kindness Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Physical and Developmental Challenges Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Poverty Kit

Gallery of Our Free Posters

FREE Diversity Book for Classrooms Program

📌 Register for the Read Your World Virtual Party:  https://readyourworld.org/virtualparty 

Join us on Thursday, January 29, 2026, at 8 pm EST celebrating 14 years of Read Your World Day Virtual Party! Register here.   

This epically fun and fast-paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas.

We will be giving away a 10-Book Bundle during the virtual party plus Bonus Prizes as well! *** US and Global participants are welcome. **

Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, and connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians. We look forward to seeing you all on January 29, 2026, at our virtual party!

Posted in books, favorites, recipe, recipe and review, reviews, Rom-Com

Recipe and a Review: Problematic Summer Romance

Posted on by ALSanchezBooks

Sicily in the scorching summer, a wonderful villa by the water, and Maya and Connor. Ingredients for a super steamy summer romance. After reading this, I needed some serious cooling down, and what better way than to try 2 refreshing drinks inspired by this novel. 

Starting your day with a cooling glass of granita, whipped cream, and a brioche bun is the norm in Sicily (as per this book) and espresso is a popular choice th perfect choice.

Acqua e menta is a classic Italian drink is a mixture of mint syrup and chilled still or sparkling water. 

I hope you enjoy these!

Summary:

Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life. Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him.

It’s such a cliché, it almost makes her heart implode: older man and younger woman; successful biotech guy and struggling grad student; brother’s best friend and the girl he never even knew existed. As Conor loves to remind her, the power dynamic is too imbalanced. Any relationship between them would be problematic in too many ways to count, and Maya should just get over him. After all, he has made it clear that he wants her gone from his life.

When Maya’s brother decides to get married in Taormina, she and Conor end up stuck together in a romantic Sicilian villa for over a week. There, on the beautiful Ionian coast, between ancient ruins, delicious foods, and natural caves, Maya realizes that Conor might be hiding something from her. And as the destination wedding begins to erupt out of control, she decides that a summer fling might be just what she needs—even if it’s a problematic one.

“Why did she bring me a slushy?” Conor looks at me like I just produced a legally actionable claim. “Jesus Christ.” “What?” “Maya.” “What did I do?” “Took a dump on centuries of Sicilian culture?” I blink. “Because I asked about the slushy?” “It’s called a granita. Granita al caffè. With panna—the heavy cream on top.” He plucks a brioche bun from the basket on his left and puts it on my plate.…. “Shut up and eat.” It turns out to be crunchier than a slushy, made of little shards of ice infused with sweet espresso. It’s delicious, of course—creamy and refreshing and cloud-fluffy, and: “I’m moving here,” I tell him after two bites, scooping more granita onto my pastry.

If you make it or share it please tag me 🤩

My thoughts:

  • I’ve been lusting for a  Maya and Connor book since I saw their guarded interactions in Not in love. I could sense there was something there.
  • I was afraid of this book because the title made me worry it would be a insta-love story. But I was so wrong. The two timelines clearly show us there had been a lot going on the previous 3 years, and there was a greater depth on their relationship than was evident.  The 3 years had been the slowest of slow burns, with occasional episodes of exploding heat (The cave scene 🔥🔥🔥)
  • I loved how Maya was so certain of what she wanted with Connor and how she expressed it. It did feel at times she was the only one fighting for them, and he was constantly fighting against his feelings and found his reluctance a bit repetitive.
  • I didn’t find the age gap to be a big deal, probably because of how the author handled the development of their relationship, by having them come into each other’s radar well after Maya is an adult, and having them go from mere acquaintances to friends to prospective lovers.
  • While this is a stand alone, I feel like reading Not in love first gave me a better understanding of the other characters and situations, and also the anticipation for M & C to get together.
  • As always, I absolutely love Ali’s style, the romance and humor intermingled with seriousness.
  • I also enjoyed getting a bit of continuation of Rue and Eli’s story, and the setting in the Italiand villa was fantastic 
  • The audio narration was perfection, the duet style by Elizabeth Lamont & Eric Nolan (with his Irish accent) *chefs kiss 

Have you ever been to Italy?

Where would you like to go?

“After sneaking out of the theater, I spent a couple of hours wandering down Corso Umberto while sipping on a delicious drink made of water and sweet mint syrup. ”

Enjoy!

Posted in books, favorites, recipe, recipe and review, reviews, Rom-Com

Recipe and a Review: What Happens in Amsterdam

Posted on by ALSanchezBooks

As Dani experiences the sights, culture and cuisine that Amsterdam has to offer, I couldn’t help but get craving for trying so many delicious sounding foods. But one stood out, buttery and fluffy Poffertjes. These dutch mini pancakes, were the absolute best, and instant hit in my home. I’ve since made them several times, and we’ve gotten more creative with the toppings, the possibilities are endless.

Summary:

Dani Dorfman has somehow made it to her thirties without knowing what she wants to do with her life. So when an office romance ends poorly and gets her fired, she applies for a job in Amsterdam, idly dreaming of escaping the mess she’s created, but never imagining she’ll actually get it. Except she does. By the end of her first week in Amsterdam, she’s never felt more adrift or alone. Then she crashes her bike into her high school ex-boyfriend—and suddenly life is blooming with new opportunities.

Wouter van Leeuwen was a Dutch exchange student Dani’s family hosted, a forbidden love that ended in a painful breakup. Years later, there’s still sizzling chemistry between them, and okay, maybe a little animosity. More importantly, Wouter needs to be married to inherit a gorgeous family home on a canal—and when Dani’s job falls apart, she needs a visa. As the marriage of convenience pushes them together in unexpected ways, Dani must decide whether her new life is yet another mistake—or if it’s worth taking a risk on a second chance.

“I stop in front of a cart selling miniature pancakes, where an older man is pumping batter into small circles on a griddle. Poffertjes, says the sign above him. “One of these please”… “with sugar or nutella?” “Both?”

I watch my little pancakes rise, darkening at the edges before he scoops them onto a paper tray, sprinkling them with powdered sugar and a healthy dollop of nutella.”

If you make it or share it please tag me 🤩

My thoughts:

  • This was absolutely perfect. I loved Dani and Wouter. These 2 had undeniable chemistry from the start, funny they were the ones that couldn’t see it.
  • Plus the steam was A+, I love how the author manages to make them vulnerable yet so open to each other in the intimate moments. And there were plenty of deliciously 🔥 scenes.
  • Second chance romance is a hit of miss for me, but the author managed to make them endearing and you can’t help but root for them.
  • I always love how she also manages to have mental health representation, and how Dani initially struggles to speak up for herself and show her independence to her family. Her growth was great throughout the story.
  • The author clearly loves Amsterdam, and she makes me want to visit, and soon!
  • The narration by Elizabeth Lamont was fantastic, specially listening the words and names pronounced correctly.

Thank you @berkleyromance and @prhaudio for the gifted copy of the book.

What’s your favorite topping for pancakes or waffles? 

Enjoy!

Posted in books, favorites, recipe, recipe and review, reviews, Rom-Com

Recipe and a Review: Great Big beautiful life

Posted on by ALSanchezBooks

What’s better than a refreshing sip of lemonade on a hot and humid day? A cold glass of Mint lemonade. This was the perfect inspiration to share a favorite of mine, and check out the adult beverage twist at the end 🍋🍹

Summary:

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: to write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives: Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, but the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

“I take a tiny sip of the lemonade, which turns into a long gulp, because it’s amazing, fresh and crisp with torn mint leaves swirling around along with the ice cubes.”

If you make it or share it please tag me 🤩

My thoughts:

  • This book felt like a mix of classic EmHen romance in the present story with the classic witty banter and  undeniable chemistry; but mixed with a historical family drama in the flashbacks of Margarets story, with the drama and secrets, that reminded me a lot of a TJR novel. 
  • It felt different than her previous novels so it’s hard to compare and rank against her other books, but I was still hooked and loved every minute of it.
  • I loved the development of the relationship between the MCs. Forced proximity is one of my favorite tropes, and these two kept bumping into each other, until they just wanted to spend more and more time together.
    Alice was so open from the start, but Hayden went from quiet and reserved, to full on committed to making something work with Alice.
  • And I also enjoyed the drama and the mystery of Margaret’s story. While I had my suspicions there was something she was hiding and I did guess one correctly, I didn’t see the big reveal coming and that twist was completely unexpected.
  • The problem they encountered towards the end was the most heartbreaking and the saddest I’ve read and it really really broke me.
  • The narration by Julia Whelan was superb as always.

Thank you @berkleyromance and @prhaudio for the gifted copy of the book.

What’s your favorite refreshing summer drink of choice? 

Enjoy!

Posted in BIPOC / Latinx characters, books, favorites, recipe, recipe and review, reviews, Rom-Com

Recipe and a Review: Just our Luck

Posted on by ALSanchezBooks

There was no doubt in my mind as I was reading this book that I should make donuts. Now Blueberry cake donuts filled with Lemon curs were a bit too complex, but these Blueberry donuts with lime glaze hit the perfect sweet spot. I hope yall can try them out! 🍩

Summary:

A lottery ticket + donuts = love in this steamy new fake dating romance. When Sybil accidentally leaves behind her winning lottery ticket in Kiran’s donut shop, his attempt to find her goes viral and sales at his family’s donut shop soar. So of course, to help save his shop, he and Sybil fake date, and it doesn’t take long for real feelings to bloom. 

“Filled is good.” She said. “Filled to overflowing with…” she leaned forward and lowered her voice, the words raspy to anove a whisper and so fucking sexy that it took my brain a moment to register she was saying something else “lemon curd”.

If you make it or share it please tag me 🤩

Ingredients

My thoughts:

  • This was a fun fake dating story
  • I enjoyed Sybil and Kiran meet cute, and that definitely escalated quickly 🔥
  • The twist of the winning lottery ticket was fun
  • I liked Kierans devotion to his family and helping his grandfather
  • I didn’t like how Sybil’s family treated, thankfully she had a great group of supportive friends. I’m happy she was able to find her voice and tell them how they made her feel
  • I thought she should have owned up to how her actions affected those around her, I don’t think she took responsibility for them enough. Even after the reveal at the end, I think there should have been a bigger reconing from her part.
  • The narration by Emma Ladji and Teddy Hamilton was perfect

Thank you @berkleyromance and @prhaudio for the gifted copy of the book.

What’s your favorite type of donut? 

Enjoy!

Posted in books, favorites, recipe, recipe and review, reviews, Rom-Com

Recipe and a Review: Work in Progress

Posted on by ALSanchezBooks

New year brings a redesigned look for my recipe and review series, Can’t wait to hear what y’all think about it and Work in Progress by Kat MacKenzie.

From thevery first moment Alice and Robbie meet, they don’t have a meet-cute, they have a meet-ugly. He thinks she’s and entitled American brat, she thinks he’s an inconsiderate Scottish bastard. They hate each other, until they don’t.

In the process, they share a lovely, middle of the night snack, I couldn’t help but try to replicate: 2AM chicken sandwiches with homemade mayo and pints. 

I wish I had the ability to make tea with scones and clotted cream, ans rhey often had in this book, but it proved too complex for this format.

“Truce? He asked. “Well, only temporarily, of course. Until we refuel. Then we can go back to trying to kill each other with renewed vigor.”

“Truce,” I agreed…..

“How about a sandwich and a pint? Will it do, do you think?”… Together we moved around, busily slicing bread, shaving chunky cuts of roast chicken, washing and chopping the tomatoes and lettuce, and sourcing various cheeses and condiments…. “You’ll have to wait a bit longer to give me time to make a proper mayonnaise, and after seeing that look on your face, I don’t trust you enough to turn my back on you for even a second.”

“Make a mayonnaise? Mayonnaise isn’t something that’s made… it’s something that’s bought… in a gallon jar… at Walmart.”

His eyes widened dramatically, and he scoffed. “I rescind the former compliment. You have no taste…”

If you make it or share it please tag me 🤩

“The only way I’d warm up to you is if I set you on fire first”

Summary:

Alice needs a fresh start. After her horrible breakup, losing her job, nothing seems to be going right. She makes a sour of the moment decision and books a UK literary , women only, bus tour that promises camaraderie and fun. But finds a bus full of elderly ladies plus one irritating and handsome Scottish driver.

My thoughts:

  • I really love this one. Mention Jamie Fraser and send me traipsing around Scotland too please!
  • I enjoyed the travel romance concept. And a literary tour of the UK sounds like a dream. It made for a  fun reading, looking up the different places they visited. The characters always going and seeing something new. 
  • I liked that the side characters where this troupe of lovely elderly ladies, they acted like loving grandmas, and took Alice under their collective wings. Providing her with much needed wisdom, and a good dose of gossip and showing her, that her initial impression was so wrong.
  • Many of the situations were a bit far fetched, but still made for funny and entertaining moments that had me laughing despite the unlikelihood of it all.
  • Part of the plot does relies on miscommunication or misunderstanding, it’s a trope I don’t usually likeC it was undertsadable due to the circumstance, but still always wish for the characters to speak like adults to each other.
  • I loved the slow burn relationship development between Alice and Robbie. Once they got over their aversion, they really had time to get to spend time together and get to know each other well.
  • This is a relative low spice book with no explicit scenes, so if youre into romance with closed doors or barely open, this is a great choice for you.
  • Loved the nods to tons of books, characters, settings. 

Overall, I think this was a great This was a debut novel and I will happily await more books by this author.

Thank you @avonbooks for the gifted copy of the book.

Would you go on a literary tour? What would your destination be?

Enjoy!

Posted in BIPOC / Latinx characters, books, Books in spanish, middle grade books, multicultural children's book day, reviews

Multicultural Children’s book day 2025 part 2

Posted on by ALSanchezBooks

This is my 5th year participating as a reviewer for Multicultural Children’s book day. This year I was assigned 2 books, and today I’m excited to share my review for the second of them.

Estado de la Unión / State of the Union by Kitty Felde is a MG contemporary fiction novel. It’s the second in the Fina Mendoza mystery series that features Josefina (Financial) a 10 yo daughter of Mexican-American congressman, as she discovers living in Washington DC and hanging around in the Capitol.

In this book, she pairs with Senator Something, the dog she walks after school to help solve the mystery of the bird that pooped on the Presidents head during thr State of the Union address.

The setting is interesting and definitely educational for kids to learn about the different branches of government, special events like the State of the Union address, democratic participation in this case and peaceful protest for immigration, etc.

The mystery itself is simple, and Fina goes about it asking questions and investigating by reasearching online, and asking people like bird experts from the zoo. It also has complex family dinamics, specially between their grandmother who loves from California to help them at home and Fina’s older sister Gaby; and also their father.

Overall the book was entertaining and a great tool for introducing civics education to kids. There are also free educational guides available for teacher to download and use in their classrooms.

Thank you to Chesapeake press and Read Your World for this gifted copy.
All opinions are my own.

Read Your World 2025 (1/30/25) is in its 13th year! Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen founded this non-profit children’s literacy initiative; they are two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural diverse books and authors on the market while also working to get those books into the hands of young readers and educators.

Read Your World’s mission is to raise awareness of the need to include kids’ books celebrating diversity in homes and school bookshelves. Read about our Mission and history HERE.

Read Your World is honored to be Supported by these Medallion:

FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Pragmaticmom) and Valarie Budayr (Audreypress.com)

🏅 Super Platinum Sponsor: Author Deedee Cummings and Make A Way Media

🏅 Platinum Sponsors: Publisher Spotlight and  Language Lizard Bilingual Books in 60 Languages 

🏅 Gold Sponsors:  Third State Books 

🏅 Silver Sponsors: The Quarto Group, Red Comet Press and Lerner Books 

🏅 Silver Corporate Sponsor:  Scholastic Books 

🏅 Bronze Sponsors:  Lee and Low and Star Bright Books

🏅 Bronze Corporate Sponsor: Crayola Education 

🏅 Ruby Corporate Sponsor: MagicBlox

Read Your World is honored to be Supported by these Author Sponsors!

Authors: Stephanie M. Wildman, Martha Seif Simpson, Anna Jennings, Gwen Jackson, Afsaneh Moradian, Joaquín Camp, Rahana Dariah, Ziggy Hanaor, Josh Funk, Nancy Tupper Ling, Kathleen Burkinshaw, Gea Meijering, Eugenia Chu, Dorktales Story Time, Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett, Authors J.C. Kato and J.C.², Cynthia Levinson, Diana Huang, Rochelle Melander,  Lisa Chong, Lisa Stringfellow,  Brunella Costaglioga, Lindsey Rowe Parker, Rachel C. Katz, Tonya Duncan Ellis, Shifa Safadi, Lisa Rogers, Sylvia Liu, Eva Clarke, Crystal Murakami, Teddi Ahrens

Read Your World is Honored to be Supported by our CoHosts and Global CoHosts and by our Partner Organizations! 

Check out RYW’s Multicultural Books for Kids Pinterest Board!

📌 FREE RESOURCES from Read Your World Day

📌 Register for the Read Your World Virtual Party:  https://readyourworld.org/virtualparty 

Join us on Thursday, January 30, 2025, at 9 pm EST celebrating 13 years of  Read Your World Day Virtual Party! Register here.   

This epically fun and fast-paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas.

We will be giving away a 10-Book Bundle during the virtual party plus Bonus Prizes as well! *** US and Global participants are welcome. **

Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, and connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians. We look forward to seeing you all on January 30, 2025, at our virtual party!

Posted in BIPOC / Latinx characters, books, middle grade books, multicultural children's book day, reviews

Multicultural Children’s book day 2025

Posted on by ALSanchezBooks

This is my 5th year participating as a reviewer for Multicultural Children’s book day. This year I was assigned 2 books, and today I’m excited to share my review for the first of them.

The Pecan Sheller by Lupe Ruiz-Flores is a MG historical fiction novel set in the late 1930s in Texas. Following the Great Depression, the Pecan industry that had terrible work conditions and relied mostly on immigrant and child labor, significantly cut wages to its workers.

Petra, a thirteen-year-old girl has to leave school and get a job shelling pecans with her stepmom after her father’s death in order to help take care of her younger siblings.

The setting of this story is important, it seems ludicrous that a young child would be taken out of school to work in such horrible conditions. Yet, before workers rights, this was commonplace. And it’s the movement for workers rights that takes center stage, and Petra’s role within it, her journey and growth bring out the brave young woman she is, fighting not only for herself and her family, but for her work friends.

This book delt with some very difficult topics and I appreciated how well it tackled them. It was set in a period I was unfamiliar with. I really enjoyed the fact that I learned new things, and I think it’s a great tool for young readers to become familiar with a time when things where so different. I would have loved for her writing to be a bigger part of the story.
As a little side note, I liked that the author wrote this novel to honor her mother and grandmother whi were Pecan shellers.

This novel comes out April 1.
Thanks to Lerner Books and Read Your World for this gifted ARC.
All opinions are my own.

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