“Ask Me Anything: The Monster Edition”: Our Shadows Have Claws: 15 Latin American Monster Stories: Yamile Saied Mendez, Amparo Ortiz, Chantel Acevedo, Maika Moulite, Maritza Moulite, M. García Peña & Ari Tison: Young Adult Fiction

Ari Tison is a Bribri (Indigenous Costa Rican) American and African-descended poet and the author of the forthcoming YA hybrid poetry and prose novel Saints of the Household (2023). She is also a contributor to the YA cross-genre monster anthology Our Shadows Have Claws: 15 Latin American Monster Stories (Algonquin Young Readers). From zombies and cannibals to death incarnate, Our Shadows Have Claws offers something for every monster lover. A quick-witted slayer hunts bloodthirsty vampires; “el viejo de la bolsa” steals children from their beds while a military dictatorship steals their parents; and anyone you love, anyone, might be a shapeshifter. This collection reflecting Latin America and its diaspora offers bold, imaginative stories of oppression, grief, sisterhood, first love, and empowerment, and includes contributions from Chantel Acevedo, Courtney Alameda, Julia Alvarez, Ann Dávila Cardinal, Racquel Marie, Gabriela Martins, Yamile Saied Méndez, Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite, Claribel A. Ortega, Amparo Ortiz, M. García Peña, Lilliam Rivera, Jenny Torres Sanchez, and Alexandra Villasante.

M. García Peña/Mia García was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She is the author of Even If the Sky Falls and The Resolutions, a founding member of the Latinx KidLit artist collective Las Musas Books, and a contributor to the YA cross-genre monster anthology Our Shadows Have Claws: 15 Latin American Monster Stories (Algonquin Young Readers). From zombies and cannibals to death incarnate, Our Shadows Have Claws offers something for every monster lover. A quick-witted slayer hunts bloodthirsty vampires; “el viejo de la bolsa” steals children from their beds while a military dictatorship steals their parents; and anyone you love, anyone, might be a shapeshifter. This collection reflecting Latin America and its diaspora offers bold, imaginative stories of oppression, grief, sisterhood, first love, and empowerment, and includes contributions from Chantel Acevedo, Courtney Alameda, Julia Alvarez, Ann Dávila Cardinal, Racquel Marie, Gabriela Martins, Yamile Saied Méndez, Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite, Claribel A. Ortega, Amparo Ortiz, Lilliam Rivera, Jenny Torres Sanchez, Ari Tison, and Alexandra Villasante.

Amparo Ortiz is the author of Blazewrath Games and Dragonblood Ring. She was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She is also a contributor and co-editor, with Yamile Saied Méndez, of the cross-genre anthology Our Shadows Have Claws: 15 Latin American Monster Stories (Algonquin Young Readers). From zombies and cannibals to death incarnate, Our Shadows Have Claws offers something for every monster lover. A quick-witted slayer hunts bloodthirsty vampires; “el viejo de la bolsa” steals children from their beds while a military dictatorship steals their parents; and anyone you love, anyone, might be a shapeshifter. This collection reflecting Latin America and its diaspora offers bold, imaginative stories of oppression, grief, sisterhood, first love, and empowerment, and includes contributions from Chantel Acevedo, Courtney Alameda, Julia Alvarez, Ann Dávila Cardinal, Racquel Marie, Gabriela Martins, Yamile Saied Méndez, Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite, Claribel A. Ortega, M. García Peña, Lilliam Rivera, Jenny Torres Sanchez, Ari Tison, and Alexandra Villasante.

Maritza Moulite graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s in women’s studies, the University of Southern California with a master’s in journalism, and she’s currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Pennsylvania exploring ways to improve literacy in under-resourced communities. She has worked in various capacities for NBC News, CNN, and USA Today and is the co-author – with her sister, Maika Moulite – of the YA novels The Summer I Ate the Rich, One of the Good Ones, and Dear Haiti, Love Alaine. She and her sister are also contributors to the YA cross-genre monster anthology Our Shadows Have Claws: 15 Latin American Monster Stories (Algonquin Young Readers). From zombies and cannibals to death incarnate, Our Shadows Have Claws offers something for every monster lover. A quick-witted slayer hunts bloodthirsty vampires; “el viejo de la bolsa” steals children from their beds while a military dictatorship steals their parents; and anyone you love, anyone, might be a shapeshifter. This collection reflecting Latin America and its diaspora offers bold, imaginative stories of oppression, grief, sisterhood, first love, and empowerment, and includes contributions from Chantel Acevedo, Courtney Alameda, Julia Alvarez, Ann Dávila Cardinal, Racquel Marie, Gabriela Martins, Yamile Saied Méndez, Claribel A. Ortega, Amparo Ortiz, M. García Peña, Lilliam Rivera, Jenny Torres Sanchez, Ari Tison, and Alexandra Villasante.

Maika Moulite is a Ph.D. student in Howard University’s communication, culture and media studies program, where her research focuses on representation in media and its impact on marginalized groups. She is the co-author – with her sister, Maritza Moulite – of the YA novels The Summer I Ate the Rich, One of the Good Ones, and Dear Haiti, Love Alaine. She and her sister are also contributors to the YA cross-genre monster anthology Our Shadows Have Claws: 15 Latin American Monster Stories (Algonquin Young Readers). From zombies and cannibals to death incarnate, Our Shadows Have Claws offers something for every monster lover. A quick-witted slayer hunts bloodthirsty vampires; “el viejo de la bolsa” steals children from their beds while a military dictatorship steals their parents; and anyone you love, anyone, might be a shapeshifter. This collection reflecting Latin America and its diaspora offers bold, imaginative stories of oppression, grief, sisterhood, first love, and empowerment, and includes contributions from Chantel Acevedo, Courtney Alameda, Julia Alvarez, Ann Dávila Cardinal, Racquel Marie, Gabriela Martins, Yamile Saied Méndez, Claribel A. Ortega, Amparo Ortiz, M. García Peña, Lilliam Rivera, Jenny Torres Sanchez, Ari Tison, and Alexandra Villasante.

Yamile Saied Méndez is the author of many books for young readers, including Furia. Born and raised in Rosario, Argentina, she is a Walter Dean Myers Grant recipient, a Vermont College of Fine Arts graduate, and a founding member of Las Musas, a marketing collective of Latin authors. She is also a contributor and co-editor, with Amparo Ortiz, of the cross-genre anthology Our Shadows Have Claws: 15 Latin American Monster Stories (Algonquin Young Readers). From zombies and cannibals to death incarnate, the book offers something for every monster lover. A quick-witted slayer hunts bloodthirsty vampires; “el viejo de la bolsa” steals children from their beds while a military dictatorship steals their parents; and anyone you love, anyone, might be a shapeshifter. This collection reflecting Latin America and its diaspora offers bold, imaginative stories of oppression, grief, sisterhood, first love, and empowerment, and includes contributions from Chantel Acevedo, Courtney Alameda, Julia Alvarez, Ann Dávila Cardinal, M. García Peña, Racquel Marie, Gabriela Martins, Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite, Claribel A. Ortega, Amparo Ortiz, Lilliam Rivera, Jenny Torres Sanchez, Ari Tison, and Alexandra Villasante.

Chantel Acevedo is the author of adult novels, including The Distant Marvels, a finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and the middle-grade novel Muse Squad: The Cassandra Curse. She was born in Miami to Cuban parents. In the middle-grade mystery The Curse on Spectacle Key (Balzer + Bray), Frank Fernandez never stays in one place for long. His parents renovate unusual buildings and turn them into homes, so the family moves a lot – which makes it hard for bookish Frank to make friends. So when his parents announce they’re moving to Florida’s Spectacle Key to live in a lighthouse, and for good, he’s thrilled. But the place isn’t the perfect forever home they’d imagined. The lighthouse is falling apart, and there are knocks on the door and mysterious sighs and sniffles, but no one is ever there. There’s even a creepy doll that seems to move on its own. Is Spectacle Key haunted? Then Frank meets a girl in old-fashioned clothes. She has no memory of who she is. But she does know that the island is under a curse – and she needs Frank’s help to figure out how to lift it.