# Monica Brown (author)

Mónica Brown (born October 24, 1969) is an American academic and author of children's literature. Known for her Lola Levine and Sarai chapter book series, as well as numerous biographies covering such Latin American luminaries as Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Dolores Huerta, and Cesar Chavez, she writes relatable characters that highlight the nuance and diversity of the Latinx experience and girl empowerment. Her motivation is to show that bicultural children are not made up of cultural fractions but whole people with a rich and vibrant cultural heritage, such as her character the bicultural red-headed Peruvian-Scottish-American Marisol McDonald. Brown is also an English professor at Northern Arizona University.

## Early life

Brown was born on October 24, 1969, in Mountain View, California, to Isabel Maria Vexler Valdivieso from Piura, Peru, and Daniel Doronda Brown from San Francisco. Monica is Mestiza and Romanian-Jewish on her mother's side and Hungarian Jewish, Scottish and Italian on her father's side. Brown was raised Catholic and converted to Judaism as an adult. Throughout her childhood, Brown took numerous vacations to visit her mother's family in Peru. Her diverse upbringing influences her work most notably in the character Lola Levine whose Jewish-Peruvian-American ancestry mirrors Brown's.

## Career

Brown earned a B.A. in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1991, an M.A. in English from Boston College in 1994, and a Ph.D. in English from Ohio State University in 1998. She is a tenured professor at Northern Arizona University, where she teaches courses on Chicano, African American, and Multi-ethnic literature. She has been a recipient of a Most Significant Creative or Artistic Achievement Award from Northern Arizona University.
Giving birth to her daughters motivated Brown to begin writing children's books that reflected the significant contributions of the people of the Americas. Brown finds inspiration in her Peruvian and Jewish heritage and a commitment to bring diverse stories to children Brown's books are often published as dual language editions. She has even had one translated into Quechua an indigenous language of the Andes.
Brown published her first children's book, My Name is Celia: the Life of Celia Cruz (Me llamo Celia: la vida de Celia Cruz), published bilingually in English and Spanish in 2004, for which she won the Américas Award for Children's Literature.
In her 2011 book Waiting for the Biblioburro, Brown works to showcase the power of literacy and education by telling the story of a Colombian educator who reaches remote communities in Colombia with a donkey powered library. The book won a Christopher Award in 2012.
Brown's 2012 book Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People won her a second Américas Award for Children's Literature, and in 2015 she won the Judy Goddard Award in Children's Literature. Brown's book Frida Kahlo and her Animalitos was selected by The New York Times as one of the best illustrated books of 2017. In that year, she received a Valle del Sol Award for Latino Excellence In Art, Culture & Literature. Brown has also been a recipient of the Victoria Foundation's Professor Alberto Rios Award and an Outstanding Latino/a in the Literary Arts Award.
In 2018, Brown launched a chapter-book series Sarai, co-authored with child actress and internet sensation Sarai Gonzalez. The series is targeted at children 7-10 and is inspired by events in Sarai's life.