Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice

For fans of Donna Barba Higueras Lupe Wong Wont Dance and Aida Salazars The Moon Within, comes Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice a contemporary middle grade novel full of spunk and activist heart.

Life sucks when youre twelve. Youre not a little kid, but youre also not an adult, and all the grown-ups in your life talk about your body the minute it starts getting a shape. And what sucks even more than being a Chinese-Filipino-American-Guatemalan who cant speak any ancestral language well? When almost every other girl in school has already gotten her period except for you and your two besties.

Manuela ';Mani' Semilla wants two things: To get her period, and to thwart her moms plan of taking her to Guatemala on her thirteenth birthday. If her moms always going on about how dangerous it is in Guatemala, and how much she sacrificed to come to this country, then why should Mani even want to visit?

But one day, up in the attic, she finds secret letters between her mom and her Ta Beatriz, who, according to family lore, died in a bus crash before Mani was born. But the letters reveal a different story. Why did her family really leave Guatemala? What will Mani learn about herself along the way? And how can the letters help her to stand up against the culture of harassment at her own school?

P R A I S E

';Anna Lapera expertly voices a young girl's middle school trials, but with a voice so unique and heartfelt you will be cringing one moment and cheering the next. She weaves a distinctive story filled with humor, family heartache, and secrets while a young girl releases the fear of her voice and grasps its power.'
Newbery Medalist Donna Barba Higuera