Artists & Educators
Amada Irma Perez
Amada Irma is a third-grade teacher in Oxnard, California, and a leading advocate of programs encouraging multicultural understanding. Like many of her students, Amada Irma was born in Mexico and came to the United States as a young child. Amada Irma based My Diary from Here to There/ Mi diario de aquí hasta allá on her own journey across the border as a girl with her large family. In Amada Irma's first book, My Very Own Room/ Mi propio cuartito she dealt with the issues she faced living in a small space with her large family. “My parents,” she wrote, “wanted to provide us with more space, but they could not. However, they taught us strong values, supported our education, and insisted that we become bilingual... [Today,] we are all committed to improving the lives of those who are struggling with the realities of poverty or adjusting to a new and different life.” My Very Own Room/ Mi propio cuartito won the Tómas Rivera Award and the Américas Honor Award, among others. Amada Irma Pérez lives with her husband and children in Ventura, California.
Visit http://www.childrensbookpress.org/guides/diary/all_about.html for more information.
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