David compares winning this award to winning an Oscar. David, a Mexican-American author and educator who grew up and lives in Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, won this award for They Call Me Güero. The Pura Belpré Award is presented to a Latinx writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latinx cultural experience in a work of literature for youth. He generously shared his reaction to winning the Pura Belpré award, influences on his writing and keys to a successful school visit. After reading the novel and gaining deeper understandings of David’s experiences, I contacted him with an interview request to hear about his inspirations for They Call Me Güero and the importance of the message within. I appreciated the opportunity to read about growing up in a border city, as these stories are not often shared.ĭavid wants to share what it is like growing up in a border city through Güero’s story. Though I am not Mexican-American, I watched some of my friends from childhood who are struggle to find their identity, as Güero does. I was immediately drawn to this story in compiled poems as I also grew up in a border city. In his latest novel, They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid’s Poems, David uncovers the realities of life in a border city. By Alexandria Hulslander, Worlds of Words Internĭavid Bowles is a two-time Pura Belpré Award winner and professor at the University of Texas Río Grande Valley.
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