CUBAN AMERICAN AUTHORS TRAVERSE SEA & SKY – FICTION & NONFICTION

ADRIANNA CUEVAS is the author of the Pura Belpré Honor book The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez and The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto, an Edgar Award winner. She is a first-generation Cuban American originally from Miami. After teaching Spanish and English as a second language for 16 years, she decided to pursue her passion for storytelling. Cuevas currently resides outside of Austin, Texas, with her husband and son, where they enjoy hiking, traveling, and cooking lots of Cuban food.

JENISBEL ACEVEDO is an author, content creator, mother of two, and committed philanthropist, who has turned her story of overcoming adversity into a catalyst for social change. As president and founder of the Acevedo Foundation, her mission is clear: to impact and transform lives through love and dedication. Born in Cuba and marked by the challenges of immigrating to the U.S. at age 9 on a risky sea voyage, she has turned her resilience into inspiration. Her debut book, A Raft of Dreams (Self Publishing) is more than a story – it’s a guide for young readers and their families, offering a comforting hand in navigating the complexities of change. The book serves as a testament to the idea that, no matter where we come from or what we face, we all have the power to overcome and shape our own destinies.

RUTH BEHAR is the Newbery Honor Award-winning and Pura Belpré Award-winning author of Lucky Broken Girl, Letters from Cuba, and Across So Many Seas (Nancy Paulsen Books). She was born in Havana, grew up in New York, and has lived in Spain and Mexico. Her work also includes the Sephardic picture book Tía Fortuna's New Home: A Jewish Cuban Journey; the acclaimed travel books An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba and Traveling Heavy: A Memoir In Between Journeys; and poetry and memoir. She was the first Latina to win a MacArthur "Genius Grant" and has received other honors including a John Simon Guggenheim fellowship and being named a "Great Immigrant" by the Carnegie Corporation. An anthropology professor at the University of Michigan, she lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.