About
Maya is an artist, author, and educator. She has long collaborated with Children’s Book Press illustrating multicultural children’s books. Although, she does not consider herself an illustrator she has illustrated nearly 20 children’s books and received numerous awards including the 2008 Pura Belpré Honor Award for illustration for My Colors, My World. This was the first book Maya both illustrated and wrote. She has since written and illustrated another book, I Know the River Loves Me, which was released in 2009.
Since 1996, Maya has been providing presentations to children and educators about the power of reflection in our children’s media and the importance of creativity as a tool for personal empowerment. She has witnessed remarkable experiences in classrooms and auditoriums around the country. Through her work with educators and children, she, together with her husband Matthew, cofounded Reflecion Press. The mission and goals of Reflection Press have been a vision of Maya's for quite some time and are now finally coming to fruition.
Maya grew up in the Mojave Desert in Southern California during times when virtually no imagery existed that reflected her experience as a biracial, Chicana. Throughout her life she used creativity as a tool to find, explore, and know herself. Her art is featured in many art books including on the cover of Living Chicana Theory and Contemporary Chicano/a Art.
Description
<p>A Serial Killer Plagues an Island Paradise<br /><br />Vigilante detective Emily Stone continues her covert pursuits to find serial killers and child abductors, all under the radar while shadowing police investigations.<br /><br />Emily searches for an abducted nine-year-old girl taken by ruthless and enterprising slave brokers. Following the clues from California to the garden island of Kauai, she begins to piece together the evidence and ventures deep into the jungle.<br /><br />It doesn’t take long before Emily is thrown into the middle of murder, mayhem, and conspiracy. Locals aren’t talking as a serial killer now stalks the island, taking women in a brutal frenzy of ancient superstitions and folklore. Local cops are unprepared for what lies ahead. In a race against the clock, Emily and her team must identify the killer before time runs out.</p>
Story Behind The Book
Searching for reflection in her world since she was a child, Maya Gonzalez has been using art to affirm and claim herself, her life, and her experience. Now as an adult she is honored to have made art for nearly 20 bilingual children’s books, two of which she has also authored, including the 2008 Pura Belpré Honor Award winner, My Colors, My World. She has been going into schools and universities since 1996 teaching the CLAIMING FACE lessons of using creativity as a tool for self-empowerment. The Educator’s Guide serves to encapsulate these lessons into a comprehensive and transformative guide for educators to implement in their lives and classrooms.
Reviews
<p style="color:#7f007f;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><font size="1"><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">What Educators and Students are Saying:</span></span></font></span></strong></p>
<p><font size="1"><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><br />“I feel so good, inspired, calm. It encouraged me because it gave me a creative space to put myself into when I was feeling like I couldn’t get there. Useful! Informative! Inspiring!"</em> -Educator</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1"><span style="font-size:12px;"><br />“Still blown away with how the art (the act of making art) can be so effective on so many levels. Also the rules were great.” -Educator</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1"><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><br />“Moving, Cathartic, Beautiful, Delightful.”</em>-Educator</span></font></p>
<p><font size="1"><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><br />“You showed me how to do the most fantastic art I’ve ever done”</em>-Abel, age 9</span></font></p>
<p><em><font size="1"><span style="font-size:12px;"><br />“You made me </span></font><font size="1"><span style="font-size:12px;"></span></font></em><font size="1"><span style="font-size:12px;"><em>believe in Art”</em>-Jazmin, age 9</span></font></p>
