Medina honored at Henrico forum

Henrico resident Meg Medina, an award-winning author, a mother and a teacher, spoke May 25 about how teaching shaped her writing, how she wanted to help children hear more diverse voices in literature and how she weaved her own life experiences into her latest book, “Merci Suárez Changes Gears,” for which she received the 2019 Newbery Medal.

Medina spoke, read from her book and signed books during an hour-long event on May 25 at the Libbie Mill Library that celebrated her and her Newbery Medal achievement. The event, which was free and open to the public, was hosted by Virginia House of Delegates member Schuyler VanValkenburg (72nd District), who also presented Medina with a commending resolution that the General Assembly passed in February.

Medina is an author of Cuban background who has written several other young adult novels and picture books such as “Burn Baby Burn,” “The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind,” Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award winner, “Tía Isa Wants a Car,” and 2014 Pura Belpré Author Award winner, “Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your A--.”

“One of my first thoughts was ‘Well, we've got to celebrate her in the General Assembly,’” VanValkenburg said. “And so, we get a resolution passed and we got the Henrico delegation to sign on.”

A commending resolution is a celebration of a person's achievement, life or success, VanValkenburg said, adding that he thought it was important that the state recognize and celebrate its literary figures.

The Newbery Medal is an annual award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, “to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children,” according to the ALSC website. The Newbery medal means Medina’s book will never get out of print, Medina said.

"To have a Newbery award-winning author in our community is just astounding and amazing, and we are so lucky to have her contributing to our reading community," said attendee Lara Samuels, a librarian at Cool Spring Elementary in Hanover County.

“Merci Suárez Changes Gears” is a children’s book published in 2018 which tells the story of sixth-grader Merci Suarez, as she attends a private school in Florida as a scholarship student. The coming-of-age story engages themes such as change, family, loss, loneliness and connection, all the while incorporating humor and profundity in its approximately 360 pages.

The idea for protagonist Merci Suarez first materialized in an short story that Medina wrote for an anthology about diverse perspectives, “Flying Lessons & Other Stories.” Medina decided to expand the idea into its own novel, one she wrote drawing from her own memories of youth, school and family, particularly her elders.

“What happens when children see the people they love get older and change and pass away?” Medina said. “They are there. They’re present. They’re experiencing this. So how do we write this for them?

“And it turns out that I think you write it with humor and respect for the way children experience this, which is this combination of matter-of-factness and confusion.”

Being a teacher – something Medina and VanValkenburg had in common – never left Medina, she said. She taught for 10 years, and teaching shaped her as a writer and a person, she said.

“I think that teaching is one of those careers that changes you forever because you're in such intimate space with your students as they're learning who they are, and they're learning how to think and how to feel and express and so on,” Medina said. “So I feel like it only made my writing stronger, having been a teacher. I have a sense of how kids think and the things that they'll find funny.

“But I also feel like I also know that I have a really strong sense of why really good books matter for them as they grow up. It's not just filler. It's a way to help kids grow up.”

Amidst today’s fraught and negative stereotype-cluttered conversation around immigrants, Medina writes to provide “a sort of counter-narrative to stereotypes.”

“I'm writing the families that I knew, the families that may have economic need but have an abundance of love and strength,” Medina said.

The Newbery award itself has been life-changing and career-changing, Medina said, but now she is working to “stretch the table” by bringing new authors to attention, awareness and publishing.

"If we really care that kids get a lot of books from a lot of voices, we have to make room for them,” Medina said, adding that sometimes that meant standing to the side and introducing others.

VanValkenburg, who also teaches at Glen Allen High School in Henrico County, said he shared Medina’s remarks about making children’s literature more diverse and incorporating more voices and perspectives.

"I just think it's great that we got this many people here and that we were able to celebrate a Newbery book award winner, and one from Henrico," he said. "That's awesome. It doesn't happen very often, and it's cool that our community continues to value the arts, literature and education. Long may it continue.”