WOW! I'm so thrilled to announce that my book PALOMA'S SONG FOR PUERTO RICO won the Gold Medal/First Place award in the Best Educational Chapter Book category at the International Latino Book Awards 2024!! This win came as such a surprise! I wasn't able to attend the awards ceremony in Los Angeles yesterday, but I'm incredibly honored that PALOMA'S SONG FOR PUERTO RICO was considered among the thousands of books that were submitted this year.

I can’t believe it! I'm still in shock! I’m officially an award-winning author. PALOMA’S SONG FOR PUERTO RICO really is the little book that could and I’m so proud of the work I did researching and writing it.

The International Latino Book Awards press release included an insight about Rivera’s book from the ILBA judges: “'This is a story that needs to be told and heard. Excellent! I loved the fact that it had questions for discussion at the end and other notes.’”

This award means so much to me and I can’t wait until the medal arrives in the mail!