Books

See You Soon

From New York Times Bestselling Author Mariame Kaba, and award winning illustrator Bianca Diaz, a poignant, beautifully illustrated story of a little girl’s worries when her Mama goes to jail, and the love that bridges the distance between them.

Haymarket, 2022

"Mariame Kaba is always front and center in the fight for abolition. This beautiful story is a song of redemption and a study of the forever tremor that is mass incarceration. See You Soon is a shining example of how hope can tend to our deepest wounds."—Mahogany L. Browne 

“Beautifully framed illustrations in bright colors illustrate six-year-old Queenie’s (Reyna) life with her mother and grandmother… much needed for children who are separated from a parent in jail.” —Youth Services Book Review

“This sensitive, affecting examination serves as a worthy conversation starter.” —Publishers Weekly

 

Starting Over in Sunset Park

Brooklyn is a strange, intimidating place for a girl who speaks no English when she steps off her very first plane after a flight from the Dominican Republic.

Jessica and her mom, Camila, must live in their cousins’ crowded apartment until Camila finds work and they can afford their own place. Little by little, things get better. She begins to learn English, and she loves the cats she and her mom care for to earn extra money. Left behind by traveling owners, the cats make the best of their situation, inspiring Jessica to do the same.

Tilbury House, 2021

"The Afro-Caribbean experience is seldom seen in children’s books, and cultural insiders will appreciate the text’s references to the Dominican Republic and its inclusion of Spanish language." ― Booklist

"Diaz renders Sunset Park in culturally specific detail and with a rainbow of tropical colors; amid a variety of page layouts, a muted double-page spread of Central Park in the snow stands out beautifully." ― Horn Book

 
 

The One Day House

A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2020, An Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor recipient 2018, and a Junior Library Guild Selection.

Wilson dreams of all the ways he can help improve his friend Gigi’s house so that she’ll be warm, comfortable, and happy. One day, friends and neighbors from all over come to help make Wilson's plans come true. Everyone volunteers to pitch in to make Gigi's house safe, clean, and pretty. Disponible en español aquí.

Charlesbridge, 2017

“By using mixed-media art, Diaz subtly mirrors the spirit of the story… like the community coming together to fix up GiGi’s house, Diaz draws on different skills and techniques to create something greater than the sum of its parts.” ― Horn Book

“Art and text together radiate a warm message of community and caring.” ― Kirkus

 

In the Spirit of a Dream – 13 Stories of American Immigrants of Color

A celebration of American immigrants of color, from basketball player Dikembe Mutombo to cellist Yo-Yo Ma, written in poems and illustrated by 14 first- and second-generation immigrant artists.

Scholastic, 2021

“…the art is diverse in style, uniformly well crafted, and appropriately kid focused for each subject.” ― Kirkus

 

The Princess Who Went Quiet

This comic was inspired by the stories that many people have shared with me about how incarceration has impacted their own lives, the lives of their family members, and the life of their communities.

Self Published, 2014

“…Diaz shows how prison is not a self-contained box which one can leave and enter as if it were just another walled room. Rather, it is like a void, where individuals become invisible behind walls—isolated from life, and sometimes families, on the outside—and often remain invisible once they leave… “Nobody deserves to be made invisible,” Diaz writes. Open words, acceptance, and shared stories can ensure that these individuals are not forgotten.”

― South Side Weekly

Read the full review here.