Me with my sweet dog, Cheech.When I sit down to write, I always try to create the kind of stories that I craved as a young girl. Since pets were a huge part of my childhood, I write about brave, smart Latinx main characters who are determined to protect animals.
Lety Out Loud was inspired by my own childhood, but also inspired by my desire to continue a story I began with my debut novel, Gaby, Lost and Found.
If you’ve read Gaby Lost and Found, you’ll recognize many of the same characters in Lety Out Loud. Dr. Villalobos, shelter director, returns! Alma Gomez, Gaby’s bestie is in it. And Spike the wild dog is there too! Still, you don’t have to read Gaby, Lost and Found to enjoy Lety Out Loud.
Lety Out Loud is contemporary realistic fiction novel for students ages 7 +. The story follows Lety Muñoz, an English Language Learner, who attends a summer camp at an animal shelter. While there, she becomes interested in taking over the role of the shelter scribe. Even though she struggles with English sometimes, she feels ready to take on this big challenge. The only problem is that her grumpy classmate, Hunter Farmer, also decides he wants to be shelter scribe. Lety is happy to share the responsibility, but Hunter is not!
Soon, Lety finds herself coerced into a contest to prove who would make the best shelter scribe. Lety is determined to prove to Hunter that although her English may not be perfect, she won’t back down from the challenge to write animal profiles for the dogs and cats that need a forever home.
Lety Out Loud is available in Spanish as Lety Alza Su Voz and available as an audiobook. :) Learn more about Lety Out Loud here.
