ABSTRACT
The American Library Association (ALA) marks the twentieth anniversary of the Pura Belpré Medal for Best Latino Children’s Literature in 2016, making this a key moment in which scholars might reect on the Medal’s mission and legacy. Since 1996, the Belpré Medal has ostensibly raised the visibility of Latino/a children’s and young adult (YA) authors and illustrators. Established by two Mexican-American librarians, Oralia Garza de Cortés and Sandra Rios Balderrama, the Medal honors the legacy of the rst Latina librarian in the New York Public Library and the rst published Latina children’s author who sought to provide Latino/a youth with culturally relevant literature. The Medal named in her honor strives to ensure that Latino/a authors and illustrators endure in a literary eld and market prone to racial erasure. Countless reports and calls for diversity in children’s literature, however, frame Latino/a children’s and YA literature as almost non-existent. How do we explain this disconnect or seeming lack of effectiveness? Has the Medal failed to make a signicant difference? Or do commentators fail to see Latino/a children’s literature despite its presence and despite the positive effects of the Belpré Medal?
