On Oct. 21 Meg Medina, the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, will be coming to Salina South. To get students excited about the visit, South is doing a common read with one of Medina´s books, “Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass.” Two local celebrities will be selected by Elizabeth Burke, our librarian, to come up on stage during two different assemblies to read “Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass” aloud. Students will then have to guess who it is.
This event was sponsored by The Library of Congress and Every Child is a Reader. The Library of Congress provides Congress with objective research to help inform Congress during the legislative process; they also have the largest collection of books, manuscripts, recordings and more in the world. Every Child is a Reader is a program where they provide libraries with resources like programs and free educational materials such as books, their goal is to have children be more passionate and excited about reading.
“I’ve always wanted to meet an author, like an actual one, so it’s kinda fun,” library aid Oscar Cortes (‘26) said “It’s a very cool thing that is happening.”
Librarians can apply to host the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and when a librarian is chosen the Ambassador will come to your school and talk with the students about the importance of reading.
“I’ve applied for the last eight years since I became a librarian, and we finally got selected,” Burke said. “It’s really important to foster a sense of life long learning and that books can be doors, windows and mirrors.”
Author visits to high schools are usually quite expensive and can cost up to $2500 per day, not including travel expenses for the author. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity for South to do it in a way where it won’t cost the school very much.
“It’s not really all this fun and dandiness that comes with being in highschool, there’s a lot of turmoil and trials that come with it and not everyone works together well,” Analeigh Draper (‘26) said when asked about the book. “So at least for me the author event is a really amazing chance to meet an actual author.”
Meg Medina is an award winning American children’s book author. Her books often center around Latin culture or the lives of young people. Some of her works include; Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, Mango Abuela and Me and Merci Suarez Can´t Dance. She’s won two awards; the John Newbery Medal in 2019 and the Pura Belpre Award for Writing in 2014.
“I think the book shows a lot about culture and women’s rights,” Kinsey Brown (‘25) said. “It could also be seen as a little controversial.”
