🏆 Announcing The First Ever Pedro and Daniel Intersectionality Book Awards!

In what I'm hoping will become a new series on my blog, I'm so happy to share my interview with Federico Erebia about the first ever Pedro and Daniel Intersectionality Book Awards! I was honored to be a part of the committee who selected this year''s winners! What's more, I'm over the moon excited for all the readers who may see their own experiences reflected in these stories OR who may have their view of the world expanded as a result of the work these talented authors and illustrators have created. Thank you to Federico for doing to the work to create, fund and champion this award for books whose main characters reflect true intersectional diversity.

Congrats to all involved!

Hi Federico! I am so excited to chat with you about the first ever Pedro and Daniel Intersectionality Book Awards! Can you tell our readers a little bit about the awards and why you decided to create them?

Hello Jennifer! Thanks so much for this opportunity to talk about these new children’s books awards.

The Pedro and Daniel Intersectionality Book Awards (PADIBA) are two annual prizes of $1500 each for a PB/GN and a MG/YA novel that feature intersectional protagonists. We define intersectionality as two or more marginalized or underrepresented identities which may include their:

• Race, Ethnicity, Skin Tone, Tribal Affiliation,

• Nationality, Language, Culture,

• Physical Appearance, Physical Ability, Neurodivergence,

• Gender Identity, Sexual Identity,

• Religion, Socioeconomics, Family Structure.

After Pedro & Daniel came out, I noticed a few things:

• There were no awards for books with intersectional protagonists.

• Many fantastic books weren’t getting enough attention.

• Some awards don’t allow book creators to submit their own books.

• Some awards require a submission fee, which make them inaccessible to some potential contenders.

Additionally...

• Books by and/or about marginalized/underrepresented individuals are suffering from soft censorship.

• In many cases, books weren’t being challenged or banned because they hadn’t been acquired by libraries in the first place.

• Book awards and other commendations help with book promotions.

• These awards would shine the light on wonderful books in need of attention.

In 2025, forty [40] books were recognized as PADIBA commended titles or placed on the PADIBA longlists. From the longlists, the judging committee selected one [1] winner and two [2] finalists for each of the awards.

Thank you for pointing out that up to this point, there were no awards recognizing books that feature intersectional protagonists. Can you tell us why filling this particular gap felt important to you?

Great question! Folks who are intersectional can experience compounded prejudice and discrimination.

Intersectional folks may feel that they “don’t fit in” within their own communities. For example, I am gay, Latino, and neurodivergent. I have felt homophobia, racism, and other prejudice from non-marginalized folks, but I have also felt:

• homophobia from other Latinos,

• colorism from lighter-skinned Latinos,

• racism from some in the queer community, and

• ridicule because of my neurodivergence, socioeconomics, and culture.

• Intersectional folks may feel singled out and/or invisible, at the same time.

The two 2025 PADIBA winners show the struggles of intersectionality beautifully. Just as important, they show the immense joy and pride that intersectional folks can feel about their identities.

At some point, saying something nice or decent was labeled “politically correct” or “woke.” But the best comparison is “What would Jesus say?” because most folks know how Jesus would treat another person. Our world, country, and local communities are sorely lacking empathy, which needs to be taught by example. Books are a terrific way for kids and teens to see and hear how others experience the world, and this can lead to empathy.

You bring up a good point. All world religions have some version of “the golden rule” and even outside of the context of faith, treating others the way you want to be treated has long been the foundation of how communities care for one another. These days, basic empathy does feel hard to find. This reminds me of your book Pedro & Daniel - which I know is fictional, but based on your own experiences. Can you share a little bit about why you decided to name this award after your main characters?

Originally, I wanted to honor my brother, whose name was Daniel. But then I realized that naming the awards after both Pedro and Daniel is a terrific way to show how two individuals who seem to be the same “on paper” – with regard to identities – can be so different.

It reminded me of a friend who kept hearing publishers say, “We already have a Vietnamese emigration story,” as if there’s a magical “one and done” checkbox. There are as many Vietnamese emigration stories as there are Vietnamese people who have emigrated; each has their own unique story.

Both Pedro and Daniel are gay, Mexican American, and neurodivergent kids/teens/young adults who experience poverty, hunger, and abuse, and yet they are very different from each other. And in Pedro & Daniel, the reader sees the love, joy, laughter, and the special bond they share despite their heartbreaking circumstances.

Thank you for mentioning how important it is for readers to see “joy, love and laughter” in books that feature historically marginalized communities. I feel like those three words, joy, love and laughter, also apply to the work of the PADIBA committee (which I was honored to be a small part of!) Before we announce the winners, can you share your favorite part(s) of working with this year’s committee?

The committee that read all of the books that were submitted for these two awards are friends or board members of Read Your World, a non-profit with a mission to raise awareness about children’s books that celebrate diversity. They are all passionate book lovers. Reading close to a hundred books in the three months before the holidays was a big task. But they really enjoyed it, and have asked to be on next year’s judging committee! I couldn’t have asked for a better team.

To help us choose the two winners and four finalists from the two longlists, we invited two passionate Bookstagrammers to join us:

Jennifer LaGarde [please let me brag about you!] is a tireless book and book creator advocate. Her fans know that she is a writer, does school presentations all over the country, and she has a popular podcast “The Reader’s Heart” and blog “The Adventures of Library Girl!” She is also the Director of School Library Collection Development at Bookelicious. Even more impressive is the mind-bogglingly detailed "Among The Stars" spreadsheet of books that have received starred reviews that she curates [along with Martha Hickson]. All book lovers should know about this spreadsheet! I use it to learn about books that I’ll add to my TBR.

Julie Majerčák is a Multilingual Learners Specialist and a Literacy Influencer. You can watch her terrific, entertaining, and informative book videos on Instagram at @mrs.majercak

Thank you so much, Federico, for all the work you do to amplify and celebrate the voices of those who are so often unheard. I had a blast participating in this year’s award selection, and am so very excited about this year’s selections! So… without further ado, will you share the winners and finalists of the 2025 Pedro and Daniel Intersectionality Book Awards?

I am thrilled to share these incredible, award-winning books with you! Also listed are a short synopsis and the intersectionality of the protagonist(s).

THE PB/GN WINNER IS:

Sister Friend by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, illustrated by Shahrzad Maydani, published by Abrams Books for Young Readers

Ameena feels invisible until another non-white Muslim child joins her class. Finding the right words to become friends is tricky, but they find those words together.

She is Black American and Muslim. Classmates exclude her because of her visibly different appearance: skin color and hair.

THE MG/YA WINNER IS:

The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko, published by Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams.

In this Afrofantasy, a disabled teen maid magically gifted to break curses by cleaning houses, captures the interest of a greedy schemer and a handsome deity.

Small Sade is impoverished and illiterate from dyslexia. She is ostracized because of her appearance (cane use and vitiligo). She suffers from domestic violence and severe child labor in a West Africa-coded society.

THE PB/GN HONOR BOOKS ARE:

A Kurta to Remember by Gauri Dalvi Pandya, illustrated by Avani Dwivedi, published by Sleeping Bear Press.

A little girl worries about moving far from her Aaji and Ajoba in India, but her Aaji fills the pockets of her handmade kurta with special items to help her remember home.

She is a young girl from the western region of India, who worries about losing the connection to her culture when she emigrates.

Snow Steps by Karen Latchana Kenny, illustrated by Irina Avgustinovich, published by Worthy Kids.

With a new friend and some courage, a young bi-racial girl learns to brave the snowy Minnesota winter after immigrating from tropical Guyana.

She is a bi-racial [Indian, Irish] young girl, and a recent immigrant from Guyana. She struggle to adjust to her new snowy home in Minnesota.

THE MG/YA HONOR BOOKS ARE:

Across So Many Seas by Ruth Behar, published by Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Spanning 500 years, Across So Many Seas tells the stories of four Sephardic girls united by their love of music, poetry, and a search for home.

Four girls growing up during turbulent times in Spain, Turkey, Cuba, and the US, each faces additional challenges due to their gender, and mixed Spanish and Jewish heritage.

The Color of Sound by Emily Barth Isler, published by Carolrhoda Books, and imprint of Lerner Publishing Group.

This musical prodigy teen stops playing the violin, upsetting her ambitious mother. Forced to spend the summer at the home of grandparents she barely knows, she encounters a glitch in space-time that changes everything.

The girl is Jewish and neurodivergent. Her synesthesia - the blending of senses (in her case sight and sound) - intertwines with her family’s experiences of intergenerational trauma as descendants of Holocaust survivors.

🎁 Please enjoy a special discount of 20% off the titles mentioned in this post (or others of your choice) by visiting Bookelicious and using the code JENNIFERLAGARDE. Note: I do not make any money from these sales, but I am delighted that you get to save some!

MORE ABOUT THE PEDRO AND DANIEL INTERSECTIONALITY BOOK AWARDS:

We anticipate a larger number of books for the 2026 PADIBA, so the submission period will be earlier [July 1 - August 31, 2025]. Anyone can submit their book for consideration, but we ask that the publisher send the physical book to the judging committee members as soon as they are available.

Details about The Pedro and Daniel Intersectionality Book Awards can be found at here!