Hi!  Welcome to my web site!  We have gathered lots of interesting information -- a little for everyone: Kids, fellow writers, future writers, teachers, and lovers of children's books. And we're always adding more, so check back often.

Click here to search my web site for information

 
What's New:

Awards:

• August 1, 2003: A CIRCLE OF TIME (Marisa's first Young Adult time-travel mystery romance) wins the 2003 WILLA Literary Award presented by the Women Writing the West!
• January 21, 2002: JUAN BOBO GOES TO WORK wins the American Library Association's 2002 Pura Belpré Honor Award for Illustration!

New Books:

• Coming in August 2006:  Henry Holt & Company has published Marisa's GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN, a rhyming, bilingual picture book for Halloween for children ages 3 to 7 , illustrated by Yugi Morales.  Watch for it!
• Also in August 2006:  JUAN BOBO GOES TO WORK will be available in PAPERBACK!  Also, for those of you who speak Spanish, JUAN BOBO BUSCA TRABAJO is available entirely ¡EN ESPAÑOL!  JUAN BOBO BUSCA TRABAJO ¡está disponible en Español!
• Coming in August 2004: The fourth book in the GABÍ series: PLEASE DON'T GO!
• Coming in April 2004: The third book in the GABÍ series: NO MORE SPANISH!
• August 2003: The second book in the series: WHO'S THAT GIRL? Read an excerpt and check out the reviews. It is available in both hardback and paperback!
• April 2003: The first book in the GABÍ series: A CRAZY MIXED UP SPANGLISH DAY. Read an excerpt and check out the reviews. It is available in both hardback and paperback!
• Starting March 2003:  If you loved JUAN BOBO GOES TO WORK, you're in for a treat:  Montes and Cepeda have teamed up again to create a fun new series for Scholastic Paperbacks!  Move over Dora the explorer.  Out of the way Junie B.  GET READY FOR GABÍ.  ¡Gabí está aquí!  A school and family-based Little Apple series with a funny, spunky, Latina main character-which will be a wonderful first for Scholastic Paperbacks!  Set in a multicultural, middle-class, suburban neighborhood, this series brings a Latino perspective to mainstream culture.  Gabí is a strong appealing character who finds herself in some funny, universal situations.

New Web Pages:

• Check out Scholastic's new GET READY FOR GABÍ game: Piñata Concentration. You'll learn Spanish words and increase your concentration skills too!
• Check out my Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, where I answer questions about how I write.
• Check out the new Getting Published page which includes tips on getting started for beginners, as well as a submission tracking chart.
• Check out the newly revised Links page.
• Lectures and Speeches: If you haven't been able to attend my lectures or heard me speak at a conference, some of my speeches are set forth in full on my Getting Published page.
• For those of you who speak Spanish, check out the translation of "The Christmas Camel" (El Camello de Navidad)

     Note: Many photographs and all book covers can be viewed at a larger size!  If you move your mouse pointer over a photo (like the ones at the top of this page) and it turns into a pointing hand, simply click on the photography to view it full size.  When you are done viewing, click the "Back" button on your browser to return to the web page you were on.