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.

To all of Marisa's fans: I am sorry to report that on August 18, 2011, Marisa died suddenly while at the hospital for a routine exam. I will keep her web site here as a memorial, and it will look much as it always has. Please leave your thoughts and condolences in her guestbook, and I have added a page of pictures of the candles that friends and family have lit in Catholic churches around the world. She was a bright light in my life, my best friend and wife for 35 years, and it was a massive loss to the children's writing community.

Click here to search my web site for information

 
What's New:

Book Trailers and Videos

• DVDs

  • October 2009:  Multi-award-winning LOS GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN animated DVD from Weston Woods/Scholastic, with Author interview and photos.

• Book Trailers

  • A CIRCLE OF TIME, a YA Time Travel Mystery, Mini-Movie/Book Trailer

  • GET READY FOR GABÍ, a third-grade bilingual series, Book Trailer

• Videos

  • 2008 Tomás Rivera Award Ceremony:  Marisa Montes’ and Yuyi Morales’ Acceptance Speeches (October 30, 2008)—20 minutes.

  • Univision’s “Encuentro en la Bahia,” interviews Marisa Montes on the importance of books and reading, en Español (October 2003)—6 minutes.

  • Coming Soon:  2008 ALA Pura Belpré Award Ceremony:  Marisa Montes’ Acceptance Speech—20 minutes.

Awards, Honors, & Special Recognitions:

• March 2008:  LOS GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN (a rhyming bilingual picture book) wins the 2008 Tomás Rivera Award, given by the Texas State University in Austin, Texas.
  • Yuyi Morales, the illustrator of LOS GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN, and Marisa Montes, the author, will receive the award on October 30, 2008 at a luncheon at the Dean’s home, on the San Macros campus.  After the ceremony, they will do a presentation for the campus and sign books.
  • On Halloween, the Tomás Rivera Committee has honored Yuyi and Marisa by selecting a school in Austin and buying every student a copy of LOS GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN.  Yuyi and Marisa will do a presentation at the school and sign the students’ books.
  • The next day, the President of the University will announce the winners of the Tomás Rivera Award to the media at the Texas Book Festival, and later, we will speak and sign books in our own Reading Tent.
• January 14, 2008:  LOS GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN (a rhyming bilingual picture book) wins two awards:
  • The American Library Association's (ALA) 2008 Pura Belpré Award for Illustration AND,
  • The Pura Belpré Honor for Text!  The award ceremony was held in Anaheim, California, at the ALA Annual Convention on June 29, 2008.  Yuyi Morales, the illustrator of LOS GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN, received the Gold Medal, and Marisa received the Citation for the Silver Medal.
• 2007:  LOS GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN was named the following:
  • ALA Notable Book.
  • Chicago Public Library Best of the Best.
  • CCBC Choices Selection.
  • Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year.
  • California Readers “2007 California Collections” Selection.

• 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006: JUAN BOBO GOES TO WORK was named a California Readers “California Collections” Selection.
• 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:

• Fall 2006:  Henry Holt & Company published Marisa's LOS GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN, a rhyming, bilingual picture book about Halloween for children ages 3 to 7.  It’s illustrated by Yuyi Morales, a multi-award-winning children’s illustrator and author.  Check it out!
• Fall 2006:  If you loved JUAN BOBO GOES TO WORK in English, you’ll be thrilled to hear that Marisa’s Spanish translation, JUAN BOBO BUSCA TRABAJO, is now available in paperback—entirely ¡EN ESPAÑOL!  JUAN BOBO BUSCA TRABAJO ¡está disponible en Español!.  JUAN BOBO GOES TO WORK in English is also available in PAPERBACK!
• April 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.
  • 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!
  • The second book in the GABÍ series: WHO'S THAT GIRL?  Read an excerpt and check out the reviews.  It is available in both hardback and paperback!
  • The third book in the GABÍ series:  NO MORE SPANISH!
  • The fourth book in the GABÍ series:  PLEASE DON'T GO!

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.