This is a pencil pouch, and it says Kokila. It’s an imprint at Penguin Random House, and I published my last books with this imprint. It’s special to my family, I suppose, not in a direct way, but in a way that the mission of this imprint is to bring diverse voices from the margins and center them into stories that are for everyone. I have the privilege of writing books with this imprint. For me, it connects to my family in a way that my children get to read the kindof books that a place like this publishes—voices that are from every aspect of the world, all different cultures, and making it about the beauty of the diversity of our world. I love it. This for me is really representative of something special, and I would have loved to have this kind of imprint publishing books when I was a child. Luckily, the steps have been taken, and now there is one. I get to be part of it, but also I get to enjoy the books that are coming out from it so it’s cool. And it’s a good pencil pouch.

Learn more: www.my-america.org 

Relationship:  Im/migrant who arrived as a child Im/migrant who arrived as a child