Sonia Manzano

Sonia Manzano built a career in acting and writing that brings Puerto Rican family life and New York neighborhood history into stories for young people. The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano, published by Scholastic in 2012, was her first young-reader novel. Set in Spanish Harlem during 1969, it follows Evelyn as activism by the Young Lords changes her community and complicates her relationship with her mother and grandmother. Manzano grounds the political moment in daily family conversations, generational differences, and Evelyn’s developing sense of belonging. That balance lets historical events matter through their effect on one household rather than as distant background. The novel received a Pura Belpré Author Honor in 2013. Manzano is also widely known for playing Maria on Sesame Street for more than four decades, a role connected to her long commitment to thoughtful storytelling for families. The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano extends that commitment through historical fiction centered on a young Latina voice.