MG Author Interview: Jackie García-Morales & Pesky Roots Giveaway

Happy Monday, everyone! Today, I am absolutely thrilled to welcome debut middle grade author Jackie García-Morales to the blog for an exclusive author interview. Jackie is stopping by to chat all about her wonderful new bilingual novel, Pesky Roots / Raíces fastidiosas. 

Jackie is also an associate literary agent at Storm Literary Agency. Read my recent agent spotlight interview with her to learn what she’s looking for in submissions. 

Today, Jackie is giving us a peek behind the scenes of her debut journey, sharing her favorite middle grade writing tips, and discussing how she weaves identity into her storytelling. As a special treat for our readers, Jackie is also generously offering a free book giveaway to one lucky winner! Read on to see our full conversation, and leave a comment below to enter the giveaway. 

Here’s a blurb from Jackie’s website:

At twelve, Izzy Rivera-Colón knows who she is. Not Ignacia, just Izzy. Like Elizabeth, the queen. In her Puerto Rican family, where all her cousins share the same names, she’s always been different. She’s rubia: her blonde, straight hair makes her special. 

But when Izzy moves from New York City to New Jersey, things get weird. At her new school, there are not one but five blonde Elizabeths in her class. Her hair doesn’t set her apart anymore. Apparently, being “Latina” does—and what exactly is that?

Just as Izzy starts to find her footing, puberty hits. Curls and pesky brown roots throw her life into chaos. Everything that made her feel like herself is disappearing… So who even is she? 

With help from her friends—Paddy, an animal-obsessed fact machine, and Laser, who’s more interested in snacks than people—Izzy will have to navigate a sea of Elizabeths to find herself. 

Hi Jackie! Thanks so much for joining us! 

1.  Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer. 

My name’s Jackie and I’m a literary agent and an author! I remember writing my first piece when I was around seven years old, a poem about a flower. As I got older, I continued writing poetry and stories for fun and mostly for myself, but I never really imagined that I would become an author.

Today, I have worked across children’s publishing as a literary agent, publicist, editor, and advocate, so books have become both my profession and my creative home. When I first found my way into the publishing industry, though, I actually thought my place would always be helping other people propel their stories toward success. And I do love that work. It fulfills me tremendously. But along the way, I realized I also had stories of my own that I wanted, and sometimes needed, to share.

Pesky Roots / Raíces Fastidiosas is one of those stories. It draws from pieces of my childhood as well as my mother's experiences. Interestingly, it wasn't necessarily the story I imagined telling first, but it became the story I felt called to tell. I knew there were kids whose identities are shaped by family traditions, cultural expectations, appearance, and how other people perceive them, who needed more mirrors in literature.

That's become a huge part of what motivates me as a writer. I want children to find stories that tell them there are many ways to belong to a culture, a family, and a community.

2. Where did you get the idea for Pesky Roots?

A lot of Pesky Roots comes from my own childhood. Like Izzy, I grew up very fair-skinned with blonde hair, and within my Puerto Rican family and culture, those features were often praised as beautiful. We still carry strong Eurocentric beauty standards in many Latino communities, and as a child, I absorbed some of those messages without necessarily understanding them.

Then puberty happened. My hair became darker and curlier, and it stayed that way. That physical change affected my confidence in a way that was deeply connected to identity. I actually began bleaching my hair around age eleven to retain the blonde.

Part of what I wanted to examine was what happens when a child begins to realize that a physical feature everyone celebrated wasn't necessarily neutral. It could be connected to generations of colorism and ideas about what beauty is supposed to look like, including peer comparison.

I also wanted to write about a Latina experience we don't see represented as often: someone who is very fair, who may be labeled one way within her own community, and then enters a predominantly non-Latino environment where people question whether her cultural identity is even real.

At the same time that Izzy's appearance is changing, she moves somewhere new and is introduced to the idea that being Puerto Rican makes her a "minority." Suddenly, both her appearance and her cultural identity are being defined for her by other people. Those experiences open the door to larger conversations in the book about belonging and who gets to decide what your identity is supposed to look like.

There are pieces of my mom in the story too. She is from the Bronx, which helped inspire Izzy's New York roots, and the mother-daughter relationship is very much an ode to my relationship with my own mom. She's my parent and my best friend. She's incredibly loving and supportive, but she's also always been very frank with me when we talk about identity and the decisions I make. I wanted Izzy to have that kind of relationship too.

Writing Process 

3. It’s cool that your story is based on your child and your mom’s experiences. What was your writing process for this story, and how long did it take to draft and revise it? What tips do you have for other writers about the process?

I think this story had been sitting inside me for a long time before I actually wrote it. I drafted the first version during Christmas 2024, when I had taken about five days off for the holiday. By the way, it was my first time ever taking PTO, and somehow I ended up using it to write a book!

I originally wrote the manuscript for a Latino-focused writing competition. I didn't win, but the competition gave me something incredibly valuable: a deadline. It forced me to stop overthinking, pace myself, and actually finish the story.

After that, I revised it over the next several months, began submitting it, and by the middle of 2025 it had found its publishing home.

My biggest advice to writers is not to underestimate what a motivation and time management or  other structure can do for your writing. If there is a contest: go for it. Not to win necessarily, but to challenge and push yourself. You do not have to win the competition or get selected for the program for the experience to move you forward. Sometimes the real prize is that you finished the manuscript. 

And then revise. Give yourself enough distance to see the story differently, listen carefully to feedback, and keep developing your craft. The version you first type "The End" on does not need to be the version that eventually reaches readers.

4. It sounds like Izzy goes through a real identity crisis when she moves and then goes through puberty changes. How did you weave these themes into your story?

I tried to approach those themes with both honesty and subtlety.

There are moments when the story addresses things very directly. Izzy is going through physical changes associated with puberty, and rather than pretending those changes aren't happening, the book allows her to genuinely react to them. For a middle grade reader, suddenly looking different, feeling different, or no longer recognizing the version of yourself you thought you were can feel enormous. I wanted to respect that.

At the same time, I didn't want the entire story to feel heavy. Izzy is still a kid. There is humor, banter, friendship, misunderstandings, and the wonderfully imperfect ways children try to solve their own problems.

That kid's-eye perspective was really important to me because children don't necessarily categorize experiences as "big issue" and "small issue" the way adults do. Something adults consider minor can feel monumental to a twelve-year-old, while something incredibly significant might get processed through a joke, an awkward conversation, or a seemingly small moment.

So the book lets Izzy be thoughtful and pensive, but also dramatic, funny, confused, stubborn, and hopeful. Her identity isn't a lesson she's being taught. It's something she's actively figuring out.

5. How do the setting changes and the move from New York City to New Jersey impact Izzy’s understanding of what it means to be Puerto Rican or Latina?

Moving to New Jersey forces Izzy to realize that not everyone understands what being Puerto Rican means, but it also makes her realize that she doesn't completely understand all of the language surrounding her own identity yet either.

She moves from a community with a large Latino population into one where she suddenly stands out. She encounters genuine curiosity, but she also encounters assumptions and comments that can be accidentally offensive. A lot of that was inspired by my own experiences.

One important part of the book is that not everyone who says the wrong thing is cruel. Sometimes people simply don't know. Izzy has to learn how to process those moments, decide when something bothers her, and begin figuring out how she wants to explain herself, if she wants to explain herself at all.

She also encounters the word "Latina" and begins questioning what that larger label means in relation to being Puerto Rican and to how she understands herself. A label can technically describe you and still not encompass everything you feel yourself to be.

I think that experience extends beyond cultural identity. Many people understand what it feels like to leave a place where one part of themselves is considered completely ordinary and enter a place where that same thing suddenly makes them "different." That can happen to immigrants and first-generation kids, but it can also happen because of religion, disability, language, socioeconomic background, family structure, or even simply being the only person in the room who loves something everyone else seems unfamiliar with.

Sometimes you understand yourself differently only after entering a space that sees you differently. That’s where Izzy is at!

Road to Publication 

6. Your agent is Analia Cabello. How did she become your agent? What tips do you have on the querying process as an author and agent?

Yes! My agent is Analía Cabello at Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and ours is a "second chances" story, as she calls it, which I love.

I actually signed with Analía after Pesky Roots had already been acquired. Before that, I had queried her with a picture book manuscript, and she passed. I didn't know at the time that she had apparently been on the fence about that project but ultimately felt it wasn't quite there yet.

Later, I was selected for the PB Rising Stars mentorship program and had the opportunity to work with the amazing picture book author Rina Singh. Over several months, I worked hard on another manuscript with her guidance. When it was ready, I queried Analía again because I genuinely still believed we could make a good team.

That manuscript reopened the door. I shared some additional ideas with her, and eventually we signed together. She is incredibly empathetic, supportive, thoughtful, and diligent, and I'm very grateful to have her in my corner.

Being on both sides of querying now, as an author and as a literary agent, has reinforced something for me: a rejection of one manuscript is not necessarily a rejection of your writing forever.

If you genuinely believe an agent could be a strong business and creative partner, don't automatically remove them from your list for every future project because they passed once. Respect the answer, of course, but keep growing.

Then do something with that "no." Work with a mentor. Join a critique group. Take a class. Hire an editor if that's accessible to you. Read extensively. Write something new. Improve your craft.

Second chances in publishing are very real, but ideally you return to that door as a stronger writer than you were the first time you knocked.

7. Thanks for reminding us that there are second changes in publishing. Share your experience with going on submission and getting your publishing contract.

Pesky Roots had a slightly different path because I submitted it directly to publishers while I was still unagented.

Arte Público Press immediately made sense to me because of its long commitment to publishing Latino literature and voices. Although this story is rooted in my lived experience as a Puerto Rican author, I also want to emphasize that Pesky Roots is a book for everyone. Identity and belonging might look different in each reader's life, but those feelings are incredibly universal. But still, it was an #ownvoice and I saw Arte Público felt like the best environment. So I went for it! It worked out.

When the offer arrived in my email, I went straight to my dad and said something along the lines of, "I'm so excited I think I'm going to throw up." I did not, thankfully! But that is a pretty accurate description of how overwhelming and exciting it felt.

Before signing, I also spoke with a few authors who had already published with Arte Público because I wanted to better understand their experiences and make sure I felt comfortable with the partnership.

I'm experiencing submission differently now because I currently have a picture book out with my agent. Submission can be emotionally difficult for authors and illustrators because so much of it involves waiting and uncertainty. Patience is essential.

Flexibility matters too. You have to trust your agent when you're discussing whether to continue submitting a project, change strategy, revise, pause, or sometimes shelve something and pivot to the next project. None of those decisions mean the work was wasted.

I'm excited about the picture book that's currently on submission, and we'll see where it goes! Wish me luck.

Book Marketing 

8. It will be interesting for you to be the agent submitting as well as an author on submissions. How are you planning to celebrate the release of your book and market it after its publication date?

My book releases on Halloween, which is such a fun publication date!

I admittedly have a bit of a head start when it comes to publicity because I work in book publicity and publishing, so I've been having a lot of fun pitching my own book, pursuing coverage, and thinking creatively about partnerships. At the same time, I've had to remind myself that authors cannot do everything. We still have our jobs, families, lives, and actual writing to do.

I've also been incredibly grateful for the early response to the book. Publishers Weekly reviewed Pesky Roots and also invited me to write about some of the larger conversations behind the story, Kirkus Reviews reviewed the book, and School Library Journal included it among its highly anticipated middle grade fiction for fall 2026 and early 2027. Seeing professional readers engage with the themes I cared so deeply about while writing it has been very meaningful.

One area I'm especially excited about is connecting with nonprofits and community organizations interested in using Pesky Roots for book clubs, literacy programs, and book donation initiatives. I would love to help get copies into the hands of children who may not otherwise have easy access to them, and I'm hoping schools and libraries will find value in the conversations the book can spark around identity, belonging, confidence, culture, and beauty standards.

For me, success isn't only about sales or publicity coverage. I really want the children who recognize pieces of themselves in Izzy, particularly kids who don't often see this version of Latino identity represented, to be able to find the book.

If you follow me on Instagram and on my website, you'll probably see some of those partnerships taking shape.

I'm also always happy to participate in podcasts, interviews, school visits, library programs, and conversations like this one.

I will say, though, that one of the funniest parts of becoming an author after working in publicity, marketing, sales, and other areas of publishing is discovering how much harder it feels to talk about your own book! I'm very comfortable championing other people's work. Learning to turn that same enthusiasm toward myself has been its own experience. 

9. It’s cool that you’re trying to connect with nonprofits and community groups as an additional way to promote your book. Tell us about Bookish PR, your email newsletter, and how it can help authors.

Bookish PR is very intentionally an anti-spam newsletter. I usually only send it a few times a year because I want every email to actually contain something useful.

I share opportunities for authors and illustrators, ARC-reading opportunities, publishing jobs, career advice, author resources, writing classes, free opportunities, industry information, and, of course, a little Jackie news here and there.

If you're an author or illustrator seeking representation, trying to learn more about publishing, looking for opportunities, or simply wanting to become more involved in the book world, it's designed for you.

10. What are you working on now?

Right now, I'm writing several new projects for my agent so we have work ready for future submissions, while also preparing to send Pesky Roots out into the world.

I'm also continuing to write about children's literature and publishing. I have a forthcoming piece with Writer's Digest exploring middle grade fiction and I’ll be pitching a few more topics on book advocacy.

A major focus for me is going to be connecting Pesky Roots with the children and communities who could really benefit from it. I'm exploring fundraising and partnerships that could help place copies in under-resourced communities through nonprofits, literacy organizations, Little Free Libraries, book clubs, and other programs.

That feels very connected to why I wrote the book in the first place. I wanted to create a mirror for kids who may not have seen this particular experience of identity reflected very often, and now I want to make sure those readers actually have an opportunity to encounter it.

If you're part of an organization that works with young people, interested in sponsoring books, or simply have an idea for helping Pesky Roots reach more readers, please don't hesitate to reach out. I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Jackie. You can find Jackie at 

jackiegarciamorales.com
Instagram: @hellojaymorales
LinkedIn
Or my very new Substack

 🎉 ENTER THE LITERARY RAMBLES BRITTLE BOOK GIVEAWAY! 🎉

Want to win Pesky Roots / Raíces fastidiosas? Thanks to Jackie for supplying a book for this book giveaway contest.

How to Enter:

• Leave a Comment: Drop a comment below by November 7th with your email address. To protect your privacy from spam bots, please write your email address using the "name [at] gmail [dot] com" format.
• Bluesky Bonus: If you follow me on Bluesky, mention your handle in your comment for an extra entry!
• Sharing Bonus: If you share about this contest on your own social media sites or blog, let me know in the comments for an extra entry.
• Author Bonus: If you follow Jackie on social media, let me know in your comment for an extra entry!
• Blog Follower Bonus: If you follow Literary Rambles via Blogger or email subscription, let me know in the comments for an extra entry.

🌍 Eligibility: The book giveaway is U.S. only.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

• Monday, November 1st: Participating in the Thanks a Latte Giveaway Hop
• Wednesday, November 3rd: Interview with Angela Cheng and a giveaway of her YA The Fast Track
• Monday, November 9th: Interview with Karen Foxlee and a giveaway of The Wonderous Tale of Lavender Wolfe
• Wednesday, November 11th: Agent spotlight interview with Riley Jay Davis and a query critique giveaway 

I hope to see you on Monday!