Celia C. Pérez is the daughter of a Mexican mother and a Cuban father.  Her debut book for young readers, The First Rule of Punk (Viking / Penguin), was a 2018 Pura Belpré Award Honor Book, a 2018 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards honor book, and a winner of the 2018 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award, a Junior Library Guild selection, and was included in several best of the year lists including the Amelia Bloomer List, NPR's Best Books of 2017, the Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best Books, the New York Public Library's Best Books for Kids, School Library Journal's Best of 2017, The Horn Book Magazine's Fanfare, and ALSC's Notable Children's Books. 

Her second book for young readers, Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers (Kokila / Penguin, 2019), is an Association of Library Services to Children Notable Children’s Book and was named to several best-of-the-year lists, including Rise: A Feminist Book Project List (formerly the Amelia Bloomer List), the Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices 2020, the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature Best Books of 2019, the Chicago Public Library’s Best Books of 2019, and the Washington Post‘s Best Children’s Books of 2019. 

Her third book for young readers, Tumble, is out now!

She is originally from Miami and is a graduate of the University of Florida and the University of South Florida. She lives with her family in Chicago where, in addition to writing books about lovable weirdos and outsiders, she works as a community college librarian. 

In my Mickey Mouse sweatshirt with my older sister, Gloria (her nickname was Coco). In our backyard in Miami, running around barefoot as usual.

Birthday: May 28 (a long time ago) Place of birth: Elizabeth, New Jersey (Judy Blume was born there too!)
Current hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Languages spoken: English, Spanglish, Spanish
Pronouns: She / Her
Ethnicity: Cuban (dad) and Mexican (mom)
Favorite things to read as a kid: Anything by Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary; Greek and Roman mythology; ghost stories and anything about the supernatural; Witch’s Sister by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor; The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Spear; The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton; and lots of teen series like Sweet Valley High, The Girls of Canby Hall, Twilight: Where Darkness Begins (and lots of other teen series books).
Favorite books and authors / illustrators as an adult: Still The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving; picture books by Yuyi Morales, especially the Señor Calavera books; Kate DiCamillo; Arnold Lobel; Lynda Barry; Abby Hanlon’s Dory Fantasmagory books; Kevin Henkes.
Favorite color: Black. Okay, fine, green.
Favorite meal: Dessert
Favorite drink: Coffee
Favorite animal: Dogs (especially Bagel)
Favorite thing about being an author: Research and revision. Also, getting to meet readers and answering questions.
Favorite word: widdershins
Things I like to do (besides reading and writing): Watch my son play baseball (and basketball), go for walks, make “10 things” lists, spend time with friends, beachcomb, bake, write letters and postcards to friends, take photos of interesting things I see when I’m out walking, make zines, listen to podcasts, visit vintage shops.
Favorite thing to draw: A nutter butter (yes, like the cookie) with legs, arms, and a face.
Favorite holiday: Halloween!
Favorite season: Autumn
Pets: One dog, a pit bull mix named Mister Bagel (but we just call her Bagel).
Favorite punk band: Jawbreaker (followed by Fugazi)
Favorite bird: American Crow (Caw! Caw!)
Favorite sports team: Any team my son plays on (followed by the Florida Gators basketball and baseball teams, followed by the Chicago White Sox).