Rockstar Tours: PACK YOUR BAGS, MAGGIE DIAZ (Nina Moreno), Interview/Excerpt & Giveaway!

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the PACK YOUR BAGS, MAGGIE DIAZ by Nina Moreno Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About The Book:

Title: PACK YOUR BAGS, MAGGIE DIAZ

Author: Nina Moreno,
Courtney Lovett (Illustrator)

Pub. Date: May 2, 2023

Publisher: Scholastic
Press

Formats: Hardcover, eBook,
Audiobook

Pages: 272

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/PACK-YOUR-BAGS-MAGGIE-DIAZ

This humorous and heartfelt
middle-grade novel by Nina Moreno with illustrations by Courtney Lovett is
perfect for fans of Celia C. Pérez and Terri Libenson.

Spring semester is here and Maggie is
killing it! Her grades are up, she’s loving outdoor track and field, and being
a seventh grader means the awesome spring break trip to St. Augustine is almost
here. She can’t wait for her first overnight trip away from her overprotective
parents, lovesick sister, and busybody abuela. Nothing will get in the way of
Maggie having the best time ever with her two best friends, Zoey and Julian!

But all of Maggie’s plans for their
unforgettable trip start to fall apart as everyone gets carried away with the
upcoming dance instead. Even Julian has a crush―throwing their group dynamic
into turmoil when he asks the new girl to be his date. Zoey’s so stressed with
school that her straight A streak is in trouble . . . and why can’t Maggie stop
thinking about Eerie Eddie? The three best friends have been inseparable for
years, but everything is changing as everyone splits into twos, leaving Maggie
unsure of where―and with who―she still fits.

Excerpt:

Chapter 1
After being majorly stressed out for the first half of the school year, I realized that seventh grade is a piece of cake. Sure, I had to get grounded, almost fail math, and try out a bunch of different clubs, but it all worked out perfectly.
Just like I planned.
Now I’ve got a phone and I’m no longer sharing my bedroom with my abuela and her stash of vitamins. I’m even allowed to hang out at the beach with my best friends, Zoey and Julian, without parental supervision (though my mom still watches my GPS location like a hawk).

My independence is all thanks to the golden ticket of my latest very shiny report card.
I recommend that anyone trying to get out from under their parents’ thumb make honor roll, if they can swing it. It worked like a charm for my sometimes strict but usually okay Cuban American parents.

“Magdalena! Get in here right now!”
Well … it mostly worked.
I slide into the kitchen in socked feet while wearing a mostly clean school uniform and find the kitchen in its usual weekday-morning chaotic state.
My baby brother, Lucas, is in his high chair at the table making an epic mess of his morning oatmeal. Dad is attempting to fry a bunch of bacon with only his left hand since his right arm is now in a sling thanks to a recent injury at work. Caro is working on some school assignment at the table. Now that it’s her second semester of eleventh grade, the only thing my annoyingly perfect older sister can talk about is applying to college. And that’s only when she isn’t going all intense drill sergeant on me as she “helps” me practice for next week’s track-and-field tryouts.

Abuela is pouring a round of Cuban coffee while listening to the radio report local news in rapid-fire Spanish. Mom is frantically searching the cabinets above the sink.

“I cannot find a single cup. Why can I not find a single cup in this house?” She spins toward me. Her hair’s a little frazzled—almost as bad as my own morning bedhead. “How many dirty cups are in your room right now, Magdalena?”
That’s two times she’s full-named me in less than two minutes. Not a good sign at any point, but especially bad on a frantic Monday morning. I hated it when Abuela moved in with us last summer and took over half my room and one of my bunk beds with all her minty medicine and old lady knickknacks. It was an invasion of privacy and major loss of independence.
But I’d never been so tidy.
Now that she is living in the tiny house Dad built for her in our backyard, my personal habitat is back to its natural, messy state.

My report card is the shiniest thing about me these days, but that’s okay. It’s what Mom would call work-life balance. If she wasn’t mad about the three cups with varying levels of water currently in my room.
“I’ll wash every single one of them,” I promise Mom.

“Maggie,” she whines as she continues her search for some kind of glassware or mug, but at least we’re back to Maggie instead of Magdalena.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I grin as I take it out and check the screen. I’ve had it for two months now, but I still get excited whenever I get a text.

Mom’s still on the hunt for a cup, but she doesn’t bother to open and look in our dishwasher, because for whatever reason, my family doesn’t use ours. It’s a place to store pots, pans, and all the plastic containers Abuela refuses to throw out and instead hand-washes before reusing.

Thankfully, she gives up the search and focuses on her tiny cup of strong Cuban coffee instead.

Mom’s a little tense seeing as how it’s her first day at her new job as an official accountant. She finished her degree in December and is going from the frying pan to the fire (as Dad jokes again before definitely burning the bacon, as evident by the rank smell in here) because it’s tax season. I’ve never heard of this season. As a kid from Florida, the only seasons I know about are summer, summer junior, that one intense cold front we get in January, and hurricane season.
I grab a slice of pan tostado and am about to add an extra dollop of butter when Caro suddenly shouts, “I am so over polynomial equations!” and startles all of us in the kitchen.
Seventh grade put a lot of pressure on me to figure out who I am. But according to Caro, it’s even worse in eleventh grade, because everyone wants to know who you’re going to become next.
“¿Polynomial … qué? Qué es eso?” Abuela asks. She’s wearing teal leggings and a very flashy and bright windbreaker jacket. Inspired by my journey through clubs and activities last semester, Abuela is now tackling several different hobbies and sports, in search of her own self-discovery. And she’s wrangling every retired old person she knows along the way.

Who am I to talk her out of it? My school club–hopping quest totally worked out. My grades have never been better, and it turns out that I actually do like running. Plus, I’m hanging out with my best friends all the time. My best friend Zoey is a killer flutist in band, and my other best friend, Julian, is an amazing artist who even got to design and paint a city mural across from my favorite bakery.

We’ve all figured out our extracurricular skills and now that we’re past winter break, my next big plan is to officially make the track team, keep my grades up to continue impressing my parents, have fun with Julian and Zoey, and have the best spring break field trip ever with my friends.

The seventh-grade spring break trip is a huge deal. It’s four days and will be my first time going anywhere without my parents. I’m daydreaming about possible locations when Mom shrieks, “My blouse!”
I nearly spill my juice as Dad yelps at the stove over the sound of angry bacon hissing and spitting oil.
Mom snatches up a paper towel, grabbing way too many in her panic. The roll starts to rapidly unfurl behind her before Abuela jumps forward and tears the sheets off. Mom doesn’t even notice as she quickly blots at the brand-new coffee stain spreading across her shirt.
“I’m going to be late now!” Mom races down the hall toward her room in total meltdown mode.
Dad switches off the stove and comes over to Caro and me. He quietly but seriously says, “I need advice.”
“Stop trying to cook bacon with only your left hand,” I tell him.
“It’s about Valentine’s Day. Your mom has been so stressed, I want to make sure I get her something really good this year,” he says with a big cheesy smile.
“Gross,” I say around a bite of toast.
“¡Qué romántico!” Abuela sings.
“That’s sweet, Dad.” Caro stops packing up her homework to smile at him. It’s that lovesick smile of hers. Now that she officially has a girlfriend cooler than her, she’s been all moony-eyed and listening to crybaby acoustic songs in her room all night. “Alex is taking me to an escape room.”
Dad looks impressed. “Fun!”
“Probably to escape you,” I tease.
Abuela takes the opportunity to tell us all about a recent episode of her current favorite telenovela where some dude took his lady love out on a moonlit horseback ride by the ocean.

“By moonlight? Sounds dangerous,” I say.
“No, it sounds romantic,” Caro argues wistfully.
Dad looks thoughtful, like he’s taking a mental note.
It’s official. Love is in the air at the Diaz house. I grab my backpack and race right out of there before I get infected, too.

YABC Interview with Nina Moreno:

1. What gave you the inspiration to write this book?

After finishing up the first book, Join the Club, Maggie Diaz, my editor at the time, Shelly Romero, came to me and asked, “Hey, want to do another one?” And my first thought was, “Absolutely, I do.” My second was, “Spring break field trip!” I was so excited to get the chance to continue Maggie’s story and show the rest of her seventh-grade year, and for me, there was just something so transformative about those first big field trips. I went on my first sleepaway field trip in fifth grade, and it was so dramatic. I was in a cabin with a group of classmates, and it was basically my first sleepover. Relationships started and ended, friend groups changed, my best friend stopped talking to me. It was crushing!

And for Maggie, this girl with immigrant parents who has been defining what those first tastes of independence look like for her, of course it would be a huge deal.

2. Who is your favorite character in the book?

It’s so hard to choose! I love writing ensembles and it was so fun getting to show a multi-generational family all living together and the different dynamics of that. Maybe because I started as a writer of YA, but I really love getting to write Maggie’s older sister, Caro. She’s just so cool. And Courtney’s illustrations of her are always my favorite!

3. Which came first, the title or the novel?

The novel definitely came first. This one wasn’t officially titled until we were in like, the second round of edits. Initially, I very lovingly referred to it 2 Maggie 2 Diaz in a nod to the modern classic Fast & Furious franchise. It’s all about family.

4. What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?

It’s tough to choose! This is the first time I’ve ever gotten to write a direct sequel, and when everything was written, it hit me how proud I am of this story. These two books, side by side, are one of the coolest projects I’ve ever gotten to work on, and it was such a thrill to get to tell this complete seventh-grade story. To get to have little easter eggs and story seeds from the first book blossom here. To see Maggie’s relationship with her friends and Eddie(!) change. And also, the one with her Abuela.

There’s this moment toward the end of the field trip where it really hits Maggie, that Abuela is also on a journey of figuring out who she is now that she’s a widow. And that moment of realization that maybe we never stop evolving and changing is one of my favorite moments.

5. Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?

That it’s kind of like being a cook, and once you get published, there’s going to be a lot more people in your kitchen. From your publishing team to trade reviews and booksellers and teachers and gatekeepers. And that’s incredibly exciting because it means your work is out there. You’re doing the thing. But once that manuscript becomes a book that is out on shelves, there’s just so much you can’t control anymore. Learning to deal with the ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments, while still making art that excites you is important. Because ultimately, you’re still the one stirring that soup, so just try to mind that it doesn’t boil over and still tastes good to you.

6. What do you like most about the cover of the book?

Everything! I’ve been the luckiest ever when it comes to book covers. I love seeing my YAs right next to both Maggie Diaz books, because they’re all so bright and blue and pink. Courtney Lovett’s illustrations and Maeve Norton’s design have created literal magic when it comes to both covers.

For this one, I love how you get to see the evolution from one semester to the next. Maggie’s hair is different, she’s starting from a really optimistic and excited place. And I love that Zoey and Julian are on the cover too! Also, the little doodles of details around the title! I love that Caro and her girlfriend are there as well as Eddie.

7. What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2023?

I’ve been really lucky to mentor some incredible writers through Las Musas Collective and two of them are debuting this year! Jessica Parra’s Rubi Ramos’s Recipe for Success is a deliciously charming YA contemporary that I loved with all of my heart and is out next month! Vanessa Montalban’s A Tall Dark Trouble is Miami meets Practical Magic (and I do not make that comparison lightly, it is that good) in a breathtaking contemporary fantasy that releases this August!

8. 8. What was your favorite book in 2022?

I’ve been quoted in so many interviews saying this, but truly, I believe one of the best YA contemporary writers right now is Kristina Forest. If she has a million fans, I’m one of them, if she has no fans, it’s because I ain’t here anymore. I scream about her books whenever I’m given the chance because they’re both exceptionally modern and they also feel so classic and old school, they pull at that inner younger reader in me. My writer brain shuts off and I’m that teen reader again. If you haven’t read Zyla and Kai, my advice to you is to drop everything and go. Right now. Click out of this post and go get that book and everything else she has written.

9. What’s up next for you?

I have returned to my roots and am writing a YA that is dripping in Southern Gothic drama. It’s a story that plays with time and the ways in which mothers and daughter haunt each other. There’s a mysterious boy, romance, and grief, because of course there is, it is a book by me. My agent and I are calling it my Weird Florida WandaVision project, and I’m really excited about it.

10. Which character gave you the most trouble when writing your latest book?

Maggie has two best friends at the start of the book, the same two best friends she’s had since elementary school, but with crushes, a dance, and the field trip protocol of picking one bus and room buddy, suddenly there’s a lot of pressure to pick one person. Maggie is trying to deal with this by controlling everything which can make her seem like the dreaded unlikable character. So, it’s not so much that she gave me trouble, but I wanted to be true to the experience. Friendship dynamics can be really tough in middle school (and after middle school) and sometimes we mess up. I wanted to be sure to let Maggie mess up.

11. Which part of the writing process do you enjoy more: Drafting or Revising?

I am a reviser, through and through. Drafting makes my brain hurt the way that math makes my brain hurt. Once I get going and I’m chasing a thread, it’s the best. But the slog of trying to write something totally new without getting in my own way because I constantly want to stop, go back, and fix it all right this moment? Yeah, that’s tough.

12. What would you say is your superpower?

It’s kind of random, but I am really good at curating a playlist. I burned a lot of mixed CDs way back when and there was always a theme or a mood to them. And then because we couldn’t afford any kind of DJ or band, I made one for my backyard wedding. And then my friend who’d attended the wedding, asked me to make one for hers because it was such a hit. And then I made one for a family reunion. It just kept going and going for a while until Spotify became big and now everyone goes there for their playlists, but I still love making them!

13. Is there an organization or cause that is close to your heart?

There’s so much happening in Florida right now when it comes to queer rights, abortion access, books being taken out of classrooms and libraries, losing environmental protections, and so much more. Every day feels like another battle. It’s a frustrating and really scary time, but there are so many groups on the ground fighting every single day. Two that I really love and support are Equality Florida and Florida Freedom to Read Project.

About Nina Moreno:

Nina Moreno
was born and raised in Miami until a hurricane sent her family toward the pines
of Georgia where she picked up an accent. She’s a proud University of Florida
Gator who once had her dream job of shelving books at the
library. Inspired by the folklore and stories passed down to her from her
Cuban and Colombian family, she now writes about disaster Latinx teens &
tweens chasing their dreams, falling in love, and navigating life in the
hyphen. Her first novel, Don’t Date Rosa Santos, was a
Junior Library Guild Selection, Indie Next Pick for teen readers, and SIBA Okra
Pick. The companion YA novel featuring the same beloved town of Port
Coral, Our Way Back to Always, is out
now with Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Her MG debut, Join
the Club, Maggie Diaz, will be available from Scholastic in 2022. 

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Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of PACK YOUR BAGS, MAGGIE DIAZ, US Only.

Ends May 16th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway