LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Gabriela Orozco Belt grew in California, but she explained she always thought of herself as Costa Rican. Her parents immigrated from Costa Rica in the 1970s.
That upbringing – full of bicultural and bilingual experiences helped shape her debut picture book I Am, Yo Soy.
The book, released on March 25, is a celebration of what it means to live between two cultures. Written both in English and Spanish, I am, Yo Soy encourages children to embrace every part of who they are and their culture.
“I wasn’t considered American because I didn’t look American,” she said. “So it was always this struggle of, ‘Where do I fit in? Where is my place? What am I?‘”
Belt tells us the book’s message is being both Latino and American is something powerful, not something to hide.
“I wanted a book to celebrate those differences rather than shine a negative light on them,” Belt said. “I wanted it to be a positive uplifting experience.”
Belt explained language has always been central to her identity.
“It’s not just a switch that you can turn off,” she said. “It’s this duality that exists at the same time and it never switches off.”
She said the idea for the book resurfaces when her son started college and began grappling with his own sense of cultural identity – just like she once had.
“He grew up camping. He was a Boy Scout. He also grew up speaking Spanish,” Belt explained. “He was just trying to figure out where he fit in.”
That sparked a powerful thought: “Why do we have to be from one or the other? We’re from both – and were 100%of that one and 100% of this one.”
The book’s final spread features children of all different shades, shapes and sizes. Belt said she wanted readers from all Latin American countries to find themselves in the pages.
I am, Yo Soy is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Bookshop, and through Belt’s website.
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