When Papi puts his lowrider up for sale, a young girl is determined to save the family’s beloved car.

Laura De La Cruz is an emerging Latina writer from Los Angeles, California, who now calls Austin, Texas, home. She specializes in picture books but dabbles in other genres. Laura is a former library media technician who managed an elementary school library for eight years and shared her passion for children’s literature with her students. After reading hundreds of picture books, Laura realized she too had stories to tell, so she returned to school and received her BA in English from Arizona State University, graduating summa cum laude as a first-generation college graduate. Laura loves living in Austin, and when she is not reading or making up stories, she enjoys a glass of wine while admiring her neighbor’s longhorns. You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Instagram, Facebook, X, or BlueSky.

LOWRIDER FOR SALE is a picture book all about one little girl’s favorite thing: her Papi’s lowrider, Pico Nights. Gabi is devastated at the thought of losing the one thing that has held so many traditions and memories for her. She determines to save it as best as she can, with very logical kid solutions that had me giggling. The end result just might surprise you!

Welcome Laura!

Me: Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey? How has that brought you to this book?

Laura: Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always wanted to share my stories, filled with culture, family, and food, with others. I used to do lots of journal writing when I was young. Then, in high school, I wrote song lyrics and poems. But neither were any good. I filled my song lyrics with teenage angst, and my poems sounded more like song lyrics. 🙂 Eventually, I got so busy working, raising three children, and tending to a household, that I had to put writing on hold. I didn’t even have time to read! Like most of us, sometimes life impedes our dreams. It wasn’t until I had children that I rediscovered my love for picture books. I read to my kids every day. Then I got a job as a library media technician, where I read to more kids every day! After reading hundreds of books, I felt encouraged to write my own stories, so I wrote them.

In 2016, I went back to school. By 2017, I graduated from ASU with an English degree and started to really write. Then, in 2019, I started to work on LOWRIDER FOR SALE. Back then, I had titled it PAPI’S LOWRIDER. I did lots of research. I wanted to learn all about lowriders—how do they hop and dance? How are they named? I even reached out to my friend, who was a photographer for LOWRIDER MAGAZINE.

I wrote the story, then revised, and revised and revised. Eventually, I used this story to get my agent. One month after getting my agent, we sent it out to thirteen editors. Unfortunately, we received thirteen rejections. I started to wonder if the story was any good. Discouraged, I spoke to my agent, but she was so positive. She told me it was only the first round and that it would be okay. We then sent it out to more editors on February 22, and by March 13, we received an email from Regan Winter, Editor at Disney- Hyperion, letting us know that she loved the story! She told us she wanted to share it with her team. She got back to us and said that her team loved it. And by March 23, we had an offer!   

Me: Gabi is so full of energy and optimism, no matter what. What gave you the idea for this story?

Laura: I wanted to write a story to honor my dad, a story to help keep his memory alive. He passed away when I was only eight years old, and I loved him very much. But as you know, I can’t just write a story about my dad, because who cares? I needed to add more to the story. Then one day, I read the book, YARD SALE by Eve Bunting and Lauren Castillo, to my students. In the book, a family is moving to a small apartment and can’t take all of their possessions with them, so they hold a yard sale. The main character, Callie, struggles to understand what is happening as she watches strangers buy the things that have been part of her family’s life. As someone who has always collected things that hold memories—concert ticket stubs, posters, t-shirts, knickknacks, and other little treasures—I immediately connected with Callie. I started to wonder what I would have done at eight-years-old if someone had asked me to give up something that held so many precious memories.

But the story still wasn’t complete. I wanted to add more to the story. I wanted to add something from my culture. But what? I thought about what aspects of my culture seldom showed up in picture books. I looked at where I grew up for clues. Growing up in Pico Rivera, California, near Whittier Blvd., it wasn’t unusual to see lowriders cruising the boulevard. Saturday nights in the 80s were especially busy. These gorgeous classic cars with shiny chrome bumpers, stunning murals, and hydraulics that made them hop and dance, were a familiar sight. A lowrider was the missing piece of the story. It brought everything together—the memories, my childhood, my father, my community, and a part of my culture that I rarely saw represented in picture books. And Gabi being positive and optimistic, like most children, was something I had to add.  

Me: I love that Gabi’s choices to solve the story’s problem are so realistic for a child to pick. I also love the surprise twist at the end (NO SPOILERS GIVEN). How many revisions did it take to get your manuscript to this final state? Did it go through many revisions or was this a gift of the Muse (i.e., good from the first draft)?

Laura: LOWRIDER FOR SALE went through many, many revisions! It looks like I have about twenty-two different revisions of the story on my computer! LOL! I sent this story out to many critique partners. I paid for several critiques. I even signed up for workshops and classes where I could get the story critiqued. I believed that making the changes I was receiving would help the story get published. I was wrong. I made so many changes that eventually, I no longer recognized my story. I had to go back to earlier versions and pretty much start over. So no, it was definitely not a gift from the Muse.

Me: Can you talk a little bit about how your book came to be published at Disney/Hyperion? Did you submit your manuscript many places or were they your first yes? Or did it somehow catch their eye in some other way?

Laura: Before I got my agent, I submitted my story to a few publishers who were accepting unsolicited manuscripts. But no one was interested. Once I signed with my agent, Leah Pierre, we sent out the manuscript to thirteen agents. And we received thirteen rejections. We then went out on the second round. As I mentioned earlier, the second round went out on February 22, and by March 13, we received an email from Regan at Disney-Hyperion letting us know how much she loved the story. I was so excited that someone at Disney-Hyperion was interested! It was truly a dream come true. She presented the manuscript to her team, who also loved it. Then we went to acquisitions. And the rest is history.

Me: The illustrations by Vanessa Morales are pitch perfect. There is so much beautiful color! Any favorite illustrations? Any illustration surprises?

Laura: Yes! Vanessa Morales is amazing! She did such a great job illustrating this book. She did so much research to get this book just right. Something I just found out was that she used my little writing buddy, Eddie, as the model for the little dog in the story! That was a total surprise.

Me: What is one thing that surprised you in writing this story?

Laura: Something that surprised me in writing this story was that I was able to put so much heart into it. I wanted to write a story that demonstrated the relationship between my dad and myself, but I felt I wasn’t a good enough writer to show that. Only after publishing the book and sharing it did I realize I had actually achieved what I wanted.

Me: I love that. Any advice for other new picture book writers?

Laura: Yes! Keep going! When I was just starting out, I received feedback that should have discouraged me. But I wasn’t going to stop. I kept going. I felt like I had a good idea, and I was determined to write this book. I knew kids would read this book and see themselves in it. So, I couldn’t stop.

That is great advice Laura. Thank you for stopping by my blog today.

Dear readers, this book published in September, but we are still within Hispanic Heritage month! If you haven’t had a chance yet to read this picture book, I highly recommend it. It’s a story of culture, heart, and lowriders. Trust me when I say, you won’t want to miss it!