Category: student

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Wanda Hears the Stars

Wanda Hears the Stars: A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe
by Amy S. Hansen (Author), Wanda Díaz Merced (Author), Rocio Arreola Mendoza (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Growing up in Puerto Rico, Wanda Díaz Merced wanted to learn everything she could about the stars. But in college she started losing her sight. How could she study what she couldn’t see?

Wanda found a way. She learned to hear the stars using sonification, which converts data into sounds. Listening to those chimes and drumbeats, she made new discoveries about the universe.

Snippet:

The author, Amy S. Hansen, is one of my former students.
Copyright © 2025 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved. (*bookstore affiliate)

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Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka con la Papa

Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka con la Papa: Join the Quest with Peru’s Famed Scientist and Potato Expert
by Sara Andrea Fajardo (Author) and Juana Martinez-Neal (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: High up in the Andes mountains of Peru, agricultural scientist Alberto Salas is on a quest. A quest… for potatoes.

Up and down the Andes mountains he goes, playing an epic game of paka paka con la papa, potato hide and seek. These potatoes are special: they have the power to feed the world.

Alberto doesn’t have a second to waste. The climate is changing and Alberto must find each and every one to save them before they go extinct.

Snippet:

The illustrator, Juana Martinez-Neal, is one of my former students.
Copyright © 2025 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved. (*bookstore affiliate)