One Book, One City for Kids
One Book, One City for Kids
Read with us!
One Book, One City for Kids is an annual reading program that encourages all 5th graders in the city to read and discuss the same book. The 2026 selection is A Hero's Guide to Summer Vacation by Pablo Cartaya.
About the author
Pablo Cartaya is an internationally acclaimed author, screenwriter, speaker, actor, educator, and community builder. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC, and on Oprah’s Booklist. He has received multiple starred reviews from Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, School Library Journal, and Audiofile Magazine for his novels and audiobook narrations. Pablo has worked with Disney, Apple TV+, and Sesame Street on projects adapted from television series and features. He calls Miami home and Cuban-American his cultura.
What happens in the book?
Gonzalo Alberto Sánchez García has never considered himself the hero of his own story. He’s an observer, quietly snapshotting landscapes and drawing the creatures he imagines emerging from them. Forced to spend the summer with his estranged grandfather, Alberto William García—the very famous reclusive author—Gonzalo doesn’t expect to learn that heroes and monsters are not only the stuff of fantasy.
Over the course of ten epic days on the highway, they will slay demons, real and imagined; confront old stories to write new ones; and learn what it truly means to show up for your family.
Special thanks!
One Book, One City for Kids is made possible thanks to the support of our sponsors.
Book Sponsors: Independent Bank and Missad Foundation
