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Jasminne Paulino

@jasminne.notes

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🇩🇴 🇺🇸 Washington Heights Kid Pa’ Siempre ❤️
@lasmusasbooks hermana ‘22
THE EXTRAORDINARY ORBIT OF ALEX RAMIREZ (PRH, Putnam, June 2025)

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About a week-ish ago, I learned that School Library Journal included ALEX in their Best Books of 2025 list! And yesterday, a friend told me they’d spotted ALEX in Bookshop.org’s Best of 2025 Kids’ Books list.

Did I ever think I’d have a book out en el mundo? Nope!
Do I believe in this story? ¡Hoy y siempre!

Seeing ALEX out in the world, included on these lists, is something I’m truly grateful for. Here’s to kiddos connecting with this muchachito of my heart! ❤️ by @jasminne.notes

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10 months ago

Gracias @nytimes for including ALEX in this list!

When I wrote this story, I hoped to provide middle schoolers like Alex (and his peers) with something that captured the big feelings, questions, and dreams that they hold close to their hearts.

Here’s to ALEX helping kids believe in their journeys.

Here’s to kids who live con el corazon en la mano siempre. ❤️

Link to the full list in bio.

#DisabilityAwareness #InclusionMatters #RepresentationMatters #Neurodiversity #middlegradebooks #novelsinverse #dominicanwriters by @jasminne.notes

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a year ago

Yesterday was a dream! I’m so grateful. Agradecida con la comunidad that found ways to show me and this story so much love. @loftypigeonbooks , you were amazing! Gracias for taking care of debut-me! And to my conversation partner @michelle.knudsen , you made sure that I walked into this experience prepared. You don’t play! And more importantly, you’re the bestest! ❤️🤗

#novelsinverse #dominicanwriters #poetry #middlegrade #kidlit #representationmatters #neurodiversekids #debutauthor taken in Lofty Pigeon Books by @jasminne.notes

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a year ago

Yesterday, I received my copy of ALEX (¡edición español!) and although I’ve read through this translation, seeing it all bound together in a book hugged my heart.

I live, breathe, dream en español. It’s my way. It’s home.

So here’s to ALEX, to this 📕 kiddo, now living in a language that has loved me, de verdad.

Gracias @penguinlibrosus por el apoyo y @erikamorillo por darle vida a Alex.

Y Mami, sé que te hubiese encantado. Que me hubieses abrazado. Te extraño.

Feliz Thursday, mi gente. ❤️ by @jasminne.notes

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a month ago

✨️ Hanging at ALA with @jasminne.notes and THE EXTRAORDINARY ORBIT OF ALEX RAMIREZ! by @jasminne.notes

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3 months ago

Dear #ALAAC26 , you were so many things.

Gracias to @carla_andrea_espana , @latinxkidlitbf and @penguinclassroom for helping me and ALEX find a space where we can continue to dream build.

Yesterday, I met a librarian and mom who said, “I don’t want to cry, but I read the back of your book... and now I have to.”

She told me about her daughter, who was in a self-contained classroom. I watched her take a breath before saying that her school didn’t really see her, or their family. I can still hear her words today. I can still see her saying them.

Never ever in my wildest dreams did “rara” me, muchachita me, imagine a world where I’d walk through a convention center filled with books, artists, librarians, educators, booksellers, and changemakers. Honestly, adult-me still has many moments where my brain wonders if this is FOR REAL. 😂❤️

So yeah, I’m SO grateful today, my spirits are UP today!

Here’s to more stories, more connection, and more dreaming together.

Happy Monday! 💛 taken in Chicago, IL by @jasminne.notes

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3 months ago

Happy Paperback Birthday to ALEX! 🎉

I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since this muchacho stepped out into the world.

What have I been most grateful for during this debut year?

CONNECTION!

Connecting with kids, parents, writers, educators, and librarians has been SUCH a privilege. From the hugs, to the questions, to the emails, to seeing kids play with poetry, I’m súper agradecida for every moment.

I think about kid-me every time I hold this book, every time I talk about it. That muchachita, who held on to wonder and hope with her whole heart, couldn’t have imagined this when she stared out the window and wrote letters to the universe.

And because every birthday deserves a little celebration, I’ll be hosting a giveaway! One lucky reader will receive a personalized copy of the book with notes throughout about the real-life moments, memories, and experiences that inspired many of Alex’s poems. I’ll also include the trinkets you see in this picture!

To enter:

❤️ Like this post

📚 Tag a teacher, librarian, parent, or fellow reader

💬 Tell me about a favorite middle grade book in the comments. Extra points if it’s a novel in verse!

I’ll choose one winner on June 30th!

Pa’lante with this muchachito of my heart, con el corazón en la mano siempre. ❤️ by @jasminne.notes

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4 months ago

Why is this still happening?

That was the question I asked myself after leaving my daughter’s annual meeting a few weeks ago.

As a special needs parent, I’m no stranger to conversations about classroom placement, services, accommodations, you name it. With my oldest, I learned early on to document everything and question everything to ensure that his whole human self was respected.

That little boy is now 17 years old. He’s learned to advocate for himself. He has big dreams for his future. He’s on a journey. The truth though...If I had simply followed every recommendation made for him along the way, he wouldn’t be where he is today.

After writing ALEX, and even while drafting it, I often received comments like: “Alex doesn’t sound like someone who belongs in a self-contained classroom.” Or my personal favorite: “This placement breaks the law.”

El problema: Depending on the environment, a self-contained classroom can look completely different from one year to the next or from one school district to another. And as for the law, I hate to say it, but when schools are looking for ways to streamline services, save money, or make things easier for the system, they will absolutely look for loopholes or ignore what’s best for children.

Too often, restrictive environments are recommended for children who don’t fit neatly into one category or another. Not “mainstream enough.” Not “self-contained enough.” And somehow, our most vulnerable learners are the ones who pay the price.

Yes, I wrote ALEX for kids like Alex, for children like mine, but I also wrote it for the the decision-makers, the educators, and the systems that too often underestimate these kids before they’ve even had the chance to show who they are.

You know how people look at clouds and everyone sees something different?

Maybe that’s what hope is. I know that’s where my heart lives. It’s what I’ll fight for. All the possiblities and steps. Forever and always. For kiddos everywhere. ❤️

Sincerely,

BIG FEELINGS ME by @jasminne.notes

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4 months ago

To anyone out there wearing all the hats...

For a long time, I thought I was supposed to find this perfect thing called “balance.” Like if I just tried hard enough, everything would line up neatly and feel manageable. But the truth is, that hasn’t really been my experience. A little over two years ago, I made some big life changes. I got my first adult apartment. I learned how to co-parent. I lived in this constant mix of “que se yo” and “OMG” while holding onto a dream, that a story so close to my heart would one day become a book.

I let myself dream bigger than I ever had before. And now, here I am, almost a year after that book came out, still juggling, still growing, still figuring it out. AND I’m finally ok admitting that balance doesn’t always feel real for me, that life feels more like a bunch of plates in front of me, and I’m just doing my best to tend to each one with care.

But if I’m being honest, somewhere along the way I forgot something important, how to really rest. Not the kind of rest that still involves planning, showing up, or being productive, but the kind where you just sit, breathe, and exist.

The other day, a colleague asked me what my summer plans were, and without even thinking, I said I want a week where I don’t have to go anywhere, where I can just be home, recalibrate, and reconnect with me, the human me. And maybe that’s what my heart has been trying to tell me, because truthfully it feels a little heavy right now, like my battery is low and my body is gently asking me to slow down.

And maybe this is part of the kind of "human-ing" I want my kids to see, and the kind I try to write into the lives of the characters I create. That it's ok to pause. That taking care of yourself matters. That you can listen when your body asks you to slow down, and trust that you will find your way back to yourself.

Here’s to Friday ❤️ by @jasminne.notes

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6 months ago

I’ve been thinking a lot about the kids who find their thing and hold onto it.

For my book kiddo, Alex, it’s NASA, the Artemis missions. He will scroll past other sites, other topics, even helpful suggestions, because this is the one place that makes sense to him.

And I get it because it’s not just about space. It’s about what space offers him. A way to understand the world. A way to think about what comes next.

Alex may not be training to be an astronaut, “not yet,” but he learns how to imagine a future for himself. And that matters. ❤️

I think every kid deserves something like that. Something that clicks. Something that opens things up instead of shutting them down.

So, for all the Alexes out there, whatever your “NASA” is, keep going. Pa lante siempre. 🚀

#ForTheAlexs #Neurodiversity #STEMKids #ArtemisGeneration #InclusiveClassrooms by @jasminne.notes

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6 months ago

ALEX is a finalist for the 2027 Georgia Children’s Book Award! Gracias to the librarians who believe in Alex! Knowing that this kid of my heart will reach more readers is SUCH a privilege. Again, GRACIAS. ❤️ by @jasminne.notes

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8 months ago

Super agradecida that ALEX was included in the 2026 Notable Children’s Book List, curated by the American Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children.

The opportunity to connect with young people who have big questions and DREAMS is a gift that humbles me and grounds me every single day.

Siempre aquí, con el corazón en la mano, soñando… just like ALEX.❤️ by @jasminne.notes

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8 months ago