1421681168826.jpg

Hi! Deb Gonzales here.

I create quality, affordable, project-specific, supplemental materials connecting people with literature. As an educator and fellow author, I am skilled in navigating the needs of the educational and literary worlds.

The intent of this website is to showcase the incredible projects I've been privileged to participate in. Please contact me if you have any questions or desire to discuss a project you'd like to partner with. 

My debut picture book Girls with Guts: The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records (Charlesbridge, 2019) is the tenacious history of the female athlete from the first Olympic Games to present day, including the passage of Title IX.

Stop by Deb's Author Website

Stop by Deb's Author Website

Border Crossings: Coming of Age in the Czech Resistance

Border Crossings: Coming of Age in the Czech Resistance

Guides by Deb – Keeping your books in the hearts of young readers and in the hands of those who care for them.

The guide linked below was created by Debbie Gonzales, MFA. Deb is a career educator, curriculum consultant, former school administrator and adjunct professor, and once served as a SCBWI RA for the Austin Chapter. She's the author of six “transitional” readers for a New Zealand publisher and the forthcoming non-fiction picture book Girls with Guts: The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records (Charlesbridge, 2019). Deb earned her MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Are you interested in discussing a reader’s guide project? If so, click here. Deb’s eager to hear from you!

~   ~  ~   ~   ~   ~   ~  ~

Author: Charles Novacek

ISBN: 9780985415105

Publisher: 1021 Press

Synopsis:  "Border Crossings: Coming of Age in the Czech Resistance" is the captivating, tender memoir of Charles Novacek, a Czechoslovakian whose idyllic childhood exploring the Tatra Mountains was shattered by the Nazi occupation of his homeland. He spent his youth defending his neighbors, his family, and his country, first from the Nazi atrocities of World War II and then from the Soviet oppression of the ensuing Cold War.
Charles was eleven years old when his father and uncle recruited him into the Czech Resistance. Antonin Novacek not only taught his son to survive in the wild, but also prepared him for wartime: how to resist pain, hunger, and fear and to trust no one. His assignments included delivering messages to soldiers parachuting behind enemy lines and hiding them in caves he equipped for their shelter.
As a young man, Charles was captured and jailed by the Communists and rescued by an underground resistance network. In too much danger to remain in Czechoslovakia, he staged a daring escape only to land in a miserable displaced persons camp. His will to live prevailed once again, and Charles eventually married and built a successful life in America.
Filled with heroic adventures and great bravery, Border Crossingsis one man's remarkable tale of his incredible life and a testament to the human capacity to survive.

Educator's Guide

My Yellow Balloon

My Yellow Balloon

Surviving the Angel of Death: The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz

Surviving the Angel of Death: The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz