What a treat it is to welcome author Christina Diaz Gonzalez to the MUF blog! You may recognize Christina as the creator of gripping historical fiction novels and an Edgar Award-winning mystery.
Christina Diaz Gonzalez
In more recent years, you may have been introduced to Christina’s English-Spanish graphic novel Invisible. This groundbreaking bilingual book debuted in 2022 to high acclaim, including three starred reviews and spots on a couple of bestseller lists.
Well, Christina Diaz Gonzales is back with Offside (Graphix; July 7, 2026; Ages 8–12), a new English-Spanish bilingual graphic novel that is sure to delight middle grade readers.
Jackson Middle School soccer team is going co-ed, but not everyone is happy about this change. When tensions threaten to destroy their season, the kids must discover the only true way to win is to work together as a team. With text in English and Spanish, Offside creates a unique reading experience and puts a spotlight on Latine characters throughout. We’re excited about this new work and grateful that Christina Diaz Gonzalez carved out some time to share with us.
SK: You’ve established yourself as a prolific and successful middle grade author. Looking back to the days when you were the age of your current readers, is this what you imagined your adult life would be like? Are there dreams that have come true, dreams that you’ve abandoned, or dreams that you’re still working to achieve?
CDG: Growing up I had a “secret” dream of being an author, but I had never met a writer and didn’t think people like me or my friends could have their stories published in a book. It was for this reason that I didn’t immediately pursue a writing career… Instead I chose to study accounting and then became a lawyer (which required a very different type of writing). Eventually it was my sons who reminded me how much I loved middle grade novels and I began pursuing the dream of sharing stories from my own imagination.
SK: As a kid with a secret dream of being an author, I’d guess you were probably a reader. If so, what were some of the books you enjoyed?
CDG: I was a HUGE reader as a kid (even won a Read-a-Thon) and the book that opened my eyes to the vast array of impactful stories was Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time.
SK: You established a track record of narrative prose in several genres before branching out into graphic novels. What have been the biggest challenges and greatest delights in moving to the graphic novel form?
CDG: I love the graphic novel format (as a kid I was a big fan of the Archie Digest comic books) and it is a wonderful way to highlight different languages side-by-side (like Spanish and English) because the art can be a third “language” which adds so much to the understanding of the story. I am always delighted to see the illustrator’s interpretation of a story that solely existed in my imagination… although it can be a challenge to “let go” of my own preconceived notions of what the page might have looked like. Lucky for me my illustrators have far exceeded anything I could have imagined!
SK: Tell us about your process of collaborating with illustrator Mari Costa. How was your narrative development influenced by her visual story-telling, and what are the benefits and challenges of working with an illustrator in this format?
CDG: One of the surprising aspects of working with an illustrator on a graphic novel is that there isn’t as much collaboration as you might expect. We each bring our own imagination and creativity to the project at separate times. I create the story and write the manuscript breaking it up into suggested panels and, once that is complete, I hand it all over to the illustrator to bring it to life as they see fit. Mari Costa took my manuscript and crafted incredible characters that blew me away when I saw how she had imagined them.
SK: Offside is about a middle school soccer team going co-ed. You obviously know a lot about soccer and team dynamics. What experiences do you have as a soccer player and/or fan?
CDG: I didn’t grow up playing soccer or even being a fan of the sport, but my sons played highly competitive soccer, and I became the team mom/team manager. I saw how soccer brings people together, but I also witnessed some of the disparities within youth sports.
SK: This new book uses the same bilingual (English/Spanish) format as Invisible. How do you balance these two languages while developing your narrative, and why is this format important to you?
CDG: I love how the graphic novel format allows for more bilingual narration which would be more limited in traditional prose novels. This is important because we live in a multi-cultural/multi-lingual world, and kids deserve to see themselves and their classmates featured as main characters. I try to balance the languages by being true to the characters (and their language fluency) while making sure that the English-dominant reader can understand everything that is happening in the book.
SK: Do you have a favorite character from Offside? If so, what makes this character special to you?
CDG: My favorite character is Palmer as he is named after someone I know who is also a fantastic soccer player… and an even better kid!
SK: You refer to Carl Hiaasen’s Hoot in part of this story. Can you tell us about other middle grade authors or books that you particularly enjoy right now?
CDG: There are so many books that I am loving such as James Ponti’s Sherlock Society series, Alyson Gerber’s The Liar Society series, Jen Calonita’s The Isle of Ever series, and Donna Barba Higuera’s The Last Cuentista series. Hmm… I’m now seeing a pattern of reading series and yet I primarily write stand-alone books!
SK: Do you have another idea in the pipeline right now? Any hints to what your next book might involve?
CDG: I have a new mystery/spy novel book coming in March 2027 called UNIDENTIFIED. It follows Alex, a middle schooler desperate to save his family’s struggling UFO-themed mini golf park located in Gulf Breeze, Florida. When Alex overhears a retired military colonel talking about spies in the area, he and his best friend, Nora, jump into action hoping a reward will save the park. But each clue pulls them deeper into a mystery that hits far too close to home… one that suggests Alex’s parents may be involved in a plot to wipe out all of Earth’s technology.
SK: That sounds fantastic! Christina, we so appreciate your time, and we love knowing that you are hard at work creating more books that middle grade readers will love. We’ll be sure to watch for Offside, available July 7, and we look forward to learning more about UNIDENTIFIED next year.
If readers would like to learn more about Christina Diaz Gonzalez, her books, and her author visits, a great place to start is her website: christinagonzalez.com. You can find her on various social media platforms as well, including Instagram and Threads: @christinadiazgonzalez; Facebook: Christina Diaz Gonzalez; and Bluesky: @christinadg.bsky.social.
