In 1991, novelist Gloria Naylor and short story writer and poet Grace Paley visited with ninth and tenth graders at James Monroe High School in the South Bronx, and Eastern District High School in Brooklyn. During the interim between an initial meeting and a follow up visit, the students read copies of The Women of Brewster Place and Enormous Changes at the Last Minute and prepared written reflections on these literary works.

The following year, Grace Paley and Gloria Naylor returned to Eastern District and James Monroe. In consultation with the participating authors and teachers, the National Book Foundation staff developed written assignments based upon selected books, and organized four author visits during a three-month period.

To enhance understanding of their own literary works, both authors selected additional texts which they felt addressed the multi-ethnic student population of the schools they visited, and dealt with subject matters relevant to the students' lives.

Grace Paley read aloud stories from Sandra Cisneros' collection, The House on Mango Street, and engaged students in lively discussions focused upon how Ms. Cisneros drew from her personal experiences for her stories. Ms. Paley then worked with the students as a group and individually on their own writing, emphasizing techniques of story-telling, character development and narrative voice.

Gloria Naylor augmented her novel, The Women of Brewster Place with an anthology of literature, Puerto Rican Writers at Home in the USA. Students conducted a variety of activities based upon collections from the anthology and Ms. Naylor's book, ranging from written creative and critical assignments, to a video talk show in which each student assumed the role of a character from Ms. Naylor's novel. Their final project was the publication of an annotated bibliography of "Latino Writers and Other Enjoyable Books."

At the end of the three-month program period, the teachers and students at each school produced in-school publications of their writing. A final Publication Ceremony was held for parents, teachers, and fellow classmates, at which the participating students and authors read their writing aloud.

In 1993, at the request of an enthusiastic and dedicated teacher who had participated in our "Family Literacy" project since its inception, the Foundation sponsored an intensive two-week long Hispanic Writers project at James Monroe High School. The program was designed to address the fact that James Monroe High School's student population is largely Hispanic, and yet there are so few positive Hispanic role models in these students' lives.

For two weeks, young adult author Nicholasa Mohr met with Senior and Freshman English classes to discuss her "writing life" and work with them on the development of personal writing projects.

Prior to her first visit, the students read donated copies of Ms. Mohr's collection, El Bronx Remembered, which is based upon her own childhood growing up in "El Barrio." Class time was divided between exploring a wide range of literature by Hispanic authors and creative writing projects that dealt with family themes from Ms. Mohr's writing. Parents participated in the project by reading selected stories and keeping reading logs with their children. At a final publication ceremony, students read aloud from their own writing to an audience of family members, peers, teachers, and selected guests.