The San Antonio Book Festival - A Program of the San Antonio Public Library Foundation
San Antonio Book Festival - Mayra Cuevas
Photo Courtesy of Angie Terrell
Book Festival Author

Mayra Cuevas

Mayra Cuevas is an award-winning author and journalist. Her young-adult novel Does My Body Offend You? (cowritten with Marie Marquardt) was longlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award, named a Book All Young Georgians Should Read, and appeared in multiple Best Books lists. In 2023, she was named Georgia Author of the Year (young-adult category). Mayra is also the author of the teen foodie rom-com Salty, Bitter, Sweet and the short story “Resilient,” published as part of the anthology Foreshadow: Stories to Celebrate the Magic of Reading and Writing YA. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Mayra is a former award-winning CNN producer and now a creative-writing professor. She also cofounded the Latinx Kidlit Book Festival and its Latinx Storytellers Conference. Mayra keeps her sanity by practicing modern Buddhism and meditation. She splits her time between Atlanta and Puerto Rico.

Mayra’s debut picture book, My Abuela Is a Bruja, earned three starred reviews and was released to wide critical acclaim.

Her debut adult romance, How to Fake a Southern Gentleman, was cowritten with Marie Marquardt.

More About Mayra Cuevas

  • How to Fake a Southern Gentleman: A Novel

    Proud single mom Holly Simmons and ambitious journalist Luisa Martín Moreno have nothing in common—until Atlanta’s most powerful man, Griggs Caldecott Johnson III, turns both their lives upside down. Griggs is threatening Holly’s job as the events manager at the hoity-toity Dogwood Hills Country Club, while Luisa gets fired for trying to expose his scheme to defraud an immigrant family and snatch up their land for a luxury development.

    Determined to fight back, the women team up to infiltrate Griggs’s inner circle. Their secret weapon? Elijah Denvil Sweet, a sexy hustler with a knack for reinvention. With a makeover, etiquette lessons, and a little help from Professor Pridmore—a charming, handsome, and single linguistics professor—Eli transforms into “Tripp,” the kind of Southern gentleman Griggs might just trust.

    But as the plan takes shape, so do tender and unexpected feelings neither woman saw coming—with the very men helping them get justice.

    With sparkling wit, strong female friendship, and slow-burn romance, "How to Fake a Southern Gentleman" is perfect for anyone who’s ever felt underestimated—and longs for a love that plays by its own rules.

  • My Abuela Is a Bruja

    There is nothing more magical than a grandmother's love. But one lucky girl suspects her grandmother has actual magic. It's in the tun-tun-tun of the way she dances salsa, in the warmth of her hugs, and the delicious smell of her cooking. The granddaughter wonders: will I have magic of my own one day?

    Follow the magic in this heartfelt picture book that features extensive backmatter that includes two special recipes from Mayra Cuevas and uplifting illustrations from Lorena Alvarez Gómez.

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