Desirée W. Cueto is an associate professor in Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies at the University of Arizona. Her research consists of three strands of scholarship related to a) Black perspectives and epistemologies as a frame for critical analysis of children’s literature b) the responses and interpretations of youth from historically resilient communities to critical literacy engagements and c) collaborative inquiries that support preservice and in-service teachers in using diverse books to help children think in new ways about their lives and world. Her work has been published in journals such as Research in the Teaching of English, Journal of Children’s Literature, Journal of Literacy Research, Language Arts and the ALAN Review. She served as the AERA Human Resources and Induction co-section editor in the Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color, was a contributing author of the Kappen Special Policy Report related to recruitment, hiring, and early-career induction support for Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers, and is co-author of the textbook, Essentials of Children’s Literature, 10th Edition, Pearson (2022).
Currently, Dr. Cueto serves as a member of the Outstanding International Books committee and Literacy Connects board of advisors. Before taking a university level faculty position, she taught fourth grade and was a school counselor on the east coast, and a curriculum coordinator and Director of Multicultural Curriculum in the Tucson Unified School District.
Dr. Cueto received her MFA in Nonfiction Creative Writing and her Ph.D. in Language, Reading and Culture from the University of Arizona.
Selected Publications:
Cueto, D.W. & Brooks, W.M. (2022). Tracing terror, imagining otherwise: A critical content analysis of anti-Black violence in middle grades novels. Research in the Teaching of English, 56(4), pp. 411-431. National Council of Teachers of English.
Rios, F., & Cueto, D. (2022). Teachers of Color: Induction and human resource development (section editors). Conra Gist and Travis Bristol (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers. AERA.
Cueto, D. W. & Brooks, W.M. (2022). Coe Booth: Reclaiming humanity in stories about urban life. In S.T. Bickmore & S.P. Clark (Eds.), More Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Doors A Period of Growth in African American Young Adult Literature (2001 To 2021), 3 (pp. 11-20). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Short, K. & Cueto, D. (2022). Essentials of Children’s Literature, 10th Ed. New York: Pearson.
Brooks, W.M. & Cueto, D. (2020). Racialized Constructions in the Stories by Mildred Taylor. In S.T. Bickmore & S.P. Clark (Eds.), On the Shoulders of Giants Celebrating African American Authors of Young Adult Literature, 1 (pp. 121-130). New York, NY: Rowman & Littlefield.
Cueto, D.W. & Brooks, W.M. (2019). Drawing Humanity: How Picturebook Illustrations Counter Antiblackness. In H. Johnson, J. Mathis, & K.G. Short (Eds.), Critical Content Analysis of Visual Images in Books for Young People Reading Images (pp. 41-56). New York, NY: Routledge.
Brooks, W. & Cueto, D.W. (2018). Contemplating and extending the scholarship on children’s and young adult literature. Journal of Literacy Research, 50(1), pp. 9-30. doi: 10.1177/1086296X18754394
