Maria Parrott-Ryan

The Life-Changing Magic of Children’s Books

Miranda: I grew up in Green Bay, right near the edge of town. It used to be lots of cornfields and forests, but now it’s mostly subdivisions. I was a very early reader; I started reading before kindergarten. I didn’t grow up in a house with a lot of books, but we did have one of those complete …

The Life-Changing Magic of Children’s Books Read More »

Miranda & Baptiste Paul | Bellevue, WI

From ‘Girl Reporter’ to Wisconsin’s First Female Sports Anchor

I was born in Madison in 1970. My mom is Jewish and from Long Island. My dad is Catholic, Mexican, and from Chicago. They met in the VISTA program (Volunteers in Service to America) and settled in Madison. Photos by Gary Porter “In the ‘70s and ‘80s, Madison felt magical to me. At age ten …

From ‘Girl Reporter’ to Wisconsin’s First Female Sports Anchor Read More »

Jessie Garcia | Milwaukee, WI

“When I came back to America, I became more confident in who I was.”

My mom and dad are both from Somalia, and they came to the United States with their families when they were really young. They were fleeing the civil war in Somalia. Photos by Kara Counard “For the first 14 years of my life, I lived in Minnesota. In Minneapolis there’s a huge Somali population, but …

“When I came back to America, I became more confident in who I was.” Read More »

Yasmin Nur | Green Bay, WI