Her most recent research interests focused on children and young adult literature of speculative fiction, with a particular interest in the literary and cultural study of Japanese manga circulating in U.S. popular culture and monsters in Latinx Middle-Grade literature. Her research focused on what Japanese folklore monsters or yōkai reveal in Japanese manga that has been translated for English-speaking readers in the U.S. and the reimagination of Hispanic myths and legends in middle-grade literature that create a newer engagement with a legendary monster universe. The increasing interest in Japanese popular culture (including anime and manga), as well as the presence of Latinx cultures in the U.S., pose questions about how these cultural products reference to readers a glimpse of these cultures or how we are able to reflect on their presence, their meanings, and their portrayals.

Currently, her research has shifted towards exploring the social and cultural dynamics at play in fan-produced unofficial translations of Japanese manga for Latinx communities. Her curiosity is sparked by how these narratives are being experienced and how communities form around the manga translation process (or scanlation). Furthermore, she inquires that by exploring the effects or impacts of the unofficial translations we can visualize how the communities understand the cultural contexts of the manga and themselves, the languages used, and the social forms presented in the manga that originates from Japanese popular culture.

“If monsters and people of color inhabit the same place in our stories, what would if be like to read monster theory from the monster’s perspective?” (20)      – Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to The Hunger Games.