A Keepsake For Rickshaw Girl

My Lupine Honor Book Award for Rickshaw Girl (Charlesbridge) arrived yesterday. It's a handmade stoneware platter crafted by Portland, Maine potter Toby Rosenberg. Thank you, Libraries of Maine!

Good News For The Kid Lit World

Editor Judy O'Malley (who deserves much of the credit for Rickshaw Girl) is back on the scene with an update. We are grateful for you, Judy!

Soirée at the Boston Public Library

Seems like we're talking a lot about awards on the Fire Escape lately, doesn't it? Well, I'm not complaining. Today I'll be at the Boston Public Library where the Boston Authors Club is hosting the 11th Annual Boston Authors Club Award Luncheon. The 2008 Young Reader Award Recipients are:

Brian Selznick, THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET

Elizabeth Alexander and Marilynn Nelson, MISS CRANDALL’S SCHOOL FOR YOUNG LADIES AND LITTLE MISSES OF COLOR

Mark Peter Hughes, LEMONADE MOUTH

Highly recommended titles include:

Loree Griffin Burns, TRACKING TRASH

Ralph Fletcher, THE ONE O’CLOCK CHOP 

Jack Gantos, I AM NOT JOEY PIGZA

Peter Johnson, WHAT HAPPENED

Mitali Perkins, RICKSHAW GIRL (yippee!)

Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris, THE ROGUES

Here's a complete list of the Boston Author Club 2008 Awards as well as details on today's award luncheon. The library itself, founded in 1848 and hosting over 2.2 million patrons a year, is a definite destination when you come to Boston.

Great Women, Great Awards

Let's dream a bit about our posthumous presence in the world of children's literature. If your name were to be affiliated with a book award someday, what criteria would you want to see define the selection process? Stories that feature the empowerment of women? Novels that promote peace or social justice? Or would you want your name to honor books that instruct and delight at the same time, like author John Newbery, who adopted John Locke's motto deluctando monemus as his vocational vision?

It's always an honor when your book is nominated for or wins an award, but this year four kudos have special meaning because they're named after a quartet of my personal heroes -- Amelia Bloomer, women's rights advocate, Jane Addams, founder of Hull House, Julia Ward Howe, abolitionist and poet, and Maud Hart Lovelace, author of my beloved Betsy-Tacy books (I was recently informed that Monsoon Summer is one of Minnesota's 2008-2009 Maud Hart Lovelace nominees -- hooray!)

Rickshaw Girl Wins Jane Addams Honor!

I'm thrilled to announce that Rickshaw Girl is a Jane Addams Honor Book for 2008. I got a phone call last week from Susan Griffith, chair of the committee, telling me the news. 

Here's the official press release:

JANE ADDAMS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS ANNOUNCED

April 28, 2008 — Winners of the 2008 Jane Addams Children's Book Awards were announced today by the Jane Addams Peace Association.

The Escape of Oney Judge: Martha Washington’s Slave Finds Freedom, the winner in the Books for Younger Children Category, is written and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully and published by Farrar Strauss Giroux. Mrs. Washington’s declares that young Oney is just like one of the Washington’s own children, but Oney is not fooled. On the night Mrs. Washington tells Oney she will not grant her freedom upon her death, Oney thinks quickly, acts courageously and flees. Expressive watercolors within this well-researched biography portray the bravery of Ona Maria Judge, an African-American woman who claimed, and fought for, the right to have “no mistress but herself.”

We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin by Larry Dane Brimner, published by Calkins Creek, an imprint of Boyds Mills Press, Inc., is the winner in the Books for Older Children Category. Working behind the scenes because of his sexual orientation and unpopular political stands, African-American pacifist and civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, a trusted adviser to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., organized the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Succinct prose, powerful quotations and fresh historical photographs place the story of Rustin’s life alongside the story of the March, revealing the breadth and depth of Rustin’s decades of commitment to confronting racism and promoting peace in the United States and in countries around the world.

One book has won honors in the Books for Younger Children Category. One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II, written and illustrated by Lita Judge is published by Hyperion Books for Children. After discovering one thousand yellowed foot tracings in her grandmother’s attic, Lita Judge wrote this tribute to her grandmother who had used these newspaper tracings to find appropriately-sized shoes to send to needy German families in the aftermath of World War II. A combination of paintings, collages of original photographs and reproductions of foot tracings underscore the message of compassion at the heart of this family story.

Three books have won honors in the Books for Older Children category. Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins, with illustrations by Jamie Hogan and published by Charlesbridge, is a contemporary novel set in Bangladesh. In clear prose and detailed black-and-white drawings, ten-year-old Naima excels at painting alpanas, traditional designs created by Bangladeshi women and girls. Her talent, though valued by her family, cannot buy rice or pay back the loan on her father’s rickshaw as a son’s contribution would do. Determined to help financially, Naima disguises herself as a boy and sparks surprising events that reveal an expanding world for herself and women in her community.

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis, published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic, Inc., is a sensitively-written historical novel infused with the spirit of youth. Eleven-year-old Elijah bursts with pride at being the first child born free in Buxton, Canada, a settlement of runaway slaves just across the border from Detroit. When a scoundrel steals money saved to buy an enslaved family’s freedom, Elijah impulsively pursues the thief into Michigan. The journey brings him face-to-face with the terrors of slavery, pushing him to act courageously and compassionately in the name of freedom.

Birmingham, 1963 by Carole Boston Weatherford is published by Wordsong, an imprint of Boyds Mills Press, Inc. Deftly-written free verse and expertly-chosen archival photographs lay open the horror of the 1963 Birmingham church bombing by telling the story in the voice of an imagined girl in the “year I turned ten.” Four memorial poems, each a tribute to one of the four girls murdered in the bombing, conclude this slim, powerful volume and carry its emphatic message: No More Birminghams!

Since 1953, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award annually acknowledges books published in the U.S. during the previous year. Books commended by the Award address themes or topics that engage children in thinking about peace, justice, world community, and/or equality of the sexes and all races. The books also must meet conventional standards of literary and artistic excellence.

A national committee chooses winners and honor books for older and younger children. Members of the 2007 Jane Addams Children's Book Awards Committee are Susan C. Griffith, Chair (Mt. Pleasant, Michigan), Barbara Bair (Washington, D. C.), Ann Bower (Harwich, Massachusetts), Sonja Cherry-Paul (Yonkers, New York), Eliza T. Dresang (Tallahassee, Florida), Oralia Garza de Cortes (Pasadena, California), MJ Grande (Juneau, Alaska), Daisy Gutierrez (Houston, Texas), Margaret Jensen (Madison, Wisconsin), Jo Montie (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Sarah Park (Long Beach, California), Pat Wiser (Sewanee,Tennessee) and Junko Yokota (Skokie, Illinois). Regional reading and discussion groups participated with many of the committee members throughout the jury’s evaluation and selection process.

The 2008 Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards will be presented Friday, October 17th in New York City. Details about the award event and about securing winner and honor book seals are available from the Jane Addams Peace Association (JAPA). Contact JAPA Executive Director Linda B. Belle, 777 United Nations Plaza, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10017-3521; by phone 212-682-8830; and by e-mail japa@igc.org.

For additional information about the Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards and a complete list of books honored since 1953, see www.janeaddamspeace.org.

Founded in 1948, JAPA is the educational arm of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). In addition to sponsoring the Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards and many other educational projects, JAPA houses the U.N. office of WILPF in New York City and owns the Jane Addams House in Philadelphia where the U.S. section of WILPF is located. Organized on April 28th in 1915, WILPF is celebrating its 93rd year. For information, visit www.wilpf.int.ch/.

- End -

Yet Another Reason To Love Maine

While I was traveling hither and yon last week (New Hampshire, Texas, California, and Colorado), illustrator Jamie Hogan attended the Reading Round-Up Conference in Augusta to accept the Maine Library Association's Lupine Honor Award for Rickshaw Girl. Thank you so much, Pine Tree State!

Thank You, Charlesbridge ...

... for choosing artist Jamie Hogan to illustrate Rickshaw Girl (which was just named a 2008 Julia Ward Howe Recommended Book and won a starred mention in Bank Street's Best Children Books of the year.) Since our Charlesbridge-arranged introduction, Jamie has lavished me with gifts, like giving me the portrait in my blog header above, and sending me this promotional postcard she designed for both of us:


She also framed one of the portraits of Naima and her sister that she drew for the book, wrapped it, and sent it to my beloved sister in Colorado as a breathtaking birthday present:


And then, at the New England Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conference this past weekend, Jamie came up after my session and presented me with another of her gorgeous illustrations -- the one she drew of Saleem and reminds me so much of my father as a boy:

photos above courtesy of Jamie Hogan

Thank you, Jamie, and thank you, Charlesbridge editor Judy O'Malley and Art Director Susan Sherman for your inspired literary matchmaking.

Now I'm off to Dallas to present at the Texas Library Association, followed by Winchester's Author Fest and Operation Teen Book Drop at the Boston Children's Hospital, and don't forget that thanks to Ma, I'll be on television this Friday April 18th in the Bay Area (ABC-KGO's View From The Bay). Just don't ask if I'm writing fifteen minutes a day, Laurie, but I plan to when I get back, thanks to your inspiring keynote session at NESCBWI's conference.

photo courtesy of Laurie Halse Anderson

My Books Float Across The Atlantic

Yes, that's my little Rickshaw Girl, the French edition, aka De père en fille, releasing this month from Flammarion.

Meanwhile, at the Irish Society For The Study of Children's Literature Conference last month, here was a session presented by Shehrazade Emmambokus:

How children’s literature of the South Asian diaspora responds to the media’s vilification of South Asian minority groups following the 11 September attacks.

Immediately following the World Trade Center and the Pentagon attacks on 11 September 2001, the international news media was gripped by the events that took place. However, not only did the news media respond to these events, but other forms of cultural media did too: the music industry, the film industry, the books and literature industry which also includes children’s literature.

Examples of children’s books which engage with these events include, amongst others, Jeanette Winter’s September Roses (2004), Randa Abdel-Fattah’s Does My Head Look Big In This? (2007), and Brian Mandabach’s Or Not (2007). But more specifically from the South Asian literary sub-genre of children’s literature: Anjali Banerjee’s Looking for Bapu (2006), Marina Budhos’s Ask Me No Questions (2006) and Mitali Perkins’ First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover (2007).

Engaging with media theory and the representations of South Asian minorities since the events of 11 September, this paper will focus predominantly on Perkins’ First Daughter and Budhos’ Ask Me No Questions. Through the characters, this paper will look at whether or not they internalise the stereotypical images and messages purported in the news media, and will ask, firstly, if there is an internalisation of the media stereotypes, why is this possible? And secondly, if there is a resistance towards these media stereotypes, what do these literatures say about young developing ethnic identities and subsequently the individual’s right to negotiate their own ethnic identities?

By focussing on these questions, this paper will argue that although these texts present their readers with characters who are confronted by the media and its use of stereotype during its coverage of the 11 September attacks, these characters’ ethnic identities are not compromised, in fact, they are able to remain culturally neutral. Subsequently, through the characters’ experiences, these books are able to offer South Asian diasporic children and teenagers a form of bibliotherapy as these books demonstrate how the characters deal with the negative media pressures.

Now that's nice, especially with Boston already greening up for St. Patty's Day.

Rickshaw Girl Makes Amelia Bloomer List

In fourth grade, I did a massive project on Amelia Bloomer and she became one of my heroes. Today (via a note from their MySpace site which shows you how the world is changing), I discovered that Rickshaw Girl made ALA's 2008 Amelia Bloomer Project list.

This award is moderated by the Feminist Task Force of the American Library Association's Social Responsibilities Round Table (SSRT), and I'm wondering why it seems to have been overlooked in ALA's award announcements.

Oh, well. Amelia rocks! And I'm wearing a comfy pair of bloomers right now, my blogging outfit of choice.

Mitali's Book News and Updates

Today's the release date of the paperback version of Rickshaw Girl, which makes me happy because more kids and libraries can afford it.

To underline the irony that defines the writer's life, yesterday I got "the letter" from Little Brown telling me that they're not going to print any more copies of The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen. A remainder notice has a different kind of sting than a rejection, and it sends me running to World Cat so I can remember that young readers can still meet Sunita in libraries. Now I have to decide how many books I want to rescue from the pit at seventy pennies a copy. Any suggestions?

Tomorrow I meet with a publicist to discuss the launch of First Daughter: White House Rules, releasing in nine days. It's the first time I'm investing in one of my titles with some cash for promotion. As an archetypical zero-gen immigrant, I usually I prefer to spend time instead of money by making trailers and blogging in my character's name. But as this is an election year, I feel I must give Sparrow her chance to be encountered in tweendom. I'll keep you informed.

Cyclone In Naima's Land

As many of you know, Bangladesh, the land where my fathers died, is dear to me, and I set my novel Rickshaw Girl there. Now my heart aches for those devastated by the recent cyclone. Here's one way to help, if you're interested.

Rickshaw Girl in Micronesia and NY

Lovely to think of kids in Saipan, Guam, and Palau reading Rickshaw Girl after I read this nice review in Marianas Variety:

RICKSHAW GIRL, by Mitali Perkins, illustrated by Jamie Hogan (Charlesbridge, 2007). Although this novel is also set in the tropics, it takes place in Bangladesh, with a different sensibility than here in the islands. For the child who likes adventure or different places, this is a good choice.

Naima is the older daughter, with one little sister, and no brothers. Her father says that he is glad he has girls, but Naima is bound by cultural rules that seem to limit her options. She cannot help her poor father, who drives a rickshaw — a bicycle attached to a passenger cab, used as a taxi. The family’s financial circumstances are revealed in a series of small details that show them on the brink of disaster, with no margin for financial losses of any kind.

Naima is a talented alpanas painter and energetic girl, but she envies her friend, Saleem because he helps his father by alternating the driving of their rickshaw, which gives his father a chance to rest. Naima’s father has faced poor health and seems very tired to Naima, who frets about his long hours and hard work.

Naima comes up with a scheme to fix things, but only causes bigger problems. And the story grows from there, into a fully realized novel in just 78 pages of large, double-spaced type!

Besides the beautiful, full color cover, the text is illustrated inside with line drawings in black on white. These help show the exotic setting and details of the alpanas (decorative-design drawings), as well as bring characters to life.

This is a wonderful book for children gaining confidence with their reading and wanting to branch out from their easy readers. The story is sufficiently deep to be interesting to older children as well. Highly recommended. (Ages 8-14).

Donna Spurlock of Charlesbridge also informs me that the novel is on the New York Public Library's forthcoming 2007 list of hundred best children's books for reading and sharing. Hooray for good news about a work that's done when you're under deadline for another novel!

Draw Alpanas In Milpitas!

The main advantage of attending one of my author appearances in the San Francisco Bay Area is that audiences get to enjoy my mother's wonderful alpana art lessons. Your next opportunity to meet Mrs. Madhusree Bose is at the Milpitas Public Library on Monday, October 29th, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Here's the scoop from the Santa Clara County Library system:

RICKSHAW GIRL BOOK DISCUSSION @ the Milpitas Library for Grades 3 to 8

SIGN UP EARLY, SPACE IS LIMITED!!*

On Saturday, October 27th at 2:30 pm there will be two book groups meeting to discuss Rickshaw Girl, an interesting read about a girl from another part of the world.

We will chat about the book, have an activity, and enjoy a snack together. Members of this book group will be invited to meet the author, Mitali Perkins, at a special event on Monday October 29th.
Please contact the Children's Reference Desk to sign-up.

*Space is limited, so advance sign-up is required for the book group, AND participation in the book group is required to attend the author visit!

This program is made possible thanks to The Friends of the Milpitas Library.

Rickshaw Girl Updates

Lots of good news to share about Rickshaw Girl:

It's coming out in paperback from Charlesbridge February 2008.

The book joins some wonderful titles on lists compiled by Fuse No. 8 and Mother Reader of best books of 2007 (so far).

It's on the Cochecho Readers' Award list for third and fourth graders and recommended for second graders by Education.com.

Rickshaw Girl is reviewed by Anne-Marie Nichols over at Club Mom's A Readable Feast, who provides links to some great recipes from Bangladesh.

And for those of you in Maine (or those who want a foliage drive excuse), illustrator Jamie Hogan and I will be discussing our collaboration at Graves Library in Kennebunkport on Sunday, October 14th at 3 p.m.

The Charlesbridge Open House

Parties don't get much better than this. I got to meet a legend (Anita Silvey), and a community organizer (Eisha of 7-imp fame). I got to deck editor Judy O'Malley (don't stop reading the sentence there, please) in a saree — to see us in action, visit Unabridged, Charlesbridge's blog — and draw dragons eating their tails (as instructed by Ralph Masiello). And I got to talk about Rickshaw Girl and sign books with my collaborator, illustrator Jamie Hogan (see below). Thanks, Charlesbridge!

Yet Another Literary Party!

In this photo taken by Elaine Magliaro-slash-Wild Rose Reader at a Foundation of Children's Books event two nights ago, slim and elegant Charlesbridge editor Judy O'Malley is the redhead in the middle, multi-talented author-illustrator-Blue-Rose-Girl Anna Alter is on the left, and that's non-petite me hogging half the photo space on the right. (Note to self #1: in future photo ops, stand between or behind two size fours).

Judy and I are doing another duet at Charlesbridge's annual open house for teachers and librarians this afternoon. We'll be sharing the process that led to the publication of Rickshaw Girl, and rumor has it that I'll be draping her in a saree. Illustrator Jamie Hogan will be there, too, and she's bringing along the original art she created for the book. (Note to self #2: try and make an offer on one of those gorgeous pastels, but knowing Jamie, she might just hand it over as a gift ... this is going to take some finesse and diplomacy.)

But there's more. Much more. Author-illustrator Ralph Masiello (aka Icky Bug Man) is going to show us all how to draw the dragons in his new Drawing Book, and two other artists will be there: Kate Endle, who created the collages in Trout Are Made of Trees (Spring 2008), and Ilene Winn-Lederer, illustrator of The Golden Dreydl (Fall 2007). After this soirée, though, I'm putting my heels away until ALA.

CCBC Book of the Week

The Book of the Week Archive is a wonderful resource provided by the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (and not only because my darlin' Rickshaw Girl is this week's choice). Also, their moderated listserv is top-notch when it comes to focused discussion around children's books.

Fly, My Naima, Fly!

Publicity guru Donna Spurlock of Charlesbridge informs me that my beloved Naima's story (pronounced "Na-ee-mah's Stow-ree"), Rickshaw Girl, is getting a nice review in the April issue of School Library Journal. Good thing, as I'm partially responsible for the lead article in the next issue of SLJ's Curriculum Connections, which also comes out in April. And, according to an authoritative source, the book apparently gets a good review in the May/June issue of the Horn Book Magazine, too. Hooray for Naima!

Fuse Number 8 and Rickshaw Girl

Yes, I know it's 1:26 a.m. Yes, I am still awake and writing like a mad woman. But how did Fuse #8 know I'd need a boost right now? And how does she manage to publish a new deluge of posts just after midnight every day? These and other mysteries of the blogging galaxy continue to astound my already befuddled brain. Anyway, here's Fuse's lovely review of Rickshaw Girl for your reading pleasure. It inspired me like a cheering fan at the 24-mile marker of the Boston Marathon. Hobble on, my love. The finish line's near.

Have You Seen My Mother?

While we're waiting for the Cybils Awards announcement, I want to share some photos of my beautiful, talented mother in action painting alpana on my California Dreamin' mini book tour, along with one of me signing a copy of Rickshaw Girl as a Valentine for my Fire Escape friends ... that's you!

At Towne Center Books in Pleasanton ...



Where Baba welcomes visitors
and displays Ma's alpana:



At Cody's Books in Berkeley ...







Lots of old friends and new friends, like
blogger buddy Jen Robinson, showed up: