Britain's Age Banding Brawl

Over 80 authors, editors, illustrators, booksellers, and librarians are protesting the decision to stamp book covers with a sign stating that the contents are for readers aged 5+, 7+, 9+, 11+ or 13+/teen.  Listen to their excellent reasoning:

Each child is unique, and so is each book. Accurate judgments about age suitability are impossible, and approximate ones are worse than useless.

Children easily feel stigmatized, and many will put aside books they might love because of the fear of being called babyish. Other children will feel dismayed that books of their ‘correct’ age-group are too challenging, and will be put off reading even more firmly than before.

Age-banding seeks to help adults choose books for children, and we're all in favour of that; but it does so by giving them the wrong information. It’s also likely to encourage over-prescriptive or anxious adults to limit a child's reading in ways that are unnecessary and even damaging.

Everything about a book is already rich with clues about the sort of reader it hopes to find – jacket design, typography, cover copy, prose style, illustrations. These are genuine connections with potential readers, because they appeal to individual preference. An age-guidance figure is a false one, because it implies that all children of that age are the same.

Children are now taught to look closely at book covers for all the information they convey. The hope that they will not notice the age-guidance figure, or think it unimportant, is unfounded.

Writers take great care not to limit their readership unnecessarily. To tell a story as well and inclusively as possible, and then find someone at the door turning readers away, is contrary to everything we value about books, and reading, and literature itself.

Reminds you of the nuances between our cultures when it comes to principles like the public good, individual liberties, and authority. I can't imagine the possibility of such a top-down decision being made by our publishers here, can you? At least, I hope not. You may declare your own dissension here -- it doesn't seem like UK citizenship is necessary.

I'm Feeling Cynsational!

Check out my interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith, Empress of Author Bloggers.

Library Thing Is So Into Me

I was amazed by the cloud of tags automatically generated on my Library Thing author page. I'm honored to be defined by this cyber stream of consciousness:

acculturation adoption american ar art artists Bangladesh blogging campaign chapter book charity chick lit children's children's literature christianity daughter daughters election elections family fiction friendship fun gender gender roles girl girls grade 4 grade 5 grade 6 identity immigrants india Indian integrity jfic love multicultural new fiction painting politics poverty presidents read realistic realistic fiction responsibility romance social responsibility South Asian tbr teen teen fiction tween Washington DC white house ya young adult young adult fiction

Summer Blog Blast Tour 2008!

Check out the interviews and authors featured in this year's Summer Blog Blast Tour:

SBBT 2008 Schedule
(schedule created by Colleen Ray; links gathered and coded by Kelly Fineman and Little Willow)

Monday, May 19th
Adam Rex at Fuse #8
David Almond at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
R.L. LaFevers at Finding Wonderland
Dave Schwartz at Shaken & Stirred
Elizabeth Scott at Bookshelves of Doom
Laurie Halse Anderson at Writing & Ruminating
Susan Beth Pfeffer at Interactive Reader

Tuesday, May 20th
Ben Towle at Chasing Ray
Sean Qualls at Fuse #8
Susane Colasanti at Bildungsroman
Robin Brande at HipWriterMama
Susan Beth Pfeffer at The YA YA YAs
Debby Garfinkle at A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy
Jennifer Lynn Barnes at Writing & Ruminating

Wednesday, May 21st
Delia Sherman at Chasing Ray
Ingrid Law at Fuse #8
Polly Dunbar at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Tera Lynn Childs at Bildungsroman
Siena Cherson Siegel at Miss Erin
Barry Lyga at A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy

Thursday, May 22nd
Elisha Cooper at Chasing Ray
Dar Williams at Fuse #8
Jennifer Bradbury at Bildungsroman
E. Lockhart at The YA YA YAs
Mary Hooper at Miss Erin
Charles R. Smith, Jr. at Writing & Ruminating
Mary E. Pearson at A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy

Friday, May 23rd
Varian Johnson at Finding Wonderland
Jincy Willet at Shaken & Stirred
John Grandits at Writing & Ruminating
Meg Burden at Bookshelves of Doom
Gary D. Schmidt at Miss Erin
Javaka Steptoe at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

The 2008 Skipping Stones Honor Awards

From Skipping Stones Magazine comes an announcement about their annual awards, bringing more good news for Rickshaw Girl:

The 15th Annual Skipping Stones Honor Awards recognize 26 exceptional books and teaching resources. Together, they encourage an understanding of the world's diverse cultures, as well as nature and ecological richness. The selection promotes cooperation, nonviolence, respect for differing viewpoints, and close relationships in human societies. We present these great books to you as the summer season stretches before us. It's a time of year when many travel to explore new places in the world, or to revisit meaningful ones. Reading books is another way you can explore cultures, places and even other time periods. The winners are featured in our summer issue. Welcome to the wonderful world of words!

Download the official
press release here.

Multicultural & International Awareness Books:

One City, Two Brothers by Chris Smith, illustr. Aurélia Fronty. Barefoot Books; www.barefootbooks.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-1-84686-042-3

When The Shadbush Blooms by Carla Messinger with Susan Katz, illustr. David Kanietakeron Fadden. Tricycle. www.tricyclepress.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-1-58246-192-2

Armando and the Blue Tarp School by Edith Hope Fine and Judith Pinkerton Josephson, illustr. Hernán Sosa. Lee & Low; www.leeandlow.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-1-58430-278-0

I Remember Abuelito: A Day of the Dead Story / Yo Recuerdo a Abuelito: Un Cuento del Dia de los Muertos by Janice Levy, illustr. Loretta Lopez. Albert Whitman; www.albertwhitman.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-0-8075-3516-5

The Best Eid Ever by Asma Mobin-Uddin, illustr. Laura Jacobsen. Boyds Mills Press www.boydsmillspress.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-1-59078-431-0

Romina's Rangoli by Malathi Michelle Iyengar, illustr. Jennifer Wanardi. Shen's Books; www.shens.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-1-885008-32-9

Sky Sweeper by Phillis Gershator, illustr. Holly Meade. Farrar, Straus & Giroux; www.fsgkidsbooks.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-0-374-37007-7

One Hen by Katie Smith Milway, illustr. Eugenie Fernandes. Kids Can Press; www.kidscanpress.com. Picture Book. Ages 7 and up. ISBN: 978-1-55453-028-1

Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins, illustr. Jamie Hogan. Charlesbridge; www.charlesbridge.com. Ages 7-10. ISBN: 978-1-58089-308-4

Great Peacemakers: True Stories from Around the World (Teacher's guide available) by Ken Beller & Heather Chase. LTS Press; www.greatpeacemakers.com. Ages 12-80. ISBN: 978-0-9801382-0-7

We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin by Larry Dane Brimner. Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills Press; www.boydsmillspress.com. Ages 10-15. ISBN: 978-1-59078-498-3

Chess Rumble by G. Neri, illustr. Jesse Joshua Watson. Lee and Low; www.leeandlow.com. Ages 11-15. ISBN: 978-1-58430-279-7

Jeannette Rankin: Political Pioneer, a biography by Gretchen Woelfle. Calkins Creek/ Boyds Mills Press; www.boydsmillspress.com. Ages 11-17. ISBN: 978-1-59078-437-2

Tasting The Sky: A Palestinian Childhood, a memoir by Ibtisam Barakat. Farrar, Straus & Giroux; www.fsgkidsbooks.com. Ages 11-15. ISBN: 978-0374-35733-7

The Teen Guide to Global Action: How to Connect with others to Create Social Change by Barbara A. Lewis. Free Spirit; www.freespirit.com. Ages 12-17. ISBN: 978-1-57542-266-4

A Shout in the Sunshine, a novel by Mara W. Cohen Ioannides. Jewish Publication Society; www.jewishpub.org. Ages 12-17. ISBN: 978-0-8276-0838-2

Windows into My World: Latino Youth Write Their Lives, ed. by Sarah Cortez. Piñata Books; www.artepublicopress.com. Ages 13-18. ISBN: 978-1-55885-482-6

The Ocean in the Closet, a debut novel by Yuko Taniguchi. Coffee House Press; www.coffehousepress.org. Ages 15 to adults. ISBN: 978-1-56689-194-3

Nature and Ecology Books:

Nature's Yucky! 2: The Desert Southwest by Lee Ann Landstrom & Karen I. Schragg, illustr. Rachel Rogge. Mountain Press; www.mountain-press.org. ISBN: 978-0-87842-529-7

River Song with the Banana Slug String Band by Steve Van Zandt, illustr. Katherine Zecca. Dawn Publications; www.dawnpub.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-1-58469-093-1

The Bee Tree by Stephen Buchmann and Diana Cohn, illustr. Paul Mirocha. Cinco Puntos Press; www.cincopuntos.com. Picture Book. ISBN: 978-0-938317-98-2

The Inuit Thought Of It: Amazing Arctic Innovations by Alootook Ipellie with David MacDonald. Annick Press; www.annickpress.com. Ages 9-12. ISBN 978-1-55451-087-0

The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon. Scholastic Inc.; www.scholastic.com. Ages 8-13. ISBN: 978-0-439-02494-5

Teaching and Parenting Resources:

2008 World Diversity Calendar, Orison Publishers; www.worlddiversitycalendar.com. This interfaith, multilingual calendar belongs on every classroom wall! ISBN: 978-0-9763800-5-4.

What Kids REALLY Want to Ask: Using Movies to Start Meaningful Conversations -- A Guidebook for Parents and Children Ages 10-14 by Rhonda A. Richardson, Ph.D. and A. Margaret Pevec, M.A. VanderWyk & Burnham; www.vandb.com. ISBN: 978-1-889242-31-6

My Imaginary Friend by Shirley Ann Povondra and Kathryn Andrew. Llumina Kids; www.llumina.com. For parents and educators to read with children. ISBN: 978-1-59526-669-9

Children's Book Week Begins Today

According to the Children's Book Council, a week dedicated to children's books was established in 1919 by several venerable partners including the American Booksellers' Association, the Boy Scouts, Publishers Weekly, the New York Public Library, and the American Library Association. Frederic Melcher, who at different times in his career served as PW editor and the secretary of the ABA, articulated a vision for Book Week that still holds true 89 years later:

(It) brings us together to talk about books and reading and, out of our knowledge and love of books, to put the cause of children's reading squarely before the whole community and, community by community, across the whole nation. For a great nation is a reading nation.

Foundation For Children's Book Event in Boston

New England Voices:

Three Area Authors Read from their New Books
Free & Open to the Public

Tuesday, May 20, 2008, 7:30 p.m.
 
Barbara O'Connor will read from her latest middle-grade novel Greetings from Nowhere. Barbara has written 14 novels and biographies for children and her books have won the Massachusetts Book Award and the Parents' Choice Award. "O'Connor's knack for well-developed characters and feisty protagonists is evident, as is her signature Southern charm."- School Library Journal
 
Susan Goodman will read from See How They Run: Campaign Dreams, Election Schemes and the Race to the White House. Susan is the author of dozens of non-fiction books for kids. Using witty anecdotes and clear explanations, Goodman takes readers from the birth of democracy to the Electoral College; from front-porch campaigning to hanging chads. Illustrated by Ellwood Smith.
 
Lita Judge will read from One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II, a 2008 ALA Notable Children's Book, which she wrote and illustrated. "Based on a true story of the author's grandmother and mother, this touching bit of history humanizes war and demonstrates the difference a few people can make."- Kirkus
 
This event includes book sales from the Children's Book Shop and signing, as well as refreshments. Free and Open to the Public. No registration necessary. Bring your friends and colleagues to introduce them to the FCB!
 
The Foundation for Children's Books
P.O.Box 320284
21 Stratford Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02132-0003
617-469-7222

The Foundation for Children's Books (FCB), a nonprofit, educational organization, was founded in 1983 to assist the professionals who most directly influence young readers: teachers, librarians, and parents. We achieve this through professional development programs, including a dynamic speaker series, innovative conferences and workshops, as well as through author visits and residencies in under-served schools.

Jama's Recipes From Authors and Illustrators

Author Jama Rattigan (DUMPLING SOUP) is presenting a wonderful series on her blog (which is appropriately titled Alphabet Soup), featuring recipes from children's book authors and illustrators. Check out this enlightening interview with Fusion Stories author Grace Lin (YEAR OF THE RAT), who shares her recipe for gingerbread cupcakes with candied ginger icing. YUM!

Live-Blogging From Nashua: Kevin Hawkes' Keynote

The ballroom's filling up, and I'm sitting next to National Book Award finalist Nancy Werlin (new fantasy/romance YA Impossible coming this September). Kevin Hawkes is about to speak, and he'll probably use a lot of slides, so I'll just give you a quote or two to keep you with us.

Before Kevin speaks, Anna Boll gives us a bit about next year's conference, with keynote Cynthia Lord and illustrator Floyd Cooper. It will take place April 24-26, 2009, so mark your calendars. Anna introduces Kevin Hawkes, lauding his ability to make characters come alive.

Our theme this year is stretching our wings, Kevin says, which is risky. Who are the people that gave you your wings? Kevin introduces a few of those important people in his life, like his mother, who taught him to recognize magic, or the absence of it, in art. There were some key risks he took, and they paid off. Moving, for example, to Boston, was a big deal. He visited Little Brown, and an editor asked, "What kind of children's book do you want to illustrate?" He didn't know how to answer, and he began showing his portfolio to publishers, but his work was (as a friend put it) ... "strange-looking."

He changed his portfolio to do something fresh and new, and begins showing some slides of his new paintings from that time. Still he wasn't getting much response from publishers in New York and continued working in a bookstore, illustrating during his lunch hour. He finally got a call from New York based on a sales rep looking over his shoulder in the store. That was another risk: putting your work out there and hoping that somebody liked it. Which they finally did.

Kevin shows more slides of his early illustrations and first picture books ... Another risk for him was moving into non-fiction, which brought into play his love of history and research. Every book required a change in approach as an illustrator because every book was different.

Live-Blogging From Nashua: Leda Schubert on Fantasy

Afternoon workshop. Fantasy and World Building. Leda Schubert. 

I'm sitting in the back trying to keep my blogging low-key, next to writing buddies Wendy Nystrom and Mordena Babich (who knows the correct pronunciation of Rick Riordan), both in my critique group, both authors of excellent stories in the fantasy genre. Leda gets started (I did ask her permission to live-blog, and she graciously gave it, so relax and read on. Here's a disclaimer, though: these are rough notes, they don't include Leda's precise words, and the quotes are incomplete.)

What is the wrong reason to write fantasy? Because it's what's selling. The right reason? It is the best way to tell the story only you can tell. We're born with the need for story.

Leda goes over the classic book, Harold and the Purple Crayon. Study this book! It shows all that's right about fantasy, she says. The heart-stopping moment of fantasy is when you wonder if it's going to be okay. If you scare yourself as you're writing, you're doing your job. Sometimes as you write you don't know where you're going.

Motivations? We want to believe that something exists outside of what we see.

Where to begin? Read, read, read. Take notes. Hard analysis. Develop a list of things to look for. What kind of world has this author created? What are the elements? Are there moments when you're jarred out of the fictive world of fantasy?

After you've read the books, turn to folklore and mythology. Try retellings and re-imaginings. We all have stories we're "doomed to write."

Know story structure. Discover the myth of the hero all around the world.

Fantasy is not escapist literature. It is a journey in instead of out. "Myth may not be real," says Susan Cooper, but it is true. "Fantastic conditions must speak to our real one," said Lloyd Alexander.

Leda recommends The Tough Guide To Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones. "It's a hoot," says Leda, making us laugh with a couple of quotes she reads aloud.

She explains Jane Yolen's three types of fantasy: earthbound, evens in our world with possible magical events (Borrowers), faerie (a secondary world like Earthsea), tourist fantasies where an earth traveler passes into another world or time (Narnia).

Leda also pulls from Jane Langton's The Weak Place in the Cloth. In fantasy literature, the cloth is either stretched, punctured, invisible and permeable, or unpunctured, but we're on the other side. The cloth can divide now from then, life from death (ghost stories), or finite present from infinite future (science fiction).

Leda's getting to the fundamentals now, explaining in detail how to create a fantasy world, and ends by saying that the work in this rich genre is still too much in the hands of white men. That's changing, but slowly. We need new voices, especially non-Western ones. We are part of this change.

Live-Blogging From Nashua: Laurie Halse Anderson

Here I am in the ballroom of the Crowne Hotel in Nashua (9 a.m.), waiting to hear NESCBWI's keynote speaker for our annual conference. The place is packed with 500 eager writers and illustrators -- a more diverse crowd than in years past, but still mostly white, middle-aged, and female.

Conference director Francine Puckley is introducing the cadre of hard workers who pull off this huge conference. I'm sitting next to authors Tanya Lee Stone (A Bad Boy Can Be Good For A Girl) and Sarah Aronson (Head Case), who are BFFs, and trying not to miss MY writing buddy, author Karen Day (Tall Tales).

During the intro to Laurie Halse Anderson, we learn that her new YA/MG novel Chains is due out in October.

Laurie starts by showing us her tattoo, and tells us to get one in order to "frustrate the fifteen-year-olds in America." Her tattoo is the first word in Beowulf, which basically means "LISTEN TO MY STORY."

After hundreds of rejections and years, it dawned on her that she needed help, and she did the most significant thing in her writing life: she joined SCBWI. Eventually, she started getting personalized, "quality rejections." Next came phone calls.

"If you're not published yet, you are simply 'pre-published,'" she tells us.

Laurie's talk is about five keys to becoming a writer: time, space, art, craft, and permission. The session is inspiring for wannabes, newbies, and burned-out oldies alike. Applause, and we're done.

My next update will be at 2:40, when I live-blog Leda Schubert's session "World-Building: Bringing Fantasy to Life," followed by Kevin Hawkes' closing keynote address starting at 3:50. Now I'm off to my own session!

The Mystery of the Children's Choice Awards

I was glad to see that When The Shadbush Blooms, the only "multicultural" book on IRA-CBC's list of nominees for the Children's Choice Awards, was lauded by Debbie Reese and Oyate.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised by the list -- the books were donated by publishers and chosen in six cities of the country not particularly renowned for a diverse demographic: Chico, California, Middletown, Delaware, Crete, Illinois, Starkville, Mississippi, Bellevue, Nebraska, and Omaha, Nebraska (here's a .pdf describing the process.) Of course, I've only been to Chico, which does have a fair share of immigrants, so maybe the other cities are home to all sorts of kids.

Unfortunately, on the official Children's Book Choices site, there's no explanation of selection criteria to be found -- or maybe I'm missing it. The nominees are great, I'm sure, but this award reminds me that for kids and adults to venture outside the story comfort zone, we often need a nudge from a trusted source.

Can You Say Mitali?

Want to talk about or introduce an author but not quite sure how to pronounce her name? Head over to Teaching Books' great pronunciation guide where gobs of authors and illustrators have phoned in and introduced themselves, offering mnemonic devices or little stories to help keep their names in mind. Here's mine for example.

KABA Modern, JABBAWOCKEEZ, and FUSION STORIES

Anybody catch Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew this week? The show is down to fifteen great dancers, including eleven Asian Americans who are rocking Planet MTV. This type of fusion hip makes the embarrassment of William Hung a distant memory -- in fact Asian American teens today can hardly remember that American Idol contestant.

Times are definitely changing. That's why, in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month this May 2008, ten of us are launching FUSION STORIES, a menu of delectable next-gen hot-off-the-press novels for middle readers and teens.

A wave of middle grade novels (ages 7-11) featuring Asian American protagonists is catching the attention of readers, teachers, librarians, and parents – and not just within multicultural circles. Children’s literature experts are calling Grace Lin’s Year of the Rat (sequel to the popular Year of the Dog) a “classic in the making” along the lines of Besty-Tacy. Janet Wong’s forthcoming novel Minn and Jake's Almost Terrible Summer explores the joys of vacation and friendship, with Jake divulging that he’s a “quarpa,” or one-quarter Korean. Winner of the Sid Fleischman humor award, author Lisa Yee makes kids (and adults) laugh out loud with bestselling stories like Millicent Min: Girl Genius and her newest title, Good Luck, Ivy. When it comes to books like these, as Newbery winner Linda Sue Park told author Cynthia Leitich Smith (Tantalize) during an on-line chat: “At last it seems we’re getting ready to go to stories where a person’s ethnicity is a part but not the sum of them.”

New releases for teens, too, aren’t mainly immigrant stories or traditional tales retold. These YA novels deal with universal themes such as a straight-A teen struggling with a cheating scandal at her school (She’s So Money by Cherry Cheva), a promising athlete coping with a snowboarding injury (Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley), and a Pakistani-born blogger whose father is about to become President (First Daughter: White House Rules by Mitali Perkins). An Na’s The Fold, a novel about a teen considering plastic surgery to change the shape of her eyelids, speaks to all who long to be beautiful, and art-loving teens far and wide will connect with Joyce Lee Wong’s novel-in-verse Seeing Emily. Paula Yoo, a one-time writer for People magazine and television hits like The West Wing, fuses her pop culture savvy and love of music in Good Enough, a novel about a violinist in rebellion. Her brother, David Yoo, connected with hormone-crazed nerds of every race in his funny novel Girls For Breakfast and is offering his fans the forthcoming Stop Me if You've Heard This One Before.

FUSION STORIES aims to be a helpful resource for parents, educators, and young readers, so if you know of a novel that (1) is for middle readers or teens, (2) was published in 2007-2008 by a traditional publishing house, (3) features an Asian American protagonist, and (4) is set primarily in contemporary America, please send a .jpg of the cover, a .jpg of the author, one or two reviews, and a brief description of the novel to press@fusionstories.com. We at FUSION STORIES would be delighted to add titles and authors to the site.

A press kit package (available at FUSION STORIES, www.fusionstories.com) includes downloads, bios of FUSION STORIES authors, information on the books, and a few conversations with experts about Asian American literature for young readers. For more information, review copies, or interview requests with any of the authors, please contact press@fusionstories.com.

Teen Book Review Interview

Teen Book Review hosts me with some great interview questions. This fantastic resource for candid takes on YA reads recently reviewed my novels First Daughter: White House Rules and First Daughter:Extreme American Makeover.

28 Days On The Brown Bookshelf

The Fire Escape gets frequent queries from educators wondering where to find non-white authors and illustrators in the children's book world. "Is there an updated list of African-American authors and illustrators anywhere on the web?" they ask, and I can hear the frustration in their cyber voices. Well, my good librarians, teachers, and parents, whinge no more.

In celebration of Black History Month 2008, the Brown Bookshelf has gone way beyond a list. They're presenting us with the gift of 28 days later, featuring a different author and illustrator every day in February. Here's the schedule of luminaries and award-winners discussing their work (I've linked to the interviews that took place before today):

Feb 1 — Christopher Paul Curtis - Elijah of Buxton

Feb 2 — Michelle Meadows – The Way The Storm Stops

Feb 3 — Dana Davidson - Played

Feb 4 — Rita Williams-Garcia – No Laughter Here

Feb 5 — G. Neri – Chess Rumble & Sean Qualls - Phillis’s Big Test

Feb 6 — Janice N. Harrington – The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County

Feb 7 — Eleanora E. Tate – Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance

Feb 8 — Patricia McKissack – The All-I’ll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll

Feb 9 — M. Sindy Felin – Touching Snow

Feb 10 — Jabari Asim – Daddy Goes To Work

Feb 11 — Mildred D. Taylor – The Road To Memphis

Feb 12 — Nina Crews - The Neighborhood Mother Goose & Leonard Jenkins – Sweet Land of Liberty

Feb 13 — Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu – The Shadow Speaker

Feb 14 — Allison Whittenberg – Sweet Thang

Feb 15 — Walter Dean Myers - Game

Feb 16 — Tonya Bolden – George Washington Carver

Feb 17 — Troy Cle – The Marvelous Effect

Feb 18 — Eloise Greenfield – The Friendly Four

Feb 19 — Sundee T. Frazier – Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything In It & John Holyfield - Bessie Smith & the Night Riders

Feb 20 — Carole Boston Weatherford – I, Matthew Henson: Polar Explorer

Feb 21 — Karen English - Nikki & Deja

Feb 22 — Coe Booth - Tyrell

Feb 23 — Irene Smalls – My Pop Pop and Me

Feb 24 — Stephanie Perry Moore – Prayed Up: Perry Skky Jr. #4

Feb 25 — Kyra E. Hicks, Martha Ann’s Quilt for Queen Victoria

Feb 26 — Celise Downs – Dance Jam Productions & Shane Evans- When Harriet Met Sojourner

Feb 27 — Valerie Wilson Wesley – Willimena Rules!: 23 Ways to mess up Valentine’s Day

Feb 28 — Sherri L. Smith - Sparrow

Super Tuesday For Teens and Tweens

John Sellers of PW's Childrens Bookshelf recently compiled a list of books for kids of all ages related to the election in Children's Publishers Stuff The Ballot Box. I culled the list for tween and teen appropriate fiction (you'll notice a couple of familiar titles on the list if you're a Fire Escape regular):

• As If Being 12 3/4 Isn’t Bad Enough, My Mother Is Running for President! by Donna Gephart (Delacorte, ages 8-12).

• Callie for President (Candy Apple #9) by Robin Wasserman (Scholastic, ages 9-12).

• George Washington’s Socks by Elvira Woodruff (Scholastic, ages 9-12).

• First Daughter: White House Rules by Mitali Perkins (Dutton, ages 10-up).

• First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover by Mitali Perkins (Dutton, ages 12-up).

• Long May She Reign by Ellen Emerson White (Feiwel & Friends, ages 12-up); also by White: The President’s Daughter, White House Autumn and Long Live the Queen.

• Soccer Chick Rules by Dawn FitzGerald (Square Fish, ages 10-14).

• First Boy by Gary Schmidt (Square Fish, ages 12-up).

• Vote for Larry by Janet Tashjian (Square Fish, ages 14-up).

I'm not quite sure how the powers that be figure out the age appropriateness of novels (my two books differ, for example, and I have no idea why).  Any additions to the list?

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

Source: Lookybook, "picture books you can discover, share and talk about," a great resource for parents and educators.

Kidlit Blogs Score Author Interviews

If you're wondering whether or not we have clout in the publishing world, check out the luminaries interviewed by Little Willow (who most recently chatted with Meg Cabot). Jules and Eisha over at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast also have a fabulous list of interviews with authors and illustrators; the conversations are funny, addictive, and should be compiled into a book.

Jen Robinson: Children's Book Expert

Check out one diligent blogger's inaugural post over at PBS, where she's the resident guru of kid lit for one month. Sounds like a national virtual ambassador for children's books to me.