I’m pleased that Indian Shoes by Cynthia Leitich Smith (HarperCollins, 2002)(reader’s theater) is being reprinted again (I’ve lost track of what edition it’s reached). Thanks so much to all who have supported my books!

Thanks to Book Moot for the recent shout out about this week’s interview with author Gail Carson Levine. Notes: Book Moot is a first-rate, first-class blog with many excellent recent reviews. Also, anyone linking to Cynsations is encouraged to give me the heads-up so I can check it out!

Congratulations to Sue Corbett (author interview), winner of the California Young Readers Medal for 12 Again (Dutton, 2002). See also the 2006-2007 nominees, which include Shattering Glass by Gail Giles (Roaring Brook, 2002)(author interview)(update interview) and Hanging onto Max by Margaret Bechard (Roaring Brook, 2002)(author interview)(excerpt) in the YA category. Learn more about state awards for children’s and YA books.

Congratulations also to Amy Butler Greenfield, author of A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire (HarperCollins, 2006)(excerpt), winner of the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction.

Paper Tigers celebrates Asian American Heritage Month. As The Tiger notes, “Asian Pacific Americans are not a single group. They are made up of more than 24 ethnic groups that speak different languages, each with its own historical roots and branches. Their ethnic or multi-ethnic identities have a long, and not always acknowledged, history.”

The Paper Tigers book of the month is Landed by Milly Lee, illustrated by Yangshook Choi (Frances Foster/FSG, 2006). An interview with author Uma Krishnaswami highlights her new title, Closet Ghosts (Children’s Book Press, 2006), and discusses her body of work. In Personal Views, Janet S. Wong discusses “Asian American Literature for Children and Teens: Where We Fit In” and Frances Kai-Hwa Wang talks about “My Favorite Asian Pacific American Picture Books.” See also a gallery from illustrator Belle Yang. Learn more about Uma Krishnaswami (author interview) and Janet S. Wong. Learn more about Asian and Asian American Children’s Literature.

The 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas has been awarded to Luci Tapahonso (Navajo). Though she is best known as a poet, her children’s books include Navajo ABC: A Dine Alphabet Book, illustrated by Eleanor Schick (Macmillan, 1995) and Songs of Shiprock Fair, illustrated by Anthony Chee Emerson (Kiva, 1999)(recommended). Learn more about Native American Children’s Literature.

In the Artist’s Studio: Jeff Smith on Graphic Novels from CBC Magazine.