The Winner of the 2015 Children’s Africana Book Award is The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Shane W. Evans (Little, Brown, 2014).
Character Talents & Skills: Strong Breath Control by Angela Ackerman from Writers Helping Writers. Peek: “A practitioner skilled in this area must also be able to find their center of calm quickly, neutralizing fears and anxieties when they appear as a result of environmental changes, circumventing fight-or-flight responses tied to survival instinct.”
Context Matters: On Labels and Responsibility by Jacqueline Koyanagi from Disability in Kidlit. Peek: “The difference between ‘generic eccentricity’ and a formal diagnosis is just that–formal diagnosis. It seems absurd that it bears stating, but a person on the autism spectrum is on the spectrum even before they are diagnosed. Similarly, bullying is bullying regardless of when diagnosis/identification occurs–and, yes, even if it never occurs.”
Constructing an Image System from a Verse Novel by Cordelia Jensen from E. Kristin Anderson at Write All the Words! Peek: “Image systems are about showing the reader a new way to look at the world, but they can also add a layer of depth to your writing by helping you convey to your reader a character’s growth and evolution.”
WNDB Tells AWP 15: Write Diverse Books That Sell by Claire Kirch from Publishers Weekly. Peek: “Referring to a backlash to the growing momentum of the calls for the publishing industry to publish more multicultural books, Leung pointed out that diversity in literature is the wave of the future. ‘Writing about diversity is as much of a fad as writing about human characters is a fad.'”
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The Letting Go from Marion Dane Bauer. Peek: “…I can see that the times I gave up on a major project were usually a mistake. But right now I’m talking about the moment when I release something I’m working on so that it can come back to me fresh.”
Top Twenty Picture Book Agents, compiled by Darcy Pattison from Fiction Notes. Note: Not all agents report their sales to Publishers Marketplace.
There Are No Secondary Characters by Jill Hill from Project Mayhem. Peek: “You see, the secondary character that I’m dealing with hasn’t been in the story for a couple of hundred pages, and I kind of forget what was driving him. That’s a problem.”
Spellbind Your Readers With Realistic Magic by Tal Valante from Writers Helping Writers. Peek: “…obviously magic needs some limitations, otherwise it all becomes too easy. But what kind of limitations? The trick answer is this: the more interesting (and intuitive!) your limitations, the more interesting your story would be.”
Combine Babies & Bylines by Kristi Holl from Writer’s First Aid. Peek: “So between now and Mother’s Day, I want to blog about practical ways to combine writing and parenting throughout these stages. Just as beneficial, I hope I can show you some ways that your kids can be your best source of material.” See also Kristi on Combining Writing and School-Age Kids.
The Children’s Book Council Partners with the Unprison Project to Provide Prison-Nursery Libraries from CBC Diversity. Peek: “In honor of Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 10, the last day of Children’s Book Week 2015, the Children’s Book Council (CBC) is partnering with The unPrison Project — a 501©3 nonprofit dedicated to empowering and mentoring women in prison, while raising awareness of their families’ needs — to create brand-new libraries of books for incarcerated mothers to read with their babies at prison nurseries in 10 states: California, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska, New York, South Dakota, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.”
Cynsational Giveaways
This Week at Cynsations
- T.A. Maclagan on Spy Novel Covers & They Call Me Alexandra Gastone
- Dana Walrath on the Armenian Genocide & Like Water on Stone
- Anne Bustard on Musicality: Composing with Repetitions
- Joy Preble on Being a Mid-Career, Mid-List Author
- Dana Walrath on Like Water on Stone
More Personally
Thanks again to the Texas Library Association, Texas SCBWI chapters and Candlewick Press for your hospitality and support at last week’s TLA annual conference in Austin. It was a joy to see y’all and visit about connecting great books to kids!
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| TLA Author Goodies! Thank you! |
Keep scrolling to check out a very sneaky peek at Greg Leitich Smith‘s new cover for Chronal Engine II (Clarion, fall 2015).
Personal Links
- Gender Equity in the U.S.
- Auction of Internment Items Halted
- The Avengers Actors Play “Family Feud”
- Newly Discovered Frog Looks Like Kermit
- Letter to Writers About Autism
- “Galaxy Quest” TV Series
- U.S. Patent & Trademark Office – Kids
- World’s Coolest New Buildings
Cynsational Events
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| Borrowed Time by Greg Leitich Smith (Clarion, Nov. 2015) |
Join Cynthia from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. May 2 at Saratoga Springs Public Library for a celebration in conjunction with Saratoga Reads! at Saratoga Springs, New York. Note: Cynthia will be presenting Jingle Dancer (2000), Rain Is Not My Indian Name (2001) and Indian Shoes (2002)(all published by HarperColllins).
Join Cynthia at 11 a.m. May 30 in conjunction with the YA Book Club at Cedar Park Public Library in Cedar Park, Texas.
Cynthia will serve as the master class faculty member from June 19 to June 21 May 2 at the VCFA Alumni Mini-Residency in Montpelier, Vermont.
Cynthia will speak from June 25 to June 30 on a We Need Diverse Books panel at the 2015 Annual Conference of the American Library Association in San Francisco.
Cynthia will lead a breakout session on “Diversity in Children’s and YA
Literature” Aug. 22 at East Texas Book Fest at the Harvey Hall
Convention Center in Tyler, Texas.
Cynthia will appear Sept. 19 at the Mansfield, Texas Book Festival.