Cynsational News & Giveaways - Cynthia Leitich Smith

American Indian Youth Literature Awards & Honor Books (click to enlarge)

Avoid Melodrama by Writing Deeper by Martina Boone from Adventures in YA Writing. Peek: “Experts tell us there are really only twelve universal emotions: interest, surprise, excitement, joy, love, sadness, fear, shame, guilt, contempt, pride, and anger.”

Tim Tingle on House of Purple Cedar Winning the AILA YA Literature Award from Debbie Reese at American Indians in Children’s Literature. Peek: “…I will walk the road of goodness, wave the light of forgiveness, and smile warm jokes along the way, as so many of my Choctaw kinfolks did.” See also More Coverage of the AILA Awards from AICL and 10 Books About Residential Schools to Read with Your Kids by Chantelle Bellrichard from CBC Radio Canada.

Disability in Kidlit and the Changing Landscape of Disabilities in Books: An Interview With Corinne Duyvis by Alex Townsend from The Mary Sue. Peek: “Most authors genuinely try, which means they’ll do research and want to treat their character with the utmost respect; that leads to a lot of good. At the same time, most authors aren’t disabled themselves, and don’t have a lot of pre-existing knowledge on disability tropes or the specific disability they’re portraying, so they’re starting from square one; that leads to a lot of missteps.”

Too Late to Start Writing? by Keith Cronin from Writer Unboxed. Peek: “Don’t use age as an excuse – either for doing nothing, or to complain about how you no longer have a chance.”

Reality Scoop: Promoting Mental Wellness with YA Literature by Kimberli Buckley from YALSA Hub. Peek: “…teen depression can affect a teen regardless of gender, social background, income level, race, or school or other achievements, though teenage girls report suffering from depression more often than teenage boys.”

Secrets, Lies, Mistakes & Wounds: Creating Engaging Characters by Martina Boone from Adventures in YA Publishing. Peek: “They may not want people to see them the way that they see themselves, and so–consciously or without being aware of it at all–they may lie to themselves and others about who they really are and what they are really like.” See also Writing Memorable Characters via “Finding Nemo” by Becca Puglisi from Writers Helping Writers.

The Writer, The Reader & Mirror Neurons by Sarah Johnson from Through the Tollbooth. Peek: “Our neurons fire in the same location in our brain when we move and when we observe the same movement by someone else.”

Author Interview: Cynthia Levinson on Hilary Clinton: Do All the Good You Can by Chelsea Langford from Kirkus Reviews. Peek: “Levinson understands that most kids love reading about other kids, ‘even if that subject is a grownup,’ and that making Hillary known to readers as a child first is a natural way to show how Hillary became the person she is today.”

Favorite Picture Book Revision Tips by Elizabeth Bluemle from Publishers Weekly. Peek: “I invited my writer friends and colleagues to share their favorite picture-book tips for new and young writers. Here’s what they said….”

28 Days Later: A Black History Month Celebration of Children’s Literature