Cynsational News - Cynthia Leitich Smith

By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabakukk, Suma Subramaniam, A.J. Eversole, Mitu Malhotra, and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations

Spotlight Image: My Street Remembers by Karen Krossing, illustrated by Cathie Jamieson (Groundwood Books, 2025).

Author/Illustrator Insights

Five Indigenous Children’s Authors on Perspective and Love of Storytelling by Cara Broel from Bookstr. Peek: [Laurel Goodluck:] “As a writer of children’s books, I hope that my books inspire young people to realize they are resilient as they read about characters, who may look like them or have similar life experiences, solve problems and think critically, becoming heroes in their own stories, just as oral storytelling did for me, my sister, and cousins.”

WNDMG Author Interview: Pablo Cartaya by Sibylla Nash from From The Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors. Peek: “I love the blunt honesty of middle graders. They are emotional, rowdy, hilarious, and don’t suffer fools. I respect the heck out of them….I remember what it was like to be in middle school. I want to talk to them and write stories for them in a way I would’ve wanted someone doing [that] for me at that age.”

Just Right by Torrey Maldonado and Teresa Martínez from MrSchuReads. Peek: “Picture books are magic because they speak a universal language with images we all understand and feel. Picture books break down big feelings and ideas…. Picture books plant seeds in young readers that become the fruit of their behaviors as tweens, teens, and adults.”

Interview With Liselle Sambury from KidLit in Color. Peek: “Write what you’re passionate about regardless of if it aligns with trends or seems ‘sellable,’ and focus on completing your projects…before getting caught up in pursuits of publication….[W]riters striving to be published let the pressure of that dream overshadow the craft of writing itself, when that’s the thing that gets you to that publication milestone.”

Equity & Inclusion

Author Interview: AJ Eversole Legendary Frybread Drive-in: Intertribal Stories by Naomi from Boozhoo Books. Peek: “My perspective on [representation] has evolved…Initially, I focused on the importance of people seeing themselves reflected on the page…But now I also think about the bridges representation can build. I want non-Native readers to connect with my characters experiences, to find the universal themes that make us human while also learning about our specific cultural perspectives.”

Books That Honor Indigenous Peoples and Nations by Mary Quattlebaum from Washington Parent. Peek: “This year Indigenous People’s Day is Oct. 13…Acclaimed author Carole Lindstrom finds her greatest inspiration in Native history and her heritage. Lindstrom is Turtle Mountain Ojibwe and Red River Metis, with ancestral lands in North Dakota….[Her] book The Gift of the Great Buffalo…has been a hit at schools and book events.”

Q&A With Dawn Quigley by Patricia J. Murphy from Publishers Weekly. Peek: “[T]here are 575 tribal nations and there’s not one way to be Native American. I am from one band and from one tribe, the Turtle Band Tribe of Ojibwe, N.D….There is not just one voice….I can only speak from my tribal experience, my family understanding, and my lens. I cannot speak for everyone.”

Interview With Angeline Boulley, Author of Sisters in the Wind by Michele Kirichanskaya from Geeks Out. Peek: “Everyone deserves to be seen in the stories they read…I want to tell stories that delve into Native identity, whether it’s the perspective of a light-skinned young woman who doesn’t feel Native enough; a biracial teen who is Ojibwe and Black; and a teen who doesn’t know about her Native family until after she ages out of…[foster] care….”

Diverse Books: Five Questions for Melissa Hart by Roger Sutton from The Horn Book. Peek: “Writing this book made me hyper-aware of how people with visible disabilities are often ignored in social situations. These days, I’ll walk up to someone with Down syndrome, introduce myself, and discover what we have in common. I hope this book will inspire readers to widen their friendship circles; when we do this, everybody wins.”

The Astronomer Prince by M.O. Yuksel by CBethM from Nerdy Book Club. Peek: “[W]hen children only see certain faces or cultures represented in stories of discovery, they may start to believe that genius belongs to a select few….For Muslim children, [this] story shares a powerful message that our heritage includes scientists, dreamers, and innovators who changed the world…and reminds us that knowledge has…been built by many hands, across many cultures.”

Writing Craft

Stronger Than: Story Behind the Story by Nikki Grimes from The Poetry Zone, Nikki Grimes. Peek: “During the process of revision, I noticed that there were a plethora of stories about dream catchers. At the same time, I became increasingly aware that there were few stories starring Black Indigenous characters in the marketplace….Upon that realization, I decided to shift the story, entirely….This new story direction filled me with passion….”

Q&A: Cheryl Isaacs, Author of “The Others” by Elise Dumpleton from The Nerd Daily. Peek: “Writing a sequel required a balance between referencing the events of the first book without dragging down the pace and becoming repetitive, and setting up the new story….[V]isual planning…helped by letting me see a map of the book—what was new and what might need to be explained or refreshed briefly.”

Ann Dávila Cardinal: Just Finish the First Draft by Anne-Marie Strohman from Kid Lit Craft. Peek: “I’m a recovering pantser. It took a long time to get through to me, but now that I plot novels I no longer write myself into corners or waste time going on tangents. But it took a friend’s model that involves narrative plotting, which makes so much more sense to me than a graph.”

Q&A: Tracy Badua, Author of “Ghoul Summer” by Elise Dumpleton from The Nerd Daily. Peek: “I’m wary of any advice that suggests I need a whole setup and slew of rituals…to write. Yes, I like to write at my desk with my ergonomic keyboard and have a nice-smelling candle going, but sometimes, I just need to get the words down, whenever, wherever. That means being flexible and making do with what’s available….”

Interview: Byron Graves Author Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories by Naomi from Boozhoo Books. Peek: “Challenges faced in publishing: Initially it was more so on me to find my voice, my style, and my little corner of the world. I had a hard time writing what I thought the publishing industry wanted. Once I decided to share my truth, and write from my own experiences, it all came together.”

Rebecca Stead and Gracey Zhang: Exploring Change and the Power of Shared Wishes by Lisa Bullard from Macklin Community. Peek: [Gracey Zhang]: “I did some different final art experiments. I typically work with brush, ink, and gouache paints, but it wasn’t coming together to serve the world I wanted to convey. There is something very intimate about the scrawl of a ballpoint pen, and ultimately I found satisfaction in the results with the scribbles of the pen.”

Publishing

Ten Speed Press Launches Ten Speed Young Readers Imprint from Shelf Awareness. Peek: “Ten Speed Press has launched a new imprint, Ten Speed Young Readers, that will publish ‘bold and imaginative fiction and nonfiction with a distinctive aesthetic, delivering stories that inspire and entertain, ranging from the provocative to the profound to the seriously fun.’” Ten Speed Press is part of the Crown Publishing Group division of Penguin Random House.

Andrews McMeel Buys Quirk Books from Shelf Awareness. Peek: “Andrews McMeel Universal is buying all titles of Quirk Books [books for adults and children in a variety of genres], which will become an imprint of Andrews McMeel Publishing….Sales and distribution of the Quirk titles will remain with Penguin Random House Publisher Services (Simon & Schuster distributes Andrews McMeel Publishing).”

Publishing Pros Band Together To Root Out Censorship by Sam Spratford from Publishers Weekly. Peek: “Publishing Professionals Against Book Bans (PPABB), a new resource-sharing community affiliated with Authors Against Book Bans (AABB) and geared toward industry professionals, will host its first virtual town hall on October 28. The event, titled ‘Book Bans and the Art of Protecting Authors,’ marks PPABB’s official launch….” Register for the event here.

Booksellers

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ BookStop is now open for members to design a custom promotional page to showcase their books and sell them directly to readers, parents, educators, and librarians. Bookstop will be open to the public to purchase books from Oct. 22 to Dec. 12.

Libraries

The 2025 AASL National Conference takes place Oct. 16 to Oct. 18 at the American Center-St. Louis Convention Center. The conference is dedicated to school librarians and their role in education. It will feature daily keynotes, concurrent sessions, author panels, and more. On Oct. 17, We Need Diverse Books will host a panel conversation with authors Soman Chainani and Ellen Oh about bringing literature to life for learners.

Baker & Taylor Prepares Plan To Shut Down by Jim Milliot from Publishers Weekly. Peek: “B&T let go about 520 employees…and plans to wind down the business by January….Details of the closure were released…through Illinois’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. After citing the failed acquisition by ReaderLink, the WARN report stated that ‘despite Baker & Taylor’s subsequent efforts, it was unsuccessful in seeking a path to continue its business operations.’”

LJ Movers & Shakers 2026. “The editors of Library Journal need your help in identifying emerging talents in the library world—both great leaders and behind-the-scenes contributors who are providing inspiration and model programs for others. Our 25th annual round of Movers & Shakers will profile up-and-coming individuals…who are innovative, creative, making a difference fighting against censorship, and helping improve their workplace.” Nominate here. The extended deadline is Oct. 17.

Marketing

Three Powerful Things Authors Can Do Now To Find Their Ideal Readers by Sandra Beckwith from Build Book Buzz. Peek: “1. Give your book a personality….[T]hink of your book as a person. What kind of personality would it have? 2. Do some detective work online. Go to your favorite search engine and type in your genre plus the word ‘demographics.’ 3. Create your imagined ideal reader….Think of this person as a character in a story.”

Education/Other Resources/Events

The free 2025 Texas Book Festival takes place Nov. 8 to Nov. 9 in downtown Austin, in and around the State Capitol. The festival lineup is featuring over 300 authors and illustrators of the year’s best books. Some of the many children’s/YA authors and illustrators include Cynthia Leitich Smith, Jerry Craft, Debbi Michiko Florence, Varian Johnson, Jerome Pumphrey, and Meg Medina.

Library Journal’s free virtual Day of Dialog Fall 2025 takes place Oct. 23 from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. pacific, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. central, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. eastern. “Spanning a variety of genres, this free, day-long program will offer an in-depth look at the biggest forthcoming books for fall/winter 2025. You’ll hear directly from top authors as they discuss their new titles, inspiration, process, and more.” Sessions will be available for on-demand viewing within 24 hours, and the entire event will be accessible for three months from the event date.

Penguin Random House, Library Journal, and School Library Journal present their free virtual Winter Book & Author Festival 2025. “Enjoy a day packed with author panels and interviews, virtual shelf browsing, audiobook discovery, and adding to your TBR pile. You’ll hear from many of your favorite authors, whose work runs the gamut from Picture Books to Young Adult titles to the best new Fiction and Nonfiction for adults.” The event takes place Dec. 4 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. pacific, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. central, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. eastern. Register here.

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ Winter Conference 2026 takes place Jan. 16 to Jan. 18 in-person in New York City. Registration opens Oct. 14. Highlights include keynotes (from Meg Medina, Tiffany D. Jackson and Jason Reynolds), industry panels, one-on-one manuscript/social media/portfolio) critiques, breakout sessions, a half-day intensive just for illustrators, the career-launching Portfolio Showcase, and more.

Join Library Journal and School Library Journal for LibraryCon Live! 2025 that celebrates “fandom, spotlighting genre fiction for adults and teens with panels devoted to comics and graphic novels, horror, sf/fantasy, and more.” This free virtual event takes place Nov. 6 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. pacific, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. central, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. eastern. Register here.

Children’s Book Week, a beloved program that continues to grow and adapt each year with new resources and ideas, takes place Nov. 3 to Nov. 9. Find free resources, public event listings, participation ideas and FAQs here.

Awards

Congratulations to the finalists of the 2025 CCBC Book Awards, which include the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, Sharon Fitzhenry Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction, Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, Amy Mathers Teen Book Award, Jean Little First-Novel Award, Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Richard Allen Chase Memorial Award. The awards ceremony will take place Oct. 27.

Congratulations to the finalists for the 2025 National Book Awards. The five finalists for Young People’s Literature are: A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff (Dial Books, 2025), The Leaving Room by Amber McBride (Feiwel and Friends, 2025), The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story by Daniel Nayeri (Levine Querido, 2025), Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr (Harry N. Abrams, 2025), and (S)Kin by Ibi Zoboi (Versify, 2025). Winners will be announced on Nov. 19.

Congratulations to the winners of the Waterstones’ 2025 Children’s Book Prize, which is awarded in the categories of Overall Winner, Illustrated Books, Older Readers and Younger Readers: The Cafe at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please (HarperCollins, 2024)(Overall Winner and Best Illustrated Book), Rune: The Tale of a Thousand Faces (Paperback) by Carlos Sanchez (Flying Eye Books, 2024)(Best Book for Young Readers), and King of Nothing (Paperback) by Nathanael Lessore (Hot Key Books, 2024)(Best Book for Young Readers).

Congratulations to the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Award Winners for the A. Orr Fantasy Grant (Perin Gürel for “Laleh and the Language of the Birds”), Ezra Jack Keats Prize (Madly Kim), and Volemos Grant (Melanie Wick Singer for “La Canción of Apartment C”).

Congratulations to the authors and illustrators whose books made the shortlists for the Goddard Riverside CBC Youth Book Prize for Social Justice and Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice. Goddard Riverside strives toward a fair and just society where all people can make choices that lead to better lives for themselves and their families.

Congratulations to the winners and honorees of the Massachusetts Center for the Book’s 25th Annual Massachusetts Book Awards. The Middle Grade/Young Adult Literature winner is Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear by Robin Wasley (Simon & Schuster BYR, 2024). The Picture Book/Early Reader winner is The Noisy Puddle by Linda Booth Sweeney, illustrated by Miki Sato (Owlkids Books, 2024).

Scholarships & Grants

We Need Diverse Books is now accepting applications for its Walter Dean Myers Grant. The grant program was established to provide grants of $2,000 each to promising diverse writers and illustrators who are currently unpublished. Since 2015, 70 grants have been awarded. Current and former grantees have now published more than 60 books for children and teens.

Penguin Random House, in partnership with We Need Diverse Books, is presenting Creative Writing Awards in the form of college scholarships of up to $10,000 each to six public U.S. high school seniors, nationwide. See Guidelines here. Apply here. The deadline to apply is Jan. 15, 2026 at 1 p.m. pacific, 3 p.m. central, 4 p.m. eastern, or once 1,000 applications have been received.

Submissions to the SCBWI Amber Brown Grant is open until Oct. 31. The grant “commemorates author and beloved school speaker Paula Danziger. One school is awarded each year with an author or illustrator visit and new books to continue Paula’s love of connecting children with creative influences.” Apply here.

The submission window for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ 2025 Narrative Art Award is open until Oct. 31. The award is “given annually to an illustrator who can tell a visual story, through sequential images, with great clarity and nuance.” The winner will receive an all-expense-paid trip to the SCBWI New York Winter Conference.

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ Impact and Legacy Fund has two awards open for submissions: The Russell Freedman Award for Nonfiction for a Better World is given to a work of nonfiction (children’s or YA book traditionally published in 2025) that contributes to our understanding of how to make our world and society better. Submission deadline is Nov. 1. The Encouragement Fund offers three no-strings attached yearly grants of $2,000 each to three children’s book authors, artists or translators who have traditionally published at least one book. Submission deadline is Nov. 15.

From This Cynsations Series

More Personally—Cynthia

Greetings, Cynsational readers! I hope you’re enjoying the autumn season. It’s been an exciting time here. I want to thank my hosts at Simmons Children’s Literature Institute in Boston and the National Indian Education Association in Spokane for including me in their wonderful events. I look forward to seeing more book lovers when I give the Shaw Lecture at the University of Washington in Seattle as well as at the Texas Book Festival in Austin and NCTE/ALAN in Denver.

LEGENDARY FRYBREAD DRIVE-IN (Heardrum, 2025) has received three starred reviews as well as glowing ones.

★ “…the perfect gateway to discovering the writing of noted authors…. Obvious thought and care went into the crafting and arranging of the stories, with expertly executed callbacks to previous entries. Superlative.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ “…award-winning authors and new voices use this liminal space in surprising and inventive ways…a microcosm of the interconnectedness of modern Indigenous life…terrific collection of entertaining stories—of laughter, music, delicious food, friendship, and romance—that will appeal to teen readers across age ranges, identities, and interests….. An essential purchase.” —Booklist, starred review

★ “As readers take in the stories, they will be transported time and time again to Sandy June’s, where the protagonists get more than just frybread. Each teen gets exactly what they need—and readers do too. Hand this collection to any reader who is looking for a place made for them; they will find it between these pages.” —School Library Journal, starred review

American Booksellers Association Indie Bestsellers List
Common Sense Selection for Teens
Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Kids’ Indie Next List
Publishers Weekly Holiday Gift Guide Recommendation

More Personally—Gayleen

I’m very excited about my current work-in-progress: YA nonfiction about cybersecurity, one of the topics I’ve been studying as part of my library science program. I’ve been busy with school and working at the library, but that makes my own writing even more rewarding.

Back in June I assisted with We Need Diverse Books Native Writing Intensive, and spent a little in-person time with my agent, Terrie Wolf and my agency sibling, Byron Graves.

More Personally—Suma

I’m thrilled to share that I’m going to be a PB mentor for the We Need Diverse Books Mentorship program for the year 2026. We Need Diverse Books opened the doors to publication for me back in 2017. Now I can’t wait to work with my mentee.

I’m also excited to share this lovely review from SLJ for V. Malar – Greatest Ranger Of All Time, illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan. This second book in the V. MALAR series will be published by Candlewick Press in January 2026. It is available to preorder wherever books are sold. And limited quantities of the book will also be available at my local bookstore, Brick & Mortar Books in Redmond, Washington if you preorder by November 7th, 2025. Here is the preorder link: V. Malar by Suma Subramaniam, Archana Sreenivasan | Brick and Mortar Books

More Personally—A.J.

It’s been a busy few months for me! I’m chasing around two babies and trying to work as much as possible. Writing is something of an outlet for me always, I’ve got so many ideas for poems or stories in the notes app on my phone.

In August I got to celebrate the release of the first anthology I’ve ever contributed to, Legendary Frybread Drive-In. The response has been lovely and I’m genuinely grateful for everything about the process. In November, the second anthology I’m a part of will release, Beyond the Glittering World from Torrey House Press. Both stories were fun and meant a lot to me in different ways!

I’ve been hard at work on my own manuscripts. My current focus has been revising an old fantasy project I’ve drafted off and on for years, before I dive into new edits of a middle grade manuscript that is (hopefully) almost finished.

More Personally—Mitu

Post my VCFA MFA I have been building my broader kid lit support community through Cynsations, CBIG, SCBWI and Highlights Foundation.

At Highlights, I have been a Retreat Assistant for several workshops. The last week in October I will be an RA for the Whole Novel Workshop run by Sarah Aronson, Rob Costello and Nora Shalaway Carpenter among others. I have learned and grown as a writer with all these experiences and look forward to this particular retreat!