Author Pooja Makhijani has a new anthology out, Under Her Skin: How Girls Experience Race In America (Seal Press, December 2004), which is described as “essays by women that explore through a child’s lens the sometimes savage, sometimes innocent, and always complex ways in which race shapes American lives and families.” Though published for adults, this volume may be well suited to teen readers as well; read the introduction to find out more.

Also be on the look-out for Pooja’s upcoming picture book, Mama’s Saris (Little Brown, 2006).

In other news, I’m sending out get-well wishes today to Julie Lake, Austin SCBWI RA and author of Galveston’s Summer of the Storm. Her site offers a cute article on “Getting Published” and another on research, “Digging Up The Facts.”

And I’d like to offer congratulations to author Ann S. Manheimer, who writes with news that her book Martin Luther King, Jr.: Dreaming Of Equality (Carolrhoda, 2004) was recently selected as a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People for 2005 by the NCSS and CBC.

Additional folks I’ve heard from lately: author Kathi Appelt (welcome home!), Rosemary Brosnan (my Harper editor), author/illustrator Katie Davis (whom I’m sure had great fun at Kindling Words), Lisa Firke (my valiant Web designer), mentee Debbi Michiko Florence, uber librarian Sharron L. McElmeel, and National Book Award winning novelist Kimberly Willis Holt (who has some picture books forthcoming). Speaking of Kimberly, you can visit the “When Zachary Beaver Came To Town” movie site (note: only works if you have “Flash”).