Q&A with Rita Williams Garcia by Sue Corbett from Publishers Weekly. Peek: “I am a product of the Great Migration. My grandmother, my mother, and my father all came north from the south. We did not spend a lot of time home-going, but that didn’t stop me from imagining what it would be like.” See also Top 10 Historical Fiction for Youth 2015 from Booklist.
New Award for Historical Middle Grade Fiction or Nonfiction from SCBWI. Peek: “A new book award, The Grateful American™ Book Prize, has been established to honor children’s books of fiction and nonfiction that feature the events and the people that shaped the history of the U.S. The Prize was co-founded by author and publisher David Bruce Smith…”
The Troubling Debate of Autism as a Fad by Jessica Mulqueen from Disability in Kidlit. Peek: “The objections to literary critics complaining about autistic characters are obvious. Despite the increase in the number of portrayals, autism is still underrepresented and highly misunderstood. Such remarks are not only misleading, but discriminatory.”
2015-2016 Boston Public Library Children’s Writer-in-Residency Program from Children’s Book Council. Peek: “The Associates of the Boston Public Library is currently accepting applications for the 2015-2016 Children’s Writer-in-Residence fellowship program. The fellowship offers an emerging children’s author a $20,000 stipend and an office at the Boston Public Library to complete his or her work of fiction, nonfiction, dramatic writing, or poetry for young readers.”
Capstore Sponsors Residency for Children’s Authors and Illustrators by Claire Kirch from Publishers Weekly. Peek: “Beginning this summer, Capstone will select one artist annually to participate in a month-long residency at the Anderson Center in Red Wing, Minn. Fellows will be provided with room and board, as well as space in which to work.”
How We Talk (Or Don’t Talk) About Diversity When We Read With Our Kids by Matt de la Pena from Brightly. Peek: “We’re mixed kids. Half Mexican, half white. Back then you never found ‘mixed’ dolls, so my mom would opt for the ‘Latino’
doll, or, more commonly, the white doll. But here she was, staring down at three African American Cabbage Patch Kids.” See also The Color of Character from Nikki Grimes.
Writing Humor: The Lighter Side of Writing Is Heavy Stuff by Michael McDonagh from QueryTracker Blog. Peek: “Without an unexpected outcome or high degree of contrast between the situation and the actor’s response, there is no joke.”
Interview: Agent Tina Wexler by Lee Wind from I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? Peek: “More stories where the kids babysit or have a job at the DQ or struggle to complete their homework while putting dinner together because both parents (or the remaining parent) work outside the home, overworked, underpaid and put on wonky shifts that aren’t conducive to helping with homework or making a wholesome dinner (or any dinner) at night.”
Agent Heather Flaherty of the Bent Agency Defines Voice and Shares Her Wish List from Adventures in YA Publishing. Peek: ” So many famous authors actually wrote anywhere between four and seven books before getting nabbed.”
Fallacy: The Primer for Surprise by Ron Estrada from Writer Unboxed. Peek: “Story surprises happen not when a reader lacks important information that leads to the correct conclusion about story events, but rather when, through the abundance of misinformation, the reader is forced into wrong conclusions.”
Canadian Children’s Literature: Damaging to Black People? by Zetta Elliott from Media Diversified. Peek: “In 2011, I began to compile a bibliography on my blog and discovered that since 2000, on average, only three Black-authored books for children were published each year. And, in that time, of the nearly thirty middle grade or young adult novels featuring a Black protagonist, only two depict Black children living in contemporary Canada.”
Cynsational Screening Room
Vlog: Austin SCBWI Regional Conference (Day 2) by Ariane Felix from A Writer’s Life.
Cynsational Giveaways
The winner of Things I’ll Never Say: Stories About Our Secret Selves by Ann Angel (Candlewick, 2015) is Linda in Virginia.
The winners of How to Surprise a Dad by Jean Reagan, illustrated by Lee Wildish (Knopf, 2015) are Becky in Utah, Jane in South Dakota, Rachel in Arizona, Jacqui in Illinois and Vanessa in New Jersey.
This Week at Cynsations
- Cover Reveal: Golden Girl by Mari Mancusi
- Janet Lee Cary on Tips for Writing Fantasy
- Interview: Freelance Editor Francoise Bui
- Interview: Author Allison Estes & Illustrator Tracy Dockray on Izzy & Oscar
More Personally
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| Jerri Romine and Paige Britt perform a reader’s theater at last week’s launch of The Lost Track of Time (Scholastic, 2015). |
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| From Sara’s Sweets in Austin! |
Talking Craft, Diversity & Genre Hopping with Cynthia Leitich Smith from Joy Preble. Peek: “Choose yourself. Don’t wait for the publisher to promote your book to lead title. Don’t wait for your head to be graced with a crown or your slippers to be buried in laurels. Raise that chin and vow to do this…” Note: Thanks to all who shared this link. I’m honored by your support and enthusiasm.
The Bulletin of the Center of Children’s Books cheers Things I’ll Never Say: Stories About Our Secret Selves, edited by Ann Angel (Candlewick, 2015): “There are even two fantasies, one by Cynthia Leitich Smith about a guardian angel who has fallen in love with a human boy, and another by Katy Moran that owes much to the story of Bluebeard…. The secrets’ often mature content raises the moral question of whether a thing is secret because it’s shameful or shameful because it’s secret, making this a thought- provoking collection.”
Thank you to author-illustrator Shelley Ann Jackson for her first-rate service as assistant regional advisor of the Austin chapter of SCBWI. Most appreciated! Now P.J. Hoover takes over the mantle. Lucky us!
Personal Links
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| Behold my snapdragons! |
- Time-Lapse Dragonfly Metamorphosis
- Stop De-Valuing Femininity
- Orthorexia (I’m Probably Borderline)
- 7 Things About Children’s Publishing That You May Not Know
- YA Band Tiger Beat
- 80 Children’s-YA Agents on Twitter
- Round Rock (TX) Students Design Library of the Future
- Maya Angelou’s Stamp Features Quote That’s Not Hers
- Video: Muppets’ Bohemian Rhapsody
- Recall Sabra Classic Hummus
- “American Pie” Lyrics Sell for 1.2 Million
- Shelter Dogs in Photo Booth
- New Directors for “Avengers: Infinity War”
- Resurrected Bison Species Released into the Wild
- Creating the Sounds of “Star Wars”
- Lane Bryant’s “I’m No Angel” Campaign
- Here The Be Dragons: (Adorable) Tiny Lizard Species in Andes
- 12-Year-Old Takes on Video Game Industry
- Faberge-Inspired Easter Eggs Made Out of Cake
- NASA Scientist: Signs of Alien Life Within 10 Years
- Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons on Austin’s South Lamar
Cynsational Events
Cynthia will appear from April 14 to April 17 at the 2015 Annual Conference of the Texas Library Association in Austin.
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 and representatives from We Need Diverse Books for a panel and (free) writing workshop from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. May 12 at BookPeople in Austin. Register here.
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.
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| TLA Con Schedule & Latest News! |
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| See more info & RSVP! |
Jane in SD says, "Thank you, thank you!" for How to Surprise a Dad by Jean Reagan, illustrated by Lee Wildish (Knopf, 2015)!! I'm thrilled!