By Kekla Magoon
“In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute,” wrote Thurgood Marshall, in one of the landmark cases he presided over as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. Indeed, Justice Marshall spent most of his life working to ensure recognition of the humanity of all people within his nation’s laws.
Happy New Year and welcome back to Cynsations!
We love bringing you upbeat and useful information and inspiration about the children’s-YA literature community, writing, illustration, and publishing. And we are particularly excited about what we have lined up for you in the coming months.
As always,
Happy Holidays, Cynsational readers!
Effective immediately, this blog is on hiatus. We’ll return after the ALA Midwinter Conference with more inspiration, insights, and information on children’s-YA writing, illustration, literature and publishing. In the meantime, you’re welcome keep up on all those topics with me on Facebook,
By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabukukk, Stephani Eaton, Suma Subramaniam, and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations
Spotlight Image: Ten Ways to Hear Snow by Cathy Camper, illustrated by Kenard Pak (Kokila, 2020).
Author/Illustrator Insights
Interview With Debut Author Saira Mir by Lindsay Ward from Critter Lit: Peek: “I tap into the things that bring me joy: science,
By Kim Rogers
Tashia Hart is an award-winning Anishinaabe author and illustrator. Her debut middle grade novel, Gidjie and the Wolves (Not Too Far Removed Press, 2020) is a 2020 Moonbeam Children’s Book Award Gold Medal Winner. Congrats, Tashia and welcome to Cynsations!
From the promotional copy: “Gidjie,
Continue Reading Native Voices: Tashia Hart on Gidjie and the Wolves »
I’m excited to welcome author Kristin L. Gray to Cynsations today. Her latest middle-grade novel The Amelia Six (Paula Wiseman, 2020) has been hailed by Kirkus Reviews as “A cozy whodunit that cheerfully affirms girls’ and women’s contributions to aerospace.” In the above photo,
Continue Reading Author Interview: Kristin L. Gray on the Uniqueness of Your Story »
Today I’m pleased to introduce Cynsations readers to Hollis Kurman, whose debut picture book, Counting Kindness: Ten Ways to Welcome Refugee Children, illustrated by Barroux (Charlesbridge, 2020), has been released in six countries so far this year, with two more countries planned for 2021.
Continue Reading Author Interview: Hollis Kurman Highlights Human Rights in Her New Picture Book »
Image above: “Sunlight through storm clouds 2” by Holaday98 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Following the publication of my picture book When A Kid Like Me Fights Cancer, illustrated by Angel Chang (Albert Whitman & Co., 2019), a reviewer stated something that struck a chord.
Thank you for being a Cynsations reader!
Effective immediately, this blog is on hiatus for the week. We’ll return Nov. 30 with more inspiration, insights and information on children’s-YA writing, illustration, literature and publishing.
In the meantime, keep up on all those topics with Cynthia Leitich Smith on Facebook,
By Erik Talkin
I had been the talented “nearly” man for a while, with a middle-grade that was purchased by a mid-level publisher that promptly decided to get out of the MG market before the book was published.
This was followed by a novel that went to the final stages of acquisition with a major publisher,
Continue Reading Guest Post: Erik Talkin on Finding the Book You Are Uniquely Qualified to Write »