By N.H. Senzai
The reason I love writing for the middle grade audience is because at this age kids can still suspend belief and journey with you through a story as long as you create believable plots, authentic characters and dialogue that rings true.
However, you need to hook them in quickly,
By Traci Sorell
I love a good picture book biography and read so many in elementary school, especially those featuring women.
So when I learned Patricia Valdez’s debut picture book would feature the work of Joan Proctor, a zoologist researching amphibians in the early twentieth century, I knew there’d be a great story there.
Continue Reading New Voice: Patricia Valdez on Joan Proctor, Dragon Doctor »
By Traci Sorell
To say that I’m thrilled to feature Daria Peoples-Riley, fellow Epic Eighteen member, today on Cynsations is an understatement.
This Is It (Greenwillow, 2018), her debut picture book as an author-illustrator, follows a young girl of color getting ready for a ballet audition.
In this video from Reading Rockets, Rudine Sims Bishop, professor emerita from Ohio State University, speaks on Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Doors as metaphors for diversity in children’s-YA literature.
See also Rudine Sims Bishop: In Appreciation by Sam Bloom from Reading While White and Mirrors,
Continue Reading Video: Rudine Sims Bishop on Mirrors, Windows & Sliding Glass Doors »
Lean more about Cartoonist and Teacher Gene Luen Yang.
Welcome to Cynsations. We last spoke to Dean Mary Francoise Rockcastle about the Hamline MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults back in 2006.
When did you join the faculty? What appealed to you about teaching in a low-residency program?
Samantha Mabry is the author of All the Wind in the World (Algonguin Young Readers, 2017). It was longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. From the promotional copy:
Sarah Jac Crow and James Holt have fallen in love working in the endless fields that span a near-future,
Continue Reading Author Interview: Samantha Mabry on Being Unique & All the Wind in the World »
Nic Stone is the debut author of Dear Martin (Crown Books for Young Readers, 2017). From the promotional copy:
Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning debut.
Lisa Bunker is the debut author of Felix Yz (Viking, 2017). From the promotional copy:
“If it wasn’t for the fused-with-Zyx thing, I suppose I would just be normal—whatever that means.”
When Felix Yz was three years old, a hyperintelligent fourth-dimensional being became fused inside him after one of his father’s science experiments went terribly wrong.
Before becoming a translator, I wrote historical fiction set in part in Chile, a country I knew from working with exiles who had fled the Pinochet dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s as well as with musicians inside the country who were working underground to restore democracy.
In addition to my knowledge gained from personal relationships and spending time in Chile, Continue Reading Guest Post: Lyn Miller-Lachmann on Literature in Translation as Empowering Own Voices »
Earlier this week the Oklahoma Center for the Book announced Tim Tingle as the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award winner for 2018.
The award honoring a body of work contributing to Oklahoma’s literary heritage, was named for Oklahoma historian Arrell Gibson, who served as the first president of the Oklahoma Center for the Book.
Continue Reading Tim Tingle Named 2018 Recipient of Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award »
