Happy Birthday: Hiromi Goto

Hiromi Goto's -WWOC, She is one of the few author's that list her year of birth. Our gift to the author is a look back on what people have said about her YA debut Half World

Bernie Goedhart's review
Canadian illustrator Jillian Tamaki’s spectacular cover art first drew me to Half World. Neil Gaiman’s testimonial on the front cover prompted me to open the book and start reading.

I’m glad I did.

Author Hiromi Goto, born in Japan and now living in Burnaby, B.C., has created a story that is complex, unsettling (sometimes downright stomach-churning), thought-provoking and not an easy read. For those who stay with it, however, the results are rewarding.

Zetta Elliott
Have you ever stopped reading a book because you couldn’t bear for it to end? That was my experience reading Hiromi Goto‘s Half World. I was on the train and I was totally absorbed in the narrative—would Melanie make it across the bridge of crows? Would she find the nerve to bite off the baby’s finger to pay the toll and open the portal? This book is intense—yet it’s also funny at times, and poignant at others.

Hiromi, I am very happy Ari introduced you and your work to Color Online. On behalf of everyone at CO - Happy Birthday and Happy New Year

Happy Birthday :Jennifer Cervantes

Jennifer Cervantes did WWOC, that's how I know today is her birthday. Our gift to the author, a look back at what people have said about her wonderful middle grade debut Sun Torilla.

Mother Daughter Book Club review
Tortilla Sun had me longing to see the Sandia Mountains, feel the warmth of the sun and hear the call of the wind. New Mexico comes as vividly alive as the bright colors worn by many of its people. This book is recommended for ages 9 to 12, but I think girls up to 14 or 15 may enjoy it too. And the moms are likely to be delighted by Izzy’s journey of self-discovery. Issues to discuss include family heritage, ethnic traditions, dealing with grief and finding acceptance.

Lyn Miller-Lachmann's review @ Readergirlz
"Cervantes’s debut novel reveals the rich fabric of the community and a spunky and appealing protagonist. Izzy’s energy and impatience ring true, as well as her feeling of being out of sync with the village at first. The same feeling of being at odds with her surroundings helped to drive away Izzy’s mother, but the youngster’s desire to connect with her past bonds her to people with whom she otherwise has little in common. Cervantes uses elements of magic realism as markers of the characters’ emotional transformation in a way that is subtle and natural. Most compelling, though, is the connection between the athletic, tomboyish Izzy to the father she never knew, a promising baseball player until the tragedy that took his life."

Pamela Kramer's reveiw @ Examiner
Some books grab you like a locomotive and you cling on for your life as the story roars down the track--and you can't let go. Other books, like Tortilla Sun, are like a cup of cocoa on a cool evening--to be sipped slowly while enjoying the fragrant aroma and sweet taste.

Sun Tortilla was one of my favorite debuts of the year. On behalf of everyone at Color Online, Enjoy your day and have a very Happy New Year. And more stories please.

Feliz Cumpleanos

Vote, Sins of the Mother - for Lifetime Movie of the Year

Lifetime is having a contest to name the favorite movies on their networks for 2010.
One of the movies under consideration is Sins of the Mother which is based of author Carleen Brice's debut novel Orange Mint Honey. (loved it)

Sins of the Mother, starring Jill Scott, was the second highest rated and second most watched original movie in history of Lifetime Movie network

So far the movie has only ganerned 8% of the vote. I would love to see more female authors of color have their novels turned into Lifetime Movies. So please head on over to LMN and vote for Sins of the Mother . Its quick and easy. Nothing to fill out. No user name required.
Simply click and vote

Women Writers of Color - Thank You (Til Next Year)

One of my favorite Color Online features is Women Writers of Color (WWOC). This interview feature is only possible because authors are willing to give a little of their time.

Authors are busy, and can't say yes to every request, nor should they. So it truly means a lot when they say, yes to Color Online.

On behalf of all the contributors to Color Online, thank you to all the author's who participated in WWOC this year.

Kelly Starling Lyons
Stephanie Rose Bird
Dorina Lazo Gilmore
Neesha Meminger
Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
Dia Reeves
Kyra Davis
Alaya Johnson
Lola Shoneyin
Ernessa T. Carter
Carolina de Robertis
Jennifer Cervantes
Cindy Pon
Renee Watson
Caridad Ferrer
Monica Brown
Cynthia Leitich Smith
Danielle Evans
Mitali Perkins
Paula Yoo
Hiromi Goto

By themselves the interviews are nice but letting people know about them is even better. Thank you to anyone who has ever commented on, tweeted or told a friend about WWOC. Making sure that female authors of color are not overlooked is a group effort.

WWOC will be back next year. For now please enjoy some great ones from 2010 and continue to spread the word.

Last 2010 New Crayons

Hosted by us in which we share what books we got this week that have are by/about poc.

We sincerely hope you all had a fantabulous Christmas (if you celebrate) and continue to have a stupendous holiday season :)





Vasilly got

The Elephant's Journey by Jose Saramago

In 1551, King João III of Portugal gave Archduke Maximilian an unusual wedding present: an elephant named Solomon. The elephant’s journey from Lisbon to Vienna was witnessed and remarked upon by scholars, historians, and ordinary people. Out of this material, José Saramago has spun a novel already heralded as “a triumph of language, imagination, and humor” (El País).

Solomon and his keeper, Subhro, begin in dismal conditions, forgotten in a corner of the palace grounds. When it occurs to the king and queen that an elephant would be an appropriate wedding gift, everyone rushes to get them ready: Subhro is given two new suits of clothes and Solomon a long overdue scrub.

Accompanied by the Archduke, his new wife, and the royal guard, our unlikely heroes traverse a continent riven by the Reformation and civil wars. They make their way through the storied cities of northern Italy: Genoa, Piacenza, Mantua, Verona, Venice, and Trento, where the Council of Trent is in session. They brave the Alps and the terrifying Isarco and Brenner Passes; they sail across the Mediterranean Sea and up the Inn River (elephants, it turns out, are natural sailors). At last they make their grand entry into the imperial city. The Elephant’s Journey is a delightful, witty tale of friendship and adventure .

The Turquoise Ledge: A Memoir by Lesile Marmon Silko

Leslie Marmon Silko's new book, her first in ten years, combines memoir with family history and reflections on the creatures and beings that command her attention and inform her vision of the world, taking readers along on her daily walks through the arroyos and ledges of the Sonoran desert in Arizona. Silko weaves tales from her family's past into her observations, using the turquoise stones she finds on the walks to unite the strands of her stories, while the beauty and symbolism of the landscape around her, and of the snakes, birds, dogs, and other animals that share her life and form part of her family, figure prominently in her memories. Strongly influenced by Native American storytelling traditions, The Turquoise Ledge becomes a moving and deeply personal contemplation of the enormous spiritual power of the natural world-of what these creatures and landscapes can communicate to us, and how they are all linked.

Doret

Jazz in Love by Neesha Meminger

Release Date: January 10, 2011 (but it's already available to buy)

Jasbir, a.k.a. Jazz, has always been a stellar student and an obedient, albeit wise-cracking, daughter. Everything has gone along just fine--she has good friends in the "genius" program she's been in since kindergarten, her teachers and principal adore her, and her parents dote on her. But now, in her junior year of high school, her mother hears that Jazz was seen hugging a boy on the street and goes ballistic. Mom immediately implements the Guided Dating Plan, which includes setting up blind dates with "suitable," pre-screened Indian candidates. The boy her mother sets her up with, however, is not at all what anyone expects; and the new boy at school, the very UNsuitable hottie, is the one who sets Jazz's blood boiling. When Jazz makes a few out-of-the-ordinary decisions, everything explodes, and she realizes she'll need a lot more than her genius education to get out of the huge mess she's in. Can Jazz find a way to follow her own heart, and still stay in the good graces of her parents?

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chaing

Collected here for the first time, Ted Chiang's award-winning stories--recipients of the Nebula, Sturgeon, Campbell, and Asimov awards--offer a feast of science, speculation, humanity, and lyricism. Standouts include "Tower of Babylon," in which a miner ascends the fabled tower in order to break through the vault of heaven; "Division by Zero," a precise and heartbreaking examination of the disintegration of hope and love; and "Story of Your Life," in which a linguist learns an alien language that reshapes her view of the world. Chiang has the gift that lies at the heart of good science fiction: a human story, beautifully told, in which the science is an expression of the deeper issues that the characters must confront. Full of remarkable ideas and unforgettable moments, Stories of Your Life and Others is highly recommended.

-A gift from Heather as part of the Reading in Color Holiday Book Exchange. Thank you Heather for this and the Reese's pieces :)

Happy Holidays! Feliz Navidad! Happy Hanukkah!

Happy holidays from our family to yours!

We so appreciate all the love and support you've given us :D

May you get absolutely everything you want and be happy.

I wish you all lots of wonderful books, preferably by our fabulous authors of color! Come back here and tell us what you got.


Image

Holiday Color Me Brown

These links might not necessarily be holiday-related but I tried to keep it postive and include a giveaway :) As the end of the year appraooches faster and faster, I've started to notice quite a few posts from bloggers vowing to diversify their reading. I don't want to showcase those, at least, not this week.

Color Me Brown is a weekly link round-up of fascinating links we collect around the blogsphere. Include your own in the comments.

White Readers Meet Black Authors is having a massive giveaway, lots to choose from, lots of opportunties to win. Ends December 28th. Here's a taste

There's something here for everybody! Literary, fantasy, thriller, Christian, romance, you name it! Check out this list of award-winners, best-sellers and sleeper-gems

Don’t Blame the Devil by Pat G’orge Walker (Christian fiction)

First of State by Robert Greer (mystery)

Glorious by Bernice McFadden (Literary)

Huddle With Me Tonight by Farrah Rochon (Romance)

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Fantasy)

Bloomsbury Children has two 2010 accurate covers with Black faces

Now when I think of Bloomsbury Childrens my memory is linked to these very good stories, that are far from more of the same. I will never forget the cover controversies but I more than willing to move forward. Earlier in the year, I gave much space to the cover malfunctions. So it only seems fair to acknowledge Bloomsbury's move in the right direction. Well Done

A reminder for people to sign up for the Quirky Brown Reading Challenge 2011

This challenge was inspired by a blog post on New Model Minority. The post talked about the hyper-marginalization of Black fiction and included a short but intriguing list of books. That list, or at least the authors on it, were begging to be part of a reading challenge. So, I bring you the Quirky Brown Reading Challenge. This challenge is more than about finishing a certain number of books, but about challenging the overly subscribed to depictions of the so-called “Black experience”. I hope participants also discover some of our lesser known contributions to American literature

We are in steampunk! We still have a long way to go but here's a few titles to get you started

First, from Tor.com's recent Steampunk Fortnight, it's "Clockwork Fairies" by Cat Rambo, and while it does operate solely within the confines of traditional Victoriana, it has a happy little twist at the end. And here's a hopeful tale from steampunk Malaysia -- from Crossed Genres. It's called "The Last Rickshaw", by Stephanie Lai. Finally, Jaymee Goh imagines a world that never knew the East India Company, or the British Empire (Oh, what a different world that would be) in "Between Islands" from Expanded Horizons. Enjoy the awesome

A diverse group of GLBT teens save the world

Time Travel.

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Teen Heroes.

Saving the World

2011 YA/MG POC Releases

I've compiled a list of all the 2011 U.S. YA/MG books coming out about people of color that I could find. I tried to go for some kind of order but gave up after awhile :p

A * denotes an author of color

Maybe next week I'll compile a list of adult fiction....


1. All the Wrong Moves by Nikki Carter* (January 1, 2011. YA)

2. The Star Maker by Laurence Yep* (January 1, 2011. MG)

3. The Latte Rebellion by Sarah Jamila Stevenson* (January 1, 2011. YA)

4. Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy (January 1, 2011. MG)

5. Famous by Simone Bryant* (January 1, 2011. YA)

6. Love, Inc by Yvonne Collins & Sally Rideout (January 4, 2011. YA)

7. The Trouble With Half a Moon by Danette Vigilante* (January 6, 2011. MG)

8. Across the Universe by Beth Revis (January 8, 2011. YA)

9. Camo Girl by Kekla Magoon* (January 4, 2011.)

10. Joseph's Grace by Sheila Moses* (January 4, 2011. YA)


11. The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang* (January 1, 2011. MG)

12. Eliza's Freedom Road by Jerdine Nolen* (January 4, 2011. MG)

13. Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves* (January 4, 2011. YA)

14. Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream by Jenny Han* (January 4, 2011. MG)

15. Freedom's Stone by Jeffrey Kluger (January 6, 2011)

16. Jazz in Love by Neesha Meminger* (January 10, 2011. YA)

17. Daughter of Xanadu by Dori Jones Yang (January 11, 2011)

18. Tiger's Curse (Tiger Saga #1) by Colleen Houck (January 11, 2011. YA)

19. The Dark Goddess (A Devil's Kiss Novel) by Sarwat Chadda* (January 25, 2011. YA)

20. Drama High: The Meltdown by L. Divine* (January 25, 2011)

21. Bayou, Volume 2 by Jeremy Love (January 25, 2011).

22. Sequins, Secrets and Silver Linings by Sophia Bennett (January 2011)

23 .Mystify (Mystyx #2) by Artist Arthur* (February 1, 2011. YA)

24. Confessions of a Cyborg by Patricia C. McKissack (February 1, 2011. MG)

25. Consumed (Possessed #2) by Kate Cann (February 1, 2011)

26. Kick by Walter Dean Myers & Ross Workman (February 1, 2011. MG)

27. Young Samurai: The Way of the Dragon (Young Samurai #3) by Chris Bradford (February 1, 2011. MG)

28. Glitz by Philana Marie Boles* (February 3, 2011. YA)

29. Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith* (February 8, 2011. YA)

30. Samurai Kids #2: Owl Ninja by Sandy Fussell (February 8, 2011)

31. Orchards by Holly Thompson (February 22, 2011)

32. How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy by Crystal Allen* (February 22, 2011. MG)

33. Tall Story by Candy Gourlay* (February 8, 2011. MG).

34. Pick-Up Game: A Full Day of Full Court, edited by Marc Aronson and Charles R. Smith Jr.* (February 8, 2011. YA)

35. Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai *(February 22, 2011. MG)

36. SkateFate by Juan Felipe Herrera* (February 22, 2011)

37. Subway Girl by P.J. Converse (March 1, 2011. YA)

38. Upgrade U by Ni-Ni Simone* (March 1, 2011. YA)

39. The Queen of Water by Maria Virginia Farinango* & Laura Resau (March 8, 2011. MG)

40. Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck by Margarita Engle* (March 15, 2011. YA)

41. The Atomic Weight of Secrets or The Arrival of the Mysterious Men in Black by Eden Unger Bowditch (March 15, 2011. MG)

42. What Can't Wait by Ashley Hope Perez* (March 28, 2011.YA)

43. I Am J by Cris Beam (March 1, 2011. YA)

44. Karma by Cathy Ostlere (March 31, 2011. YA)

45. Illegal by Bettina Restrepo* (March 8, 2011. YA)

46. Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones (March 8, 2011. YA)

47. Fury of the Phoenix by Cindy Pon* (March 29, 2011. YA)

48. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor* (April 1, 2011. YA)

49. Where I Belong by Gillian Cross (April 1, 2011. YA)

50. This Thing Called the Future by J.L. Powers (April 1, 2011. YA)

51. Getting Played by Celeste O. Norfleet (April 1, 2011). YA

52. Huntress by Malinda Lo* (April 5, 2011. YA)

53. The Anti-Prom by Abby McDonald (April 12, 2011. YA)

54. Bird in a Box by Andrea Pinkney*, illustrated by Sean Qualls (April 12, 2011. YA)

55. Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace (April 14, 2011. YA)

56. Boyfriends with Girlfriends by Alex Sanchez* (April 19, 2011. YA)

57. Carmen by Walter Dean Myers *(April 26, 2011. YA)

58. The Break-Up Diaries by Ni-Ni Simone* (April 26, 2011. YA)

59. You Don't Have a Clue: Latino Mysteries for Teens edited by Sarah Cortez* (April 28, 2011. YA)

60. The Throne of Fire (Kane Chronicles #2) by Rick Riordan (May 3, 2011)

61. Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall* (May 2011. MG)

62. How Tia Lola Came to Stay by Julia Alvarez (May 10, 2011. MG)

63. Amigas: A Formal Affair by Veronica Chambers *(May 10, 2011. MG/YA)

64. Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles (May 24, 2011. YA)

65. If I Could Fly by Judith Ortiz Cofer* (May 24, 2011. YA)

66. So So Hood (Drama High) by L. Divine* (June 1, 2011. YA)

67. Doing My Own Thing by Nikki Carter* (June 28, 2011. YA)

68. The Detention Club by David Yoo* (July 1, 2011. YA)

69. Now is the Time for Running by Michael Williams (July 5, 2011. YA)


70. Luminous by Dawn Metcalf (July 7th, 2011. YA)

71. The Bestest Ramadan Ever by Medeia Sharif* (July 8th, 2011. YA)

72. Stolen Girl/Girl on Fire by Yxta Maya Murray* (July 7, 2011. YA)

73. Silhouetted by the Blue by Traci L. Jones* (July 9, 2011)

74. Sister Mischief by Laura Goode (July 12, 2011. YA)

75. Sylvia & Aki by Winifred Conkling (July 12, 2011. MG)

76. Dreams of Significant Girls by Cristina Garcia* (July 12, 2011. YA)

77. Mayhem (Mystyx #3) by Artist Arthur* (July 19, 2011. YA)

78. Wildefire by Karsten Knight (July 26, 2011. YA)

79. Boyfriend Season by Kelli London (July 26, 2011. YA)

80. Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy by Bil Wright (July 26, 2011. YA)

81. Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott (July 2011. YA)

82. Stir It Up! by Ramin Ganeshram (August 1, 2011. MG)

83. Misfit by Jon Skovron (August 1, 2011. YA)

84. Checkmate (Cruisers #2. August 1, 2011-MG)

85. Island's End by Padma Venkatraman* (August 4, 2011. YA)

86. Vanished by Sheela Chari* (August 9, 2011. MG)

87. Ghetto Cowby by G. Neri* (August 9, 2011. YA)

88. Shaolin Tiger (Samurai Kids #3) by Sandy Fussell. (August 9, 2011. MG)

89. Possess by Getchen McNeil (August 23, 2011.YA)

90. Bronxwood by Coe Booth* (September 1, 2011).

91. Chasing the Nightbird by Krista Russell (September 1, 2011. MG)

92. Saint Louie Armstrong Beach by Brenda Woods (September 1, 2011. MG)

93. My Own Worst Frenmeny (Chanti on the Case #1) by Kimberly Reid (August 30 2011)

94. No Ordinary Day by Deborah Ellis (MG. September 13, 2011)

95. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu (September 27, 2011. MG)

96. Wolf Mark by Joseph Bruchac* (September 2011)

97.Tankborn by Karen Sandler (September 2011)

98. Galaxy Games by Greg Fishbone (September 2011).

99. Fox and the Phoenix (Long City, #1) by Beth Bernobich (October 13, 2011)

100. Legend (Legend #1) by Marie Lu* (November 29, 2011)

101. Return to Me by Justina Chen Headley* (Fall 2011)

102. Circus Galacticus by Deva Fagan (November 14, 2011)

Tell me what I missed! I'd love to be able to have at least 100 upcoming YA/MG releases....Well ok not 100. How about 50? Not too small. There were 58 books last year published by African American authors alone in YA/MG so this year I'm hoping for at least 70. Yes, I'm dreaming big! Also let me know if I mixed up release dates/if I missed out on the fact that an author is a poc, etc.

December 28, 2010 releases (could go either way as a 2010 release or 2011)

1. Bitter Melon by Cara Chow*

2. Teenie by Christopher Grant*

3. Something Like Hope by Shawn Goodman

4. The Storm Before Atlanta by Karen Schwabach

5. Tutored by Allison Whitenberg


Image-Harvard Law Blog

She's Not The Only One (Female Authors of Color Support One Another)

I am always amazed and impressed by female authors of color willingness to support one another.

At her blog, illustrator Yuyi Morales recommends five great book and other gift pairings. None of the titles are illustrated by Morales. When I saw that, I was like wow, how unselfish is that. I don't think anyone would fault Morales for suggesting one of her own titles, since she has a great body of work and bilingual titles were greatly impacted by the drop in overall book sales.

Yet here is a female artist of color who is giving space to others and she's not the only one.

Author Neesha Meminger second young adult novel, Jazz in Love which was recently released was self published. In a recent blog entry Meminger mentions author L.A. Banks new YA novel Shadow Walker which is also self published.

If there was ever a time for an author to be selfish its when self publishing. Yet, Meminger still made space for another female author of color.

She's not the only one.

Author Carleen Brice, debut novel Orange Mint and Honey (loved it) was published in 2008. She published her second Children of the Waters in 2009. With just two novels, Brice is still relatively new. So no one would blame Brice for promoting her own books. Yet, she still found the time to start White Readers Meet Black Authors, a blog dedicated to promoting African American authors.

Authors Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo started Diversity in YA when they realized they both had Asian inspired YA novels coming out around the same time in 2011

Earlier this year, Malinda Lo and I discovered that we’ll both have Asian-inspired young adult fantasies releasing around the same time in April 2011 (Malinda’s Huntress and my Fury of the Phoenix). We decided this was a wonderful excuse to have a celebration!
After lots of brainstorming, we decided that we would join forces to do a four-city tour in May 2011.

"Lo vs Pon, who will sell more?" Could've easily happened, since for some unknown reason there are never too many similar themed novels with White protagonists but let a story feature characters of color and sometimes two is one too many.

When authors recommend titles other then their own, they run the risk of making readers decide - "Who should I read next?" This is especially true for female authors of color, whose stories don't get the respect or recognition they deserve.

Even though the publishing industry is set up in such a way that female authors could easily being fighting for the little space that is garnered for their stories, there's more of a lets work together attitude.

I know there are more stories of Female authors of Color supporting one another. Please share any you know of and lets see how big

She's not the only one, can get.

New Crayons

New multicultural (is there a better word for this?) books you got this week. Do tell.

Ari

Bitter Melon by Cara Chow

Release Date: December 28, 2o10

Frances, a Chinese-American student at an academically competitive school in San Francisco, has always had it drilled into her to be obedient to her mother and to be a straight-A student so that she can go to Med school. But is being a doctor what she wants? It has never even occurred to Frances to question her own feelings and desires until she accidentally winds up in speech class and finds herself with a hidden talent. Does she dare to challenge the mother who has sacrificed everything for her? Set in the 1980s .

Milagros: Girl from Away by Meg Medina

Milagros de le Torre hasn’t had an easy life: ever since her father sailed away with pirates she’s been teased at school and there’s the constant struggle for her family to make ends meet. Still, Milagros loves her small island in the Caribbean, and she finds comfort in those who recognize her special gifts. But everything changes when marauders destroy Milagros’s island and with it, most of the inhabitants. Milagros manages to escape in a rowboat where she drifts out to sea with no direction, save for the mysterious manta rays that guide her to land. In stunning prose,Meg Medina creates a fantastical world in which a young girl uncovers the true meaning of family, the significance of identity, and, most important, the power of a mother’s love.

Doret

Vida by Patricia Engel

Fresh, accomplished, and fearless, Vida marks the debut of Patricia Engel, a young author of immense talent and promise. Vida follows a single narrator, Sabina, as she navigates her shifting identity as a daughter of the Colombian diaspora and struggles to find her place within and beyond the net of her strong, protective, but embattled family.

In “Lucho,” Sabina’s family—already “foreigners in a town of blancos”—is shunned by the community when a relative commits an unspeakable act of violence, but she is in turn befriended by the town bad boy who has a secret of his own; in “Desaliento,” Sabina surrounds herself with other young drifters who spend their time looking for love and then fleeing from it—until reality catches up with one of them; and in “Vida,” the urgency of Sabina’s self-imposed exile in Miami fades when she meets an enigmatic Colombian woman with a tragic past.

Patricia Engel maps landscapes both actual and interior in this stunning debut, and the constant throughout is Sabina—serious, witty, alternately cautious and reckless, open to transformation yet skeptical of its lasting power. Infused by a hard-won, edgy wisdom, Vida introducesa sensational new literary voice.

The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang

Release Date: Janurary 1, 2011

In this humorous and heartfelt debut about a split cultural identity, nothing goes according to plan for sixth-grader Lucy Wu.
Lucy Wu, aspiring basketball star and interior designer, is on the verge of having the best year of her life. She's ready to rule the school as a sixth grader and take over the bedroom she has always shared with her sister. In an instant, though, her plans are shattered when she finds out that Yi Po, her beloved grandmother's sister, is coming to visit for several months -- and is staying in Lucy's room. Lucy's vision of a perfect year begins to crumble, and in its place come an unwelcome roommate, foiled birthday plans, and Chinese school with the awful Talent Chang.

Her plans are ruined -- or are they? Like the Chinese saying goes: Events that appear to be good or bad luck often turn out to be quite the opposite, and Lucy finds that while she may not get the "perfect" year she had in mind, she can create something even better.

WWOC: Hiromi Goto

Name: Hiromi Goto.

I was born December 31, 1966 in Japan.

My website: http://hiromigoto.com and my blog is at: http://hiromigoto.com/blog

Genre: I'm rather genre fluid although my writing would fall under speculative. I write for both adult and youth audiences. My writing for youth tend to fall under fantasy, and my adult fiction falls into the mixed waters of slipstream. I also write some poetry and nonfiction.... I like to go to wherever my interests lead me rather than be locked in one specific genre.

WiP: I'm currently at work on Darkness, a companion novel to Half World, which was my latest work of fiction published with Viking USA in 2010.

Writing Credits: I've published three books for adults; Chorus of Mushrooms, The Kappa Child, and Hopeful Monsters. My novels for children/youth are The Water of Possibility, and Half World. My short stories have also be anthologized; some of them can be found in The Faery Reel and The Beastly Bride; Tales of the Animal People, as well as in journals like Ms Magazine and Nature.

How frequently do you update your site? I update my website whenever there's a note-worthy event. I try to blog regularly-- once a week, on various topics that can touch upon the writing life(s), gender, genre, writing strategies, the odd rant about a film, suggested book titles, nature outings, etc! Folks can comment on the blog posts and I try my best to respond.

Post of Note: I blogged about Bad Voice on December 6, 2010. Bad Voice is a debilitating force in almost everyone's life, and it certainly affects me as a writer. I'd love it if folks read that post and dropped me a note on their own experiences with Bad Voice.

Your YA fantasy debut, Half World has no romance in it. Were you anxious at all about how it would be received since it would seem that YA needs a little romance?

Half World, a YA crossover novel, is a fantasy narrative about a teenaged girl who is searching for her mother. Romance doesn't figure in this story, and I question why we think that if there is no romance in a fantasy narrative, that something is missing. Why must it be there in the first place? Now, I understand that there are conventions of a genre, and genre expectations-- but I approach my own writing projects as both a writer and a reader. When I'm reading, I'm hoping for a story to take me to an unexpected place. I don't want to go to the same places over and over again. So, I guess I'm trying to appeal to the readers who like to go off the beaten track. I wasn't anxious that excluding romance in Half World would have a profoundly negative impact upon reception. I consider writing to be a political act as well as a creative one, and it's important to me that content, in even subtle and small ways, disrupt and/or question the normative. Depictions of (mostly heterosexual) romantic love completely colonize popular culture narratives. Isn't there enough already? I don't want any chicken mcnuggets!

How did you come up with the idea of the Half World, the realm of Flesh and the Realm of Spirit? Three very different and creative worlds?

The concept of the Three Realms was developed out of various world mythologies and religious beliefs of our life on earth, and the afterlife. I was also influenced by Bosch's famous triptych, The Garden of Earthly Delights, as well as Frida Kahlo's numerous self-portraits. I was also trying to puzzle out the cyclical nature of suffering in our lives. The broader questions of existance-- why do humans continue to cause suffering? Why can't we stop killing? Something is wrong, here.... What is it? A lot of my stories come out of posing questions.

Top Five Reads for 2011:

Pulse, by Lydia Kwa, Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing by Betsy Warland, Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugresic, Tropic of Orange by Karen Tei Yamashita, Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead.

100 words or less how would you describe your work?

I'd describe my writing as edgy, vivid, feminist, racialized, queer-positive. Half World is fantasy bordering sometimes upon the horrific, but my writing can also be cheeky and humorous. Particularly my novels for adults. If writers were to be compared to animals, to herbivores and carnivores, than I'm an omnivore. I'm a crow of a writer. Or a raccoon....

100 words or less please share your thoughts on being a woman writer of color.

I'm a woman of colour writing out of North America. I'm an immigrant living on colonized land. This awareness effects, absolutely, how I write, because I'm not writing out of a historical vacuum. In literary historical terms, the writings of women of colour and indigenous women has not been widely published in North America for so very long. I'm talking about air time. It's been dominated by white male writers, and when I look at the winners of major literary prizes, it still veers toward them. This tells me something about long-term systemic racism and sexism. I believe that it's still vital and necessary, for the good of all, that diverse and politicized women of colour and indigenous women writers continue to roar, take up space, and challenge the normative. That readers need, and are hungry for, diverse stories. Sometimes our bodies and minds are starving for other stories, but we do not know it, because we are full-up on Wonderbread.

Thank you so much for the interview Hiromi! I for one, am tired of Wonderbread and mcNuggets as well. I really admire the fact that Half World focuses on a mother-daughter relationship instead of a romance. I also love that it's helping to fill in the huge gap of fantasy about people of color.

Color Me Brown

I love exploring the blogsphere and reading all the fun reviews, fascinating interviews and fabulous discussion posts. I get to share those with you here as part of Color Me Brown :) A weekly round-up of links

In a new movie version of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff will finally be Black! This is semi-old news but I forgot to share it with you all. Found via BronteBlog

Appearance:
Handsome, brooding and dark-skinned, like Laurence Olivier.

Laurence Olivier wasn't dark-skinned. Maybe more like Ralph Fiennes – you know, swarthy.
Sorry, but they're both white guys, and both quite pasty with it. OK, but they both played Heathcliff in adaptations of Wuthering Heights. And Heathcliff was basically a black guy.

You have evidence for this? As a child, Heathcliff was plucked from the streets of Liverpool and taken in by Mr Earnshaw. His actual provenance is unknown, but in Brontë's 1847 novel the boy is variously described as being "dusky" or "a gipsy". One character says he looks like "a little Lascar, or an American or Spanish castaway".

Fascinating. What's a Lascar? It's a 19th-century term for an East Indian sailor.

Right. So he's dark-skinned but he has never been played by a dark-skinned actor. Until now, that is: a new adaptation directed by Andrea Arnold (who won an Oscar for Fish Tank) will star an unknown black actor called James Howson.

Interview with Sofia Quintero at School Library Journal Blog: The Chair, the Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

Liz B: Each chapter starts with a SAT word. The word is meaningful to the chapter, but is also a constant reminder to the reader how focused Efrain is on his studies. In your writing process, what came first, the chapter or the words? I just have this image of you going through an SAT guide with post-its!

Sofia: Definitely the chapters, and I had something better than an SAT guide. On the Internet, I found a PDF called The 1000 Most Common SAT Words. And index cards instead of Post-its! At one point, I had an outline where I listed the word followed by a 3-5 sentence summary of what happens in that chapter. I changed that all the time as I would revise the manuscript. In fact, there were quite a few times when I found a better word than the one I had originally chosen to capture the nuances and subtexts of a chapter. I’m glad that the titles delivered on my intention for them. Even though I did want the novel to have educational value, my primary intention behind the SAT words as chapter titles was to remind the reader why Efrain was enduring these tribulations. So much happens to him once he makes his choice that I worried readers might lose sight as to why he made that choice in the first place so the chapter titles were meant to serve as a constant reminder.

Interview with B.A. Binns at theHappyNappyBookseller

After school David works at job he loves construction, to help support him and his sisters.Where did this love of construction come from?

I assume you mean David, because I’m like that guy who can’t drive a nail straight. Although I did share a pizza slice with a young construction worker one winter night when I first started writing Pull. But that’s another story and besides I only used him for research. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)David went into construction first because he needed a job that paid more than minimum wage and found a family friend willing to hire a part-timer. Once in the trade, he found himself a natural. Some people learn from books, some from their hands. He’s the latter. Add in co-workers who treated him like a man from the start, and a boss he learned to respect, and he was hooked. I think he likes the solitary nature of the work too. There is a crew, but mostly he gets to work alone, just him and his thoughts. And at the end of the shift, he has something tangible to show for his efforts.

Jodie at BookGazing reviews A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee, a young adult novel about a female spy with a mysterious past.

the female characters in Lee’s novel work within societal constraints, or under cover of the sexist assumptions of society, in order to increase the amount of career emancipation they enjoy.

Now that’s not to say that these female characters always confirm society’s views on women in their efforts to advance their own professional gains. Mary, who we’ve seen described above as an impatient lady with a temper can’t always keep her thoughts inside her head. When men begin maligning her sex and (crucially) it won’t endanger her professional occupation she has to set them straight, as the conversation below shows:

‘He sighed patronizingly. “When men enlist, they know they are risking their lives. When gently bred young women flock to a military encampment, they not only endanger themselves, they also distract those who must look after them, and who ought to be thinking of other things.”

“And males are only too eager to blame all their shortcomings on the distraction represented by females,” Mary retorted. “As though nurses are the only women in an encampment!”

George’s jaw dropped at her rather obvious reference to prostitutes.’

When she can’t correct them out loud she tends to correct their thinking in her head which the reader can read and appreciate.

Dhonelle Clayton talks about her WiP, MG steampunk about a bi-racial girl and asks for recommendations of MG/YA books about biracial main characters in which race isn't a big issue. She also wonders how successful her book would be.

When reviewers neglect to mention the ethnic and/or racial identity of main characters in successful books, does it add to the feeling that biracial characters are invisible in the teen market? Are they doing the book a disservice, even if it isn’t central to the plot?

My historical steampunk novel would be complicated by the race relations of the late 1800s if I made my character full-blood African-American, so I chose to give myself some freedom by making her only half. Additionally, I think that it enhances the tension in the novel to have her be able to pass for white, but also be confronted with the racism her mother faces. The novel is not about race and it’s not a sub-plot or part of the thematic content of the novel. But it is mentioned to add another layer of isolation and tension to the main character’s journey and how she came about. I do worry about whether this decision will effect the book’s marketability and whether my main character’s biraciality will be swept under the rug in reviews and marketing.

Leave your links por favor!

When the Stars Go Blue

When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer 2010 (ARC)
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Griffin Press


When the Stars Go Blue is a modern retelling of Carmen. Listen to the song that inspired the title here (utterly haunting/enchanting). Soledad is dance and dance is Soledad, it is her everything. It's the summer after graduation and she had planned on teaching at her ballet teacher's dance studio and then getting an apartment in NYC in order to audition for dance companies. However her plans change when her classmate Jonathan Crandall asks her to consider auditioning for the part of Carmen. The audition is for the drum and bugle corps he is a part of. The opportunity is a once in a lifetime and introduces Soledad to the competitive world of the drum and bugle corps, the thrill of dancing in front of a huge, live audience, and the wonder of falling in love for the first time. While she travels across the U.S. with the corps, she meets Taz, a Spanish soccer player with a silver streak in his hair. Taz is clearly into Soledad, but it doesn't matter, because she's in love with Jonathan. And you can't be in love with two people at once, right? But everything changes after one dramatic incident that could ruin more than one future.

"People always asked why I danced. Why I'd devoted so much of my life to something that seemed to offer so little in return. But good as I was with words, in this they kind of deserted me. Every once in a while, I wished I could talk about it. How dancing created this huge, chaotic jumble of emotions and adrenaline rushing through my bloodstream-the freedom and power that came from the ability to command my body so completely." If you have ever felt passionately about something, no doubt, you can relate to what Soledad is saying. This quote is on the 2nd page and it was then that I knew Soledad and I would get along just fine. Soledad is one of the most driven protagonists in YA that I've ever come across. In this novel, the similarities between the original Carmen (I've never seen the opera so I'm basing this off summaries I've found and the musical Carmen Jones, which I adore) and this retelling are harder to spot. One of them is in how ambitious Carmen was and how ambitious Soledad is. Plus they both live in the moment, a quality that Jonathan envies of Soledad. Furthermore Jonathan and Soledad have tempers, much like Don Jose and Carmen. There is a love triangle but there is no clear winner, not until the grand finale. Taz is probably the only guy with long hair I will ever see as utterly sexy (that silver streak!), and it doesn't hurt that he's a soccer player ;) There are no one-dimensional characters. Each character is very carefully fleshed out, the flaws becoming more evident while the plot thickens. There is an intense air throughout the whole novel since Carmen is a tragedy and you know that eventually there will be a dramatic conclusion.

The writing is indescribable. It is expressive and elegant and it has obvious that the author knows both the story of Carmen and the world of which she speaks (drum and bugle corps, dance). The passion for the subject matter leaps off the page, after all only a dancer could really name the indescribable feeling that dancing provides. The romance is steamy, not because it's particularly explicit but because there is so much longing between Soledad, Jonathan and Taz. "Felt as if we had a whole conversation in the glance we exchanged in the silence following his words. But it was a teasing sort of exchange, the words in a language I wasn't quite comprehending. That I didn't really want to understand yet. But in a way, I did. At least, I wanted to try." (pg. 208). The author clearly illustrates the confusion Soledad feels over the behavior of both Taz and Jonathan, the confusion of being in love and wanting someone so badly, you don't know what to do with yourself.

When the Stars Go Blue is a dazzling read set in a world that will be new to many readers (including myself). I've never been to a college football game or seen a drum and bugle corps perform, but now I really want to see one live! I can't say that it looks easy being in the color guard, playing an instrument, etc. but I now know from this book that it's not, it takes a ton of blood, sweat and tears (well I already knew that about playing an instrument and dancing but still). The fervor that Soledad feels for dance, that Taz feels for soccer and that Jonathan feels for playing the horn is a palpable feeling that anyone who has dedicated themselves to a craft of some sort can relate to. The romance will have any romantic swooning and the climax will have you gasp out loud (especially when witnessing the painful rebound Soledad must make, it's a struggle to say the least). Caridad Ferrer is definitely one of my favorite authors and I will read whatever she writes next, no questions (after all I swore I would never develop a crush on a literary character with long hair or for that matter, any guy with long hair. Until Taz came along). At one point Jonathan tells Soledad to "Own it.", own the role of Carmen. Caridad Ferrer owns this retelling of Carmen and just like her main character, she triumphantly makes it her own.

Original review

Read our interview with the author

New Crayons

New Crayons, new crayons, how we love our new crayons. Share what books you bought/checked out from the library/borrowed from a friend, etc. As long as they are multicultural, we don't care what you list or how you got them (as long as it was in a legal way that is).

As we get closer and closer to the year winding down it's time to start making our lists. Book lists that is. Start gathering your thoughts about your favorite books of the year, favorite covers, favorite interviews, most interesting literary discussion, etc. We want your opinion!

Doret


Waking Up In The Land of Glitter: A Crafty Chica Novel by Kathy Cano-Murillo

With glue guns, glitter, twigs, or yarn, the ordinary can become extraordinary . . . especially at La Pachanga. Owned by Estrella "Star" Esteban's family, the restaurant has a rep for two things: good food and great art. La Pachanga brings people together-even when it looks like they couldn't be further apart.One ill-fated evening, Star jeopardizes her family's business, her relationship with her boyfriend, and her future career. To redeem herself, she agrees to participate in a national craft competition, teaming up with her best friend, Ofelia-a secretly troubled mother whose love for crafting borders on obsession-and local celebrity Chloe Chavez-a determined television personality with more than one skeleton in her professional closet. If these unlikely allies can set aside their differences, they'll find strength they never knew they had, and learn that friendship, like crafting, is truly an art form.


The Indignant Generation: A Narrative History of African American Writers and Critics, 1934-1960 by Lawrence P. Jackson

The Indignant Generation is the first narrative history of the neglected but essential period of African American literature between the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights era. The years between these two indispensable epochs saw the communal rise of Richard Wright, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ralph Ellison, Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin, and many other influential black writers. While these individuals have been duly celebrated, little attention has been paid to the political and artistic milieu in which they produced their greatest works. With this commanding study, Lawrence Jackson recalls the lost history of a crucial era.

Looking at the tumultuous decades surrounding World War II, Jackson restores the "indignant" quality to a generation of African American writers shaped by Jim Crow segregation, the Great Depression, the growth of American communism, and an international wave of decolonization. He also reveals how artistic collectives in New York, Chicago, and Washington fostered a sense of destiny and belonging among diverse and disenchanted peoples. As Jackson shows through contemporary documents, the years that brought us Their Eyes Were Watching God, Native Son, and Invisible Man also saw the rise of African American literary criticism--by both black and white critics.

Fully exploring the cadre of key African American writers who triumphed in spite of segregation, The Indignant Generation paints a vivid portrait of American intellectual and artistic life in the mid-twentieth century.

Ari

The Lighter Side of Life and Death by C. K. Kelly Martin

Sixteen-year-old Mason Rice is having the night of his life. He's just delivered an incredible performance in the school play, basked in celebratory afterglow vibes at the party of the year, and lost his virginity to one of his best friends—the gorgeous but previously unobtainable Kat Medina. His dreams are coming true, and the future looks golden.Unfortunately, Kat sees things very differently. Crossing the friendship line was a big mistake, and all she wants is to forget it and move on, even if that means forgetting Mason altogether. What's a guy to do? Well, if you're Mason, you hang your hopes on the first attractive twenty-three-year-old you cross paths with. At first Mason wonders if he's imagining the chemistry . . . until Colette invites him over to her apartment. Suddenly Mason's living in a whole new world.

The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Kidnapped by Yxta Maya Murray

Kiki and Mish are best friends, but what Kiki doesn’t know is that Michelle Pena was born a gang princess. “Princess P” grew up destined to inherit leadership of the Snakes: a future filled with crime and fear.

Michelle, on the other hand, is a nationally ranked athlete and academic superstar. This is her new life, and she’s finally put her past—and her childhood love for Silver—to rest.

Then Silver helps kidnap both girls, and Michelle has to figure out how to free them both—and reconnect with a future that might now be beyond her reach

We love to hear from you, so let us know what books you got!

Isabel Wilkerson "The Warmth of Other Suns" Book Signing

This coming Monday, Dec 13th, Isabel Wilkserson will be doing a signing at the Borders in Buckhead in Atlanta, GA

The Warmth of Other Suns is one of the best nonfiction books of the year.

NYT notable book of 2010 and a PW Best Book of 2010

“Isabel Wilkerson’s book is a masterful narrative of the rich wisdom and deep courage of a great people. Don’t miss it!”

—Cornel West

“”[Ms. Wilkerson’s] hard work, keen insight and passionate personal commitment make The Warmth of Other Suns a landmark piece of nonfiction…A book sure to hold many surprises for readers of any race or experience.”

—The New York Times

“Profound, necessary and an absolute delight to read.”

—Toni Morrison

A signed copy of "The Warmth of Other Suns" would make a great holiday gift. Sure amazon can offer free shipping. But what's a little S&H for a personalized gift and an

"Autographed Coppppppyyyyy"*

If you would like a signed copy of "The Warmth of Other Suns" call (404) 237-0707. If you are in the Atlanta area on December 13th, go here Wilkerson speak . 3637 Peachtree Rd Ne, Atlanta GA


* to be read in Oprah's giveaway voice. Unfortunately, the only thing I can afford to give you is this laugh. If you want the Warmth of Other Suns you'll have to buy it. If you want a signed copy you'll have to call (404) 237-0707

Colorful Hues of Brown Links

You already know the deal. Share your own Color Me Brown links in the comments section. And please visit the posts that we highlight and that readers share. We want to spread the link AND comment love to all those who write about literature/race.

Author Zetta Elliott asks Derrick Barnes a couple questions about his newest MG book, We Could Be Brothers.

More and more I’m realizing just how diverse boys are and because of this diversity, there really isn’t one solution for the problems boys face. Tell us about your decision to represent a range of black boys–and a range of responses to school violence/bullying.

I always start from two points of reference or points of motivation. I must: 1) attempt to tell stories and create characters that are not currently present, demographically or culturally, and 2) counter the negative or incomplete images that exist in children’s lit or popular culture. As an artist/author that feels extremely blessed to have this opportunity, I take my social responsibility very seriously; I have the ability to create the Robeson Battlefields and Pacino Claptons of the world that will debunk the one dimensional negative imagery of Black boys and present us as real-life sons, brothers, nephews, scholars, gentlemen, dreamers, doers, and compassionate difference-makers.

Time to start thinking about what challenges you will sign up for. Why not join the 2011 POC Reading Challenge? Sign up here

Please remember that this challenge is about diversifying your reading and showing the publishers we do care about PoC literature and we want to see more of it on the shelves of bookshelves. That we do not want to see the white washing of covers and we will not stand for it. We had 83 participants last year and I would love more than anything to reach 100 this year. Please do not forget about what an important issue this is and even though things have been going well for quite a while these issues are never going to be over and we have to be proactive.

Reads4Pleasure reviews The Other Sister by Cheri Paris Edwards

I was slightly thrown because I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be Christian lit, but there was a liberal dosage of Bible verses thrown in, so I suppose it is. Yes, I know there was a pastor in the story, but does that necessarily qualify a book as Christian lit? At any rate, it felt very much like a Tyler Perry play on paper. If Tyler Perry is your thing, then this is the book for you.

Smugglivus is occuring over at The Book Smugglers and Jodie from BookGazing had an awesome post. She listed not only her most anticpated reads of 2011 and favorite reads of 2010, but also the books she can't wait to see completed and her anticpated books-to-film adaptations.

Judah’s Tale – Zetta Elliott: The sequel to Zetta Elliott’s time travelling novel ‘A Wish After Midnight’. It’s being written right now and will follow the exploits of Judah, the boy Genna left behind when she returned to the twentieth century. When last we saw Judah he was determined to get to Africa to reconnect with his heritage, so there could be lots of travelling in this novel.

Book 3 of the Billi SanGreal series – Sarwat Chadda: Billi Sangreal, the gloriously conflicted heroine of Sarwat Chadda’s Knights Templar adventure series is set to return in a third book. There are possibly plans to allow Billi to investigate her family culture in this third book, possibly a chance to see some of the other important Templar artefacts. Wherever the book is set there will be demons dying in spectacular fights and perhaps some more gorgeous romance between two committed ghul slayers.

The Amazon book blog Omnivoracious is interviewing Rebecca Sklott, author of bestseller The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Amazon.com: So much of the story of the book is how Henrietta's family was affected both by her obscurity and her limited fame. What has the past year been like for them, now that her story has become so much better known?

Skloot: The public response to the book has been incredible, and Henrietta's family has definitely been following it. They keep up with the media coverage and read the steady flow of comments people post on blogs and Twitter and on the Henrietta Lacks fan page on Facebook. Readers often send notes of thanks to the family either through their website, or through mine--they share incredible stories of how Henrietta's cells changed their own lives ... stories like, I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer ten years ago, but I’m still alive today thanks to drugs made using Henrietta's cells ... I did my PhD dissertation research on Henrietta's cells that allowed me to develop this important drug, or this important diagnostic test ... My mother was diagnosed with cancer when I was a young girl, and I didn't lose her because she was saved by a drug that HeLa cells helped developed. I'm sorry that you had to lose Henrietta in order for my family and so many others to benefit from her cells.

That's all for now. Link and comment away!

Women Writers of Color: Paula Yoo

Full name: Paula Yoo

Birth date: April 10

Current location: Los Angeles, CA

Website/Blog: http://paulayoo.com

Genre: YA novels & children's picture books

WiP or most recently published work: Shining Star: The Anna May Wong Story (Lee & Low '09)

Writing credits: Good Enough (YA Novel, HarperCollins '08) & Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story (Lee & Low '05)

How frequently do you update your site? I try to update on a regular basis.

Is your site designed for reader interaction? Yes. I have a blog and comments section. I also host the annual NaPiBoWriWee (National Picture Book Writing Week) every May that attracts hundreds of participants worldwide!

100 words or less: How would you describe your work? My children's books are narrative non-fiction biographies for older children. Good Enough is a funny and poignant contemporary YA novel about a young girl who thinks of herself as a "violin geek."

100 words or less: Please share your thoughts on children and reading. I started reading books at a very young age. I was in the first grade when I fell in love with E.B. White's Charlotte's Web. That book inspired me to become a writer. Although I love surfing on the Internet, watching TV, and playing video games, there's nothing more transcendent and life-changing than finding a quiet spot to sit back and read a book. Reading transports you to other worlds in a way modern technology can't. I encourage children and their parents to read books on a regular basis.

Leaving Atlanta - The Film

On October 29th Independent filmmakers Aletha Spann and Karon Om Vereen, started a kickstarter campaign to help get Tayari Jones novel Leaving Atlanta turned into a movie.

OUR MISSION: Make an evocative film through beautiful cinematography and engaging storytelling. We are on the verge of seeing years of dedication and determination pay off. Your support can help make that happen. We are producing a short film based on our script to help showcase the project for potential studios, production companies, financiers, etc. that are interested in helping move it further to the big screen.

Check out the great trailer*



The kickstarter campaign has 12 days to go. There's still time to make a pledge

* note to self, finally read Leaving Atlanta

New Hues, New Crayons

We host New Crayons every (well almost every week). Leave a link to your own post in the comments. We promise to visit!







Doret

Teenie by Christopher Grant

High school freshman Martine (Teenie for short) is a good student, with a bright future ahead of her. She's desperate to be accepted into a prestigious study abroad program in Spain so that she can see what life is like beyond the streets of Brooklyn. She wouldn't mind escaping from her strict (though lovable) parents for awhile either. But when the captain of the basketball team starts to pay attention to her after she's pined away for him for months and Cherise, her best friend, meets a guy online, Teenie's mind is on anything but her schoolwork. Teenie's longtime crush isn't what he seemed to be, nor is her best friend's online love. Can Teenie get her act together in time to save her friendship with Cherise, save her grade point average so that she can study in Spain, and save herself from a potentially dangerous relationship?

Hold Me Closer Necromancer by Lish McBride


Sam leads a pretty normal life. He may not have the most exciting job in the world, but he’s doing all right—until a fast food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak.
Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he’s a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else.
With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?

Ari

Better Than I Know Myself by Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant

Carmen, Jewel, and Regina could not be more different. When they meet as freshmen at Columbia University, they're pretty confident that a friendship among them isn't in the cards. Jewel is Hollywood royalty: as the teenage star of the TV show "Daddy's Girl," her face is instantly recognizable all across America. Now, though, she wants two things-to get a serious education, and to leave her controlling stage mother behind. Regina is the definitive upper-middle-class African-American girl. Her picture-perfect parents are what she calls "black Ward and June Cleavers" and their goals for her are like a stranglehold. No one can see, though, how far Regina's rebellious side will take her (or how treacherous it will become). Carmen is just trying to get by. A child of the projects whose father is dead and whose mother has vanished, Carmen has been raised by her abusive brother. Columbia is the way for her to get a better life-if she can hold down two jobs and keep her GPA up. When the three of them meet, their lives are at a crossroad. And as the years progress, from the 1980s to the present day, they are challenged by drug addiction, fame, secrets from the past, sickness, betrayal, and the darkest things women can face. One of them won't survive. But what will be the lasting legacy of their friendship?


Half World by Hiromi Goto

Melanie Tamaki is human—but her parents aren’t. They are from Half World, a Limbo between our world and the afterlife, and her father is still there. When her mother disappears, Melanie must follow her to Half World—and neither of them may return alive. Imagine Coraline as filmed by the Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki (Howl’s Moving Castle), or Neil Gaiman collaborating with Charles de Lint. Half World is vivid, visceral, unforgettable, a combination of prose and images that will haunt you.

Link up!