mitali's fire escape

Poetry Friday: Naomi Shihab Nye

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:47:00 +0000

Here's the brilliant Naomi Shihab Nye reading four of her poems, "Please Describe How You Became a Writer," "Fresh," "During a War," and "Truth Serum," at the Dodge Poetry Festival on 9/27/08:

The Poetry Friday round up this week is at Wild Rose Reader.

But What About Your Writing, Mitali?

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:12:00 +0000

I've been doing a ton of author visits this fall, for which I'm grateful, and also enjoying several new adventures with social media. But what's been happening with my primary vocation, you might be wondering? Inquiring Fire Escape visitors deserve to know.

With Bamboo People in the copy-editing stage, I'm getting ready for a Fall 2010 release from Charlesbridge by reserving a domain name and gathering resources (it's not pretty yet, but it's a start.) Can't wait to see the finished cover art, which I'll be posting there and here soon.

I'm almost done with a chapter book called Tiger Magic that was commissioned by a doll company. It's a set in the Sundarbans of West Bengal and features the endangered Bengal Tiger, one of my favorite creatures on the planet. More on that to come.

On December 1st, I'll be retreating a bit from the virtual world and beginning a new novel. Can't say much about it, but I've been scribbling ideas longhand in a journal, giving my imagination time and space to meditate on the story. It's exciting to be in the conception phase again after a few years.

In the meantime, if you're wondering what Bamboo People is about, read on ...

Bang! A side door bursts open.

Soldiers pour into the room. They’re shouting and waving rifles.

I shield my head with my arms. It was a lie! I think, my mind racing.

Girls and boys alike are screaming. The soldiers prod and herd some of us together and push the rest apart as if we’re cows or goats.

Their leader, though, is a middle-aged man. He’s moving slowly, intently, not dashing around like the others. “Take the boys only, Win Min,” I overhear him telling a tall, gangly soldier. “Make them obey.”

Chiko isn’t a fighter by nature. He’s a book-loving Burmese boy whose father, a doctor, is in prison for resisting the government. Tu Reh, on the other hand, wants to fight for freedom after watching Burmese soldiers destroy his Karenni family's home and bamboo fields. Timidity becomes courage and anger becomes compassion as each boy is changed by unlikely friendships formed under extreme circumstances.

This coming-of-age novel takes place against the political and military backdrop of modern-day Burma. Narrated by two teenagers on opposing sides of the conflict between the Burmese government and the Karenni, one of the many ethnic minorities in Burma, Bamboo People explores the nature of violence, power, and prejudice.

ALA Midwinter Kid/YA Lit Tweetup

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:22:00 +0000

Coming to Boston for the ALA Midwinter conference? If you're a tweeting librarian, author, illustrator, publisher, agent, editor, reviewer, blogger, or anyone interested in children's and YA lit, join us on January 16, 2010 from 4-6 in the Birch Bar at Boston's Westin Waterfront Hotel.

The brilliant Deborah Sloan found a venue that's connected to the Conference Center so we won't have to don winter woolies. We'll chat about books, share program ideas, see old friends, and, if you've been tweeting a while, finally meet the people you've been re-tweeting, listing, and following.

Can you come if you're not on Twitter? Well, if you're reading this blog, you're online, so it'll take about two minutes to sign up for twitter. Here's a newbie's guide to get you started. Do a search for #alatweetup to find news and updates about the event, and if you tweet about it, use that hashtag at the end of your tweet so we can discover you.

Here's a description of the successful BEA tweetup from the LA Times, if you're curious about what our event might be like, but we won't have (1) loud, hip music, (2) free vodka (ours is a cash bar) or (3) great swag and fancy giveaways. Your presence is our swag. Unless, of course, you want to get your swagger on by doling out cool stuff -- if so, contact Deborah or me. We will have a book swap, so authors, illustrators, and publishers, bring a copy of your book(s) to display and share.

Invite your friends, but our capacity is 150, so register here and save your spot. How many good things in life are free? Thankfully, congenial company in the world of Kid/YA books is still one of them.

Surfing Outside Your Zone

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:30:00 +0000

One of the many gifts of new media is an increased democracy in the public square (with thanks to our public libraries, who fight to narrow the digital divide). In her School Library Journal cover story about blogs, Betsy Bird quotes editor Cheryl Klein: “Book blogs have created community—a place where we adults who take children's literature seriously can discuss it seriously and at length, in a forum open to the whole Internet.”

Virtually, as in life, it may be easier to commune with people with whom we have quite a bit in common. The challenge is to tune into voices we might not otherwise hear, listening and learning from people who aren't "like us" at first blush. Good blogs help us cross borders, and sometimes take us to uncomfortable places where we either change our convictions or deepen them through discourse and dialogue.

Since I don't know how you define your "comfort zone" in the realm of Kid/YA literature, here are a few options to get you thinking:

If you're a woman and typically only read books about girls, peruse Guys Lit Wire.

Live in a mostly white community? Delve into Reading in Color, Crazy Quilts, or Color Online.

If you've never had to think about what it's like to grow up as an American Indian, tune into American Indians in Children's Literature.

Wondering what it's like to be a Latino writer in the world of North American literature? Read La Bloga.

Don't have any conservative white friends who home school? Consider Semicolon's take on literature.

And so on ....

BOOKS WITH FLAIR: Personalized Kid/YA Gifts

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:40:00 +0000

Note: BOOKS WITH FLAIR is up and running since I first posted this. Check it out!

Kid/YA Authors and illustrators! If your local independent bookseller carries your traditionally published books, ask if they'll gift-wrap and ship personalized copies as presents.

Here's my idea: if they agree, we'll list our books by suggested age and genre. Customers will call in (and pay for) an order to the bookstore along with the request for a signed and/or personalized copy. Bookstores will either send signed stock or, if we're open to personalizing, will let us know about orders so we can scoot over there and inscribe to particular young readers by name before they gift wrap and ship the books.

Find out more here. I'm open to ideas!

Straight Talk on Tough Times For Writers

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:03:00 +0000

A trio of agents were tweeting yesterday about how tough it's been to find a market for a good story. I chimed in (of course) to ask Colleen Lindsay, Elana Roth, and Lauren Macleod a few questions.

I thought it might be helpful to share their answers here, along with some input from Nancy Mercado, executive editor of Roaring Brook Press, and few other authors as well (my tweets are in red, and I edited the conversation slightly to make it more blog-friendly).

It all started with Colleen sharing a link to a blog post from another agent ...

Colleen: Agent Kristin Nelson with a harsh reality of today's market. Books that would have sold in about two weeks last year are being lovingly rejected right and left. It is un-fun.

Elana: I'm getting those same responses on things that would have easily sold a year ago. Ain't it grand?

We want to hear about the exceptions, too. Tell us about new books that are encouraging risky business.

Elana: I don't know. I've passed some of the world's nicest rejection letters to authors pretty frequently lately. It's sad.

Colleen: I'm not seeing any right now, to be quite honest. How about you, Lauren?

Lauren: Sadly, I've also been getting lots of praise-filled rejections for beautiful, well-written books.

Elana: I've learned my lesson taking on projects where I didn't get that tingly feeling but thought it could work.

Colleen: I'm doing the same. Much much much pickier about who I sign on, and they must be able to take editorial direction.

But wait! Agent Mary Kole says, "Editors are salivating to buy and publish amazing stories." What (if anything) can agents offer to reduce risk and nudge a publisher to the tipping point?

Lauren: Ain't that the question! A perfect book ready to go to press?

Colleen: Offer a manuscript that is beyond amazing, and needs very little work. Ah, but there's the rub: the vast majority of projects simply aren't as amazing as they need to be these days to get published. And these days, I wouldn't take on a client who needed that much work anyway. I no longer have the time to play editor.

Elana: I've been choosier and then still do the editorial work to get it as perfect as I can. Speaking of what I want in clients, I blogged about it yesterday.

Lauren: I still do editing, but I have to really, really, really love the book before I'll take it on. On the fence now equals no, more than before.

Colleen: In the old days, editors had time and manpower to work with an author on revising a not-quite-there manuscript. Not any more.

Nancy: I think it depends on what you mean by not-quite-there. Most of the novels I sign up go through at least 3 or 4 revisions. I'd say in kids' publishing extensive editing is the norm.

Colleen: Do you find that you do more fine-tuning of manuscripts, or tearing apart structure and story lines?

Nancy: I'd say it's working on structure and story for the first two or three drafts, then fine tuning for the last two.

Any editors getting a reputation for taking risks and having vision?

Lauren: It seems like Flux is doing some cool things, but I don't have first hand experience.

Elana: They do, but they also have a slightly less risky business model/advance set-up. Which...definitely has its positives.

Lauren: But they are also new, so they don't have as much choice -- they have to take more editorial risks.

Elana: I do think what you (Nancy) are doing is more and more rare in publishing, though. It's wonderful, but rare!

Nancy: Thanks, but I find that hard to believe. I know so many editors in this industry who do the same. I've seen amazing edit letters in the printer at every company I've worked for.

Elana: I've had great editors for my clients, but you took a risk on something knowing how much work it needed. You're a rarity for me.

Do you encourage a writer to pay for professional editing before querying? I fear this on behalf of broke writers.

Colleen: Ethically, I can't encourage my clients to use a professional editor. But there are some very good ones out there.

Elana: Ditto. I both support freelance editors and am wary when queriers say they've used them. It's a tough call.

Lauren: I don't know if you need a professional editor as much as you need a great friend/critique partner.

Colleen: A GOOD professional developmental or line edit is going to cost a writer a couple thousand dollars, just as an FYI.

For Kid/YA books, here's a summary of freelance professional editors -- check out their sites to find out more about prices. For more agent chat on twitter, follow #askagent or #allaboutagents.

Writers, it's like we've got a tough teacher who gives us Cs when we used to earn As. Tight times should make our writing shine.

Christine Marciniak: That's a good way of looking at it. But it makes it seem like the grading curve changed in the middle of the course.

Susan Marie Swanson: I don't know--seems to me that we've got the tough teacher who now has bigger class, new administration, more stress.

Maybe @SCBWI wants to offer the fee for a topnotch professional editor as an award for emerging Kid/YA writers? I'd donate.

Susan: Wouldn't this be an endorsement of a particular business model on part of SCBWI, whereby authors shoulder even more expense?

Bonnie Adamson: Also, the Namelos model (a firm started by Stephen Roxburgh, formerly of Front Street) of paid book prep is getting dangerously close to self-publishing, yes?

So what do you think?

(1) Is a professional critique before querying worth it?

(2) As Bonnie suggests, when does this process shift into the realm of self-publishing?

(3) How do you feel about authors bearing more of the risk (and up-front cost) of publishing than we used to?

(4) Are there creative, entrepreneurial options writers might pursue, given that the publishing industry is questioning the future of the printed book as the public's preferred, primary vehicle of story?

Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:31:00 +0000

Unlike some ethnic book awards, the Rivera Award doesn't depend on the race of the author. It's given annually "to the author/illustrator of the most distinguished book for children and young adults that authentically reflects the lives and experiences of Mexican Americans in the United States."

This year, two books tied for the top honor (descriptions quoted verbatim from the official Rivera Award site):

The Holy Tortilla and a Pot of Beans
by Carmen Tafolla

In this wonderfully creative collection of sixteen short stories, Tafolla brings to life the bilingual/bicultural world of the Texas-Mexico border. As in her previous works, Tafolla celebrates the resilient human spirit of her characters amidst the prejudice and hypocrisy, the faith and magic, and the family, and community that are part of this world. The stories are poignant, even tragic, and they are funny, filled with humor. Tafolla’s energy is felt throughout. As Carmen herself says, “ It’s about those things that are really holy and miraculous, but it’s also about those very common, underappreciated blessings, like a homemade pot of beans.”

He Forgot to Say Goodbye
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

In this carefully crafted novel, two high school boys develop an unlikely friendship despite their different upbringings. Ramiro Lopez has been raised in the Mexican American working class barrio of El Paso where his brother is lured into the world of drugs, while White Jake Upthegrove has lived in the rich West Side and has a problem managing his anger. Both boys have not known their fathers who abandoned their families early. Ramiro and Jake both come to enjoy and respect the loyal friendship of Alejandra a third strong teenager in this contemporary setting.

Mitali of Orchard House

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:39:00 +0000

What is it about dead authors' desks that I love? A highlight of my trip to France a few years ago was seeing firsthand where Victor Hugo stood to write, overlooking an archetypal Parisian square.

And some of you might remember my trek to Green Gables last summer, where I delved into all things L.M. Montgomery, relishing the view from the room where she wrote. (THE BLYTHES ARE QUOTED, her last book about Anne, releases today, by the way.)

Today I took my beloved visiting mother-in-law to Orchard House, where we joined a group of high school English students on a tour of Louisa May Alcott's domain.

After moving twenty-two times in nearly thirty years, the Alcotts settled from 1858-1877 in Orchard House, which dates to circa 1690-1720.

The prolific Ms. Alcott wrote for fourteen hours at a stretch, switching to her left hand when her right one grew tired, and completed the first half of LITTLE WOMEN in two months during 1868. Alcott, unlike the other L.M., was prescient enough to secure a royalty for that bestseller instead of the flat fee given to Montgomery.

Louisa's father, Bronson Alcott, built a shelf desk in her bedroom overlooking the tall elms and apple trees surrounding their house.

College Days

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:33:00 +0000

I'm flying to California for a "big" college reunion, so I won't be back on the Fire Escape until next Wednesday. I'll probably be tweeting a bit, but for now it's time to meander down memory lane.

I'm picturing the 17-year-old version of me standing in the dorm parking lot on the first day watching my parents' taillights disappear. I remember thinking: Now how am I supposed to kiss them good night?

What I didn't know is that over the next four years I'd find a faith that changed me, meet the man I'd marry, and start to see a bridge between two growing interests: stories and justice.

See you next week!

Thank You Love Notes

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:05:00 +0000

... from 8th graders who have participated in a writing workshop are a good way to commemorate The National Day of Writing today (kindly remember that these are all "sic"):

"You've shown me what it is to be an author, and, who knows, I might possibly be your competition one day."

"After meeting you last week I have been totally craving Sweet Tarts."

"I loved how you gave your impression of your parents. It cranked me up."

"Never had I heard an author speak of dating trouble and video games. You helped me realize that not all authors are these stiff hard working people."

"When I wrote my paragraph, I read it over. I was so excited that it was better than my normal writing. I wanted you to read it out loud to my group members. People would overlook me in the option list of 'who wrote this' because it was 'too good' for my writing."

"Why is reading a book so special? You brought the answer out to me: Reading engages you by involving all five human senses. It's why your stomach growls when the character goes to a king's feat or why you walk the streets of an imaginary world while sitting on a bed grasping a book."

Ah, yes. Now that's why I love writing for middle-schoolers.

All Things Kidlitospheric

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:29:00 +0000

I don't get lonely on the Fire Escape. How could I, when I'm surrounded by a host of supportive bloggers who love books for kids and teens? If you haven't been introduced to the Kidlitosphere yet, this is a good time to start. What does this virtual community offer?

Comprehensive list of bloggers who love Kid/YA books, including group blogs.
A list of authors and illustrators who blog with up-to-date links.
Monthly carnivals of children's literature with links to great blog posts.
Poetry Fridays, a weekly assortment of poetry-themed musings and original content.
Nonfiction Mondays, giving bloggers a chance to share nonfiction books for children and teens.
An annual in real life conference for "movers and shakers in the kidlit community." If you're not in the D.C. area this Saturday, October 17, you may track the conference via twitter by searching for #kidlitcon. (That's what I'll be doing, since I don't have Hermione's time turner.)
A series of book awards called Cybils given by children’s and young adult book bloggers with only two criteria: literary merit and kid appeal.

Support, encouragement, buzz about books on the margins .. the list of benefits goes on, so don't miss out because the kidlitosphere is taking a leading role in our fast-changing industry.

Don't You Love My Job?

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:31:00 +0000

After a leaf-peeping morning drive to Willard School in Concord, Massachusetts, an author presentation, and a writing workshop, I was done by noon today. That gave me plenty of time to ramble around a famous pond in the vicinity (can you name it?):

Five Facebook Foibles

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:45:00 +0000

Interested in using this social media tool professionally as well as personally? Here are five errors to avoid when using Facebook:

mistake #1: sending blank friend requests to professional contacts

Don't put the onus on the friendee to investigate whether or not you're a stalker. Send a line of introduction with your request explaining how and why the two of you should be connected.

mistake #2: underutilizing the bio and information boxes

Use these to introduce yourself as a writer, librarian, bookseller, editor, teacher, or general book aficionado, especially if you set your default profile privacy for basic information to "everyone." Meticulously avoid spelling and grammar mistakes in these two boxes and try to make them interesting and easy to read. By all means link to your professional website, Facebook fan page (more on this in a minute), twitter feed, and/or blog.

mistake #3: lumping all your friends into the same list

When Facebook upgraded their list function a few months ago, they kept me on the site. I took the time to divide my friends into lists like "bookish folk" or "churchy peeps" or "millennials" (between the ages of 14-21), and again into regions. I'm now able to direct a link or a status update to a particular list, which doubles the power of this tool for me professionally.

My millennials, for example, will get the free slurpee day announcement, my college buddies know I'm going to the reunion, and if I'm launching a new book in Seattle, I can target bookish people in that area with the invitation. I still send certain links and status updates to everybody, but there are times when I want to be discerning and avoid clogging my friends' news feed with stuff they don't care about.

mistake #4: being too "humble" to set up a fan page

In an over-the-top celebraholic culture, Facebook chose an unfortunate moniker for these pages, but I recommend that serious writers and illustrators set up fan pages. If you're a private person, you can reserve your personal Facebook page for real friends and family and shift your working life to the more public fan page venue. Think of it as your "professional" page instead of your "fan" page if that helps you get over the humility hurdle.

Even if you're not as private a person, a fan page is a good idea because it's an appropriate place for young people to connect with adults on Facebook. Educators use them to avoid the trap of getting too personal with their students. Booksellers can connect with customers, librarians with patrons, and authors with readers. You can link to your fan page from your personal page, and once you get 100 fans, register a personal url that's more user-friendly.

What do you post on your fan page? Status updates about your work are perfectly appropriate here. I import my blog posts to my fan page instead of into my personal FB page, for example, so I don't inundate my cousins in Calcutta with even more about me, me, me as a writer through my personal news feed. If a friend or relative subscribes to my author fan page, I figure they're signing up for news and updates about my books as well as access to my blog posts.

mistake #5: not customizing your privacy settings

This tip is last but perhaps most important. You must be a ruthless tamer of Facebook or it will run amok.

Customize your privacy settings.

Choose what people see in your profile, decide where and how you show up in searches, be in charge of what's published in your news feed and to your wall, and control each attention-grabbing application or game you use within Facebook. No offense, but I don't want to know your score in Mafia Wars, although it might interest a particular subset of your friends.

How to do this? In the top blue bar of your Facebook page, click on "Settings" and then second from the bottom you'll see "Privacy." You should be able to take it from there.

In short, if you're trying to use Facebook professionally, take a bit of time and learn how to use it well. As with all social media, your goal is to connect with others and express your voice and vision authentically. It can be a tremendous professional tool if used sparingly and smartly.

Questions? Leave them in the comments or email me.

Note: If you're a published author or illustrator of books for children and teenagers in the Boston area, you may sign up for the NESCBWI Salon on Managing Your Online Presence, Saturday, November 14, 2009, from 10:00 - 2:30, in Acton. I'm co-leading it with marketing maven Deborah Sloan.

Diary Entry on Skin Color: May 17, 1977

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:06:00 +0000

Would somebody please interpret this journal rumination from the fourteen-year-old version of me, remembering that I was in an almost all-white high school?

It's clear that I was procrastinating my algebra by writing in my diary about an unrequited crush, but what exactly did I mean by "I wish I could hide behind my skin color more often, instead of cowering nakedly in front of it"?

Fire Escape Fall Mini-Hiatus

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:09:00 +0000

October is a busy author visit month, so I'm on the road for the next couple of weeks and back on the Fire Escape 10/13. I'll be micro-blogging throughout my travels via twitter, so you may track me there if you'd like, but here's my in-real-life schedule:

Wyoming Library Association pre-conference (9/30)
Monarch Middle School, Superior, CO (10/1)
Massachusetts School Library Association Conference (10/4)
Loudoun County Schools and Library, Virginia (10/5-6)
Montgomery County Educational Media Specialist Association (MCEMSA), Maryland (10/7)
Devotion School, Brookline, MA (10/9)
Willard School, Concord, MA (10/15-16)

Come say hello in person if you're able!

Even More Feasting and Books

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:15:00 +0000

Somehow I scored an invite to a lunch celebration at the Boston Public Library for THE DAY OF THE PELICAN, Katherine Paterson's new novel from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt about a Muslim Albanian family who begin their new life in a small Vermont town.

I've learned not to ask too many questions about how or why I'm at special events like these. I just show up, eat, make merry, and of course share my pictures with you here on the Fire Escape.

Stopped to savor the view from the steps of
the Boston Public Library at noon today

Name that New England indie children's bookseller

Roger Sutton of the Horn Book (far right) pretends
not to notice the iPhone aimed in his direction

unbeatable lunchtime swag —
thanks, houghton mifflin harcourt!

Consumerism and the YA Novel

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:00 +0000

I remember loving A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN partly because times were tight in my own immigrant family. I also might have connected our loss of property and wealth in Bengal with the Alcotts' downturn in LITTLE WOMEN, as Laurel Snyder points out in an invigorating discussion about YA books and socioeconomic class moderated by Colleen Mondor at Chasing Ray.

But North American culture has gone crazy since I was young. We adults whine about the culture's obsession with sex and violence and ignore how societal greed, consumerism, and materialism is trashing the millennial generation (and us.) "Stuff" defines teens now more than it ever did when most of us were that age. It's a rare young person who can resist the pressure of the brand.

As I watched a couple of episodes of "My Super Sweet Sixteen" on MTV with my teens, for example, I wondered how "poor" kids celebrating that milestone birthday processed the excesses on that show.

Which brings us to the authorial dilemma of either reflecting and repeating something that's unhealthy or destructive in the culture OR trying in some way to unmask and even redeem it. On the one hand we run the risk of condoning or even contributing to the suffering and on the other we might become didactic. But given the desperate state of our society and money, how we portray class, wealth, and poverty in our books is well worth considering.

Because a story is powerful, right? A single book can change or conserve a good or bad cultural practice. Like UNCLE TOM'S CABIN, it can actually revolutionize an entire society. That's why writers are in prison and books are banned. I love how Nadine Gordimer put it in her 1991 Nobel acceptance speech:

"... For this aesthetic venture of ours becomes subversive when the shameful secrets of our times are explored deeply, with the artist's rebellious integrity to the state of being manifest in life around her or him ..."

Maybe you're thinking, hey, it's just chick lit. Teen chick lit. It's like cotton candy for the soul. Do I have to be subversive or revolutionary? No, but consumerism, materialism, and even greed are sly masters. If you're not purposefully resisting them, you might be inadvertently campaigning on their behalf.

Photo courtesy of ATIS547 via Creative Commons.

Boston Kid Lit Pie Night Redux

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:30:00 +0000

We schmoozed. We ate pie. We lifted our forks in the direction of the NY Kid Lit Drinks Night, where a Boston Cream Pie was being consumed in our honor. But best of all, we talked and celebrated Kid/YA Lit.

The Venue: Pie Bakery and Cafe, Newton Centre, MA

It was quiet until ...

... 40 or so Kid/YA book aficionados showed up

The conversation sparkled ...

... and Deborah Sloan said the pie was pretty good, too.

We tried an L.M. Montgomery postcard puzzle icebreaker, where each participant got a quarter of one of Montgomery's book covers. During the evening, the goal was to discover the people clutching the other three quarters and introduce yourself.

Thanks to the reassembled-with-tape cards, here's the list of attendees in no particular order (If I'm missing you, or spelled your name wrong, please add or fix in the comments and I'll update.)

Shoshana Flax
Emilie Boon
Anne Handley
Karen Jo Shapiro
Bev Chapman
Melissa Stewart
Katie Bayerl
Alyssa Pusey
Suchitra Mumford
Robert Guthrie
Kathleen Benner Duble
Margaret Muirhead
Donna Spurlock
Maria Gianferrari
Karen Day
Kim Ablon Whitney
Larry from Rhode Island
Kara Schaff Dean
Laya Steinberg
Ellen Nichols
Jessica Dubois
Brittany Schlorff
Anna Staniszewski
Nandini Bajpai
John Bell
Emily from NESCBWI
Anne Broyles
Deborah Sloan
Janet Costa Bates
Livia Blackburne
Kate Narita
Amy Greenwald
Ammi-Joan Paquette
Lauren Macleod
Karen Kosko
Mara Berkeley
Anindita Basu Sempere
Mitali Perkins

Paula Chase Hyman: Extroverted, Earnest, and Earthy

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:34:00 +0000

Today I'm honored to host Paula Chase Hyman, author of the Del Rio Bay series of books and co-founder of The Brown Bookshelf, a site "designed to push awareness of the myriad of African American voices writing for young readers."

With humor and a clear eye, Maryland author Paula Chase sees straight to the heart of today's teen culture. —Washington Parent

Briefly describe Paula Chase Hyman at age fourteen.

It’s probably going to come as no surprise that I had a similar life to my character, Mina. I was a really active and outgoing teen, running track and cheerleading. My weekends were always full either hanging out with my parents, because I was an only child, or in most cases being with my best friend Nicki. We’d spend whole weekends at the mall actively boy chasing then get home and, for hours, get lost in exchanging stories about these characters we’d made up. I have no complaints about my teen years.

Would you ever write a book with a white protagonist? Why or why not?

Sure. If the character spoke strongly to me and “told” me she should be White, definitely. The Lizzie character in my series is White and writing her was no different than writing Mina or Cinny. It’s weird. The race of the character isn’t really a conscious thought when I write. Maybe it’s because I’m African American that my protags end up being the same. But then that doesn’t explain why my WIP is about a bi-racial (Korean and African American) girl. The characters come to me however they come and I act on it.

Would you write a boy protagonist?

Yes, if he spoke strongly enough to me and I felt I could capture his spirit authentically. The good thing about writing my series was it was akin to writing an ensemble show. Michael and JZ were central characters and I felt I captured them well. And since the guys in the series took the stage for Flipping The Script, it’s pretty close to me writing a “boy” book. But my golden rule is – as long as I can feel that character in my head, I’ll write it. With the popularity of vamps and werewolves, I’ve often wondered if I could write that sort of book. There’s a part of me that feels I can’t but I know if such a story came to me strong enough I could.

Could you describe your path to publication of the Del Rio Bay series? Describe a “low” moment and a “high” moment.

I think my path was shorter than “average.” From final manuscript to Kensington acquiring it was only three years. I wrote So Not The Drama in about two months in 2003 and wrote Don’t Get It Twisted in one month, directly after.

Then I spent the next two years looking for an agent. A low was when I’d been working with this one agent for a year. He was trying to help me get the manuscript in publishable shape. There no promises to rep me. He was just being a great guiding source, but I felt like if I got it ready he’d take me on. After a year he admitted he still wasn’t passionate enough about my writing to rep it. He said my writing was too earnest for the YA market, at the time. It hurt because my style is my style. I knew he was thinking of his chances of selling it and that it wasn’t personal. But it was still very personal to me because that earnest edge is simply me. I took about four months off from writing and the agent search after that.

My current agent got my style and felt it was something we could use to our advantage. A high moment was getting the call from my agent when the first two books sold. It was funny. I still remember her telling me how much they were offering and I clearly remember thinking “thousand?” Because the number wasn’t something I was expecting because I’d heard that most first time authors were lucky to get $5,000. That was also my first real lesson in that any and every number touted in publishing is subjective!

If you had to give some “words of wisdom” to a young writer of color who wants to write books for teens and get published, what would they be?

Don’t let anyone box you in. It would be easy for a young writer of color to look at the literary landscape and become very discouraged because still, much of what’s out there is somewhat “typical” of what authors of color are supposed to write. But never let that stop you. As challenging and frustrating as the market can be, never let it dampen the story you want to tell.

Go wild. Imagine a pinnacle achievement or dream that you’d love to see come true in your career as a writer. A Newbery award acceptance in a shimmery gown, a front page story in USA Today, a segment on Oprah ...?

Geez, my moment is going to come off so boring. But honestly, a pinnacle achievement for me would be success defined by making enough money from my novels to live comfortably, i.e. a little better than I currently live. That’s it. That’s all. All I want from my career is that I can do it full-time and actually sustain or enhance my current lifestyle. See, told you my answer would be a snoozer.

Au contraire, you're always spellbinding, Ms. Paula. I especially love following you on twitter. Thanks for chilling with us on the Fire Escape.

Managing Your Online Presence SALON

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:50:00 +0000

Managing Your Online Presence:
Websites, Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and More
Speakers: Mitali Perkins and Deborah Sloan

NESCBWI Salon
A program for published authors and illustrators of books for children and teenagers.

Saturday, November 14, 2009, 10:00 - 2:30
Hartman Hall, Acton Congregational Church
12 Concord Rd., Acton, MA
Cost: $35.00 for SCBWI members, $45.00 for non-SCBWI members
Lunch included, limited to 50 participants

Worried your publisher can't do enough to get your work noticed? Feel constrained when it comes to time, money, or technological know-how? Learn some simple tips to streamline your use of websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, videos, and other online promotional tools.

Mitali Perkins is the author of RICKSHAW GIRL (Charlesbridge), SECRET KEEPER (Delacorte), and several other books for young readers. She has taught seminars on author branding and online promotion at various writers' conferences.

Deborah Sloan connects books and readers through her marketing and promotion firm Deborah Sloan and Company, her Picnic Basket blog for teachers and librarians, and the newly created KidsBuzz.

For more information and registration Form, visit the New England Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators.

Hope to see you there!

Poetry Friday: Coconut Cowgirl

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:20:00 +0000

Enjoy the poem that tied for third prize this year in my annual poetry contest for teens between cultures. Read it aloud for the rocking Fijian rhythm.

Coconut Cowgirl
by Hosanna, Fiji/USA, Age 16

Island princess, barefoot and brown
Classroom’s a forest, birds all around
Happy go lucky, no need for worry
Me go slow when me go, no reason to hurry.

But soldiers they come, and rebels they fight
Running to safety, run through the night
Get on an airplane, fly up so high
Over the dateline, me stubborn to cry

Land in a desert, tumbleweed brown
Mountains of purple, live in a town
Girls they be laughing, my shoes be too small
Boys they be jealous, I outrun them all

Lonely and weary, accent so strong
Teacher so phony, me don’t belong
“Hey! little girl, where you come from?
Looks like you cooked too long in the sun!”

“I’m not a racist! My best friends are brown,
Just don’t let my father see you hanging around.”
Me smile and pretend me don’t understand
Me choke back my shame, hide tears with my hand.

Me don’t wear lipstick, me don’t use perfume
Me don’t need TV or big living room
Me not a cowgirl, me eyes they not blue
No matter I try, me won’t ever be you.

Me want to go home, climb a coconut tree
Me want to eat mango, drink lemon-leaf tea.
Me hate this whole town, its shiny brick houses
Me hate wearing wool and me hate starched white blouses.

Me want to go fishing, pick pink and red flowers
And listen to Nana talk story for hours
Me want to be barefoot and swim in blue sea
Me want to see people who look just like me.

America’s promise, Land of the Free
Liberty shining from sea to sea
Be who you are, but learn how we be
Be who you are, but be just like we.

Me tired and sad, me have no friend
Me thinking it better if all this would end
And then through sorrow, eyes seeking mine
A friend understanding, quiet and kind.

Me now hears her voice of truth and of hope,
Freedom is ringing! Hope is springing!
Me lift my crying eyes and stand to see,
Waiting there for me, my Liberty.

Photo courtesy of satanaperkele via Creative Commons.

Poetry Friday is hosted this week by Becky Laney at Becky's Book Reviews.

Magic Carpet: Books, Identity, and Assimilation

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:17:00 +0000

We've been talking about books as windows and mirrors this week on the Fire Escape. First off, I'm convinced that "mainstream" North American kids and teens can and will enjoy books as windows into other worlds. We should expect them to as much as we do adult readers.

But I also believe that younger teens and tweens especially need to see themselves in stories. Here's an essay I wrote several years ago about about how such books might have helped during the stage when I was rejecting my culture of origin. It was originally published in Teaching Tolerance, and comes with a discussion guide they created for use in the middle school classroom. (Note: In the photo, that's me to the left of Baba.)

Magic Carpet: Books, Identity, and Assimilation

by Mitali Perkins

I had a magic carpet once. It used to soar to a world of monsoon storms, princesses with black braids, ferocious dragons, and talking birds.

“Ek deen chilo akta choto rajkumar,” my father would begin, and the rich, round sounds of the Bangla language took me from our cramped New York City apartment to a marble palace in ancient India.

Americans made fun of my father’s lilting accent and the strange grammatical twists his sentences took in English. What do they know? I thought, perching happily beside him.

In Bangla, he added his own creative flourishes to classic tales by Rabindranath Tagore or Sukumar Roy. He embellished folktales told by generations of ancestors, making me chuckle or catch my breath. “Tell another story, Dad,” I’d beg.

But then I learned to read. Greedy for stories, I devoured books in the children’s section of the library. In those days, it was easy to conclude that any tale worth publishing originated in the so-called West, was written in English, and featured North American or European characters.

Slowly, insidiously, I began to judge my heritage through colonial eyes. I asked my mother not to wear a sari, her traditional dress, when she visited me at school.

I avoided the sun so that the chocolate hue of my skin couldn’t darken. The nuances and cadences of my father’s Bangla began to grate on my ears. “Not THAT story again, Dad,” I’d say. “I’m reading right now.”

My father didn’t give up easily. He tried teaching me to read Bangla, but I wasn’t interested. Soon, I no longer came to sit beside him, and he stopped telling stories altogether.

As an adult, I’ve struggled to learn to read Bangla. I repudiate any definition of beauty linked to a certain skin color. I’ve even lived in Bangladesh to immerse myself in the culture.

These efforts help, but they can’t restore what I’ve lost. Once a child relinquishes her magic carpet, she and her descendants lose it forever.

My children, for example, understand only a word or two in Bangla. Their grandfather half-heartedly attempts to spin a tale for them in English, and they listen politely.

“Is it okay to go play?” they ask, as soon as he’s done. I sigh and nod, and they escape, their American accents sounding foreign inside my father’s house.

“Tell another story, Dad,” I ask, pen in hand, and he obliges. My father’s tales still have the power to carry me to a faraway world. The Bangla words weave the same colorful patterns in my imagination.

My pen, however, like his own halting translation, is unable to soar with them. It scavenges in English for as evocative a phrase, as apt a metaphor, and falls short. I can understand enough Bangla to travel with my father but am not fluent enough to take English-speakers along on the journey.

My decision to leave mother tongue and culture behind might have been inevitable during the adolescent passage of rebellion and self-discovery. But I wonder if things could have turned out differently.

What if I’d stumbled across a translation of Tagore or Roy in the library, for example? “Here’s a story Dad told me!” I imagine myself thinking, leafing through the pages. “It doesn’t sound the same in English. Maybe I should try reading it in Bangla.”

Or, what if a teacher had handed me a book about a girl who ate curry with her fingers, like me? Except that this girl was in a hurry to grow up so she could wrap and tuck six yards of silk around herself, just like her mother did.

“Wear the blue sari to the parent-teacher meeting, Ma,” I might have urged.

Children growing up between cultures today have access to more stories than I did. A few tales originating in their languages have been translated, illustrated and published.

Characters who look and dress and eat like them fill the pages of some award-winning books. But it’s not enough. Many continue to give up proficiency in their mother tongues and cultures.

“Here’s a story from YOUR world,” I want to tell them. “See how valuable you are?”

“Here’s a book in YOUR language. See how precious it is?”

If we are convincing enough, a few of them might transport us someday to amazing destinations through the power of a well-woven tale.

Teens, Tweens, and Secret Reading

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:37:00 +0000

After our discussion about books as mirrors or windows at different stages of life, I'm setting up a tentative hypothesis. Ready? Here it is:

Elementary-aged kids and upper high-schoolers are more open to fiction with protagonists who are markedly different than they are when it comes to race, class, or nationality.

During early adolescence, fifth through ninth grade, most young readers buzz about and share books featuring protagonists they hope to resemble. Also, if everybody's reading it, or watching it, or playing it, odds are they'll want to, also.

If I'm right, a problem arises for tweens and young teens who aren't part of the mainstream nor bolstered by a strong community affirming their cultural or class identities. Because of a desire to fit in, do they fear reading books in public featuring heroes who resemble them ethnically or socially? Or even a "problem" book about one of their "problems"?

Picture an overweight seventh-grader reading a book about a fat kid, for example. He or she might want, need, and love that book, but will only read it covertly, under the covers, with a flashlight. And definitely won't want to discuss it over dinner with Mom.

In middle school, when I was desperately trying to overcome the distance between myself and the all-white, all born-in-the-USA crowd around me, would I have wanted a teacher or librarian to hand me one of my own books? Would I have wanted a friend's parent to ask what I thought about a film like Cheetah Girls: One World, set in India? Not in front of everybody else, that's for sure. (Yes, that's me in those trendy high-waisted short shorts all the other girls were wearing. Remember: my mother never showed her legs in public.)

But if s/he got one of my books to the early teen version of me secretly, I'd like to think that The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen or the First Daughter books might have helped in the squeeze between cultures.

By the time I was a junior in high school, I was confident enough to engage an adult in a discussion about a film or book featuring something Indian in front of my peers. But in seventh grade? No way.

How do we connect tweens and young teens to stories that they can read covertly during that stage — stories they might love but skip thanks to the pressure to conform? Teachers, parents, librarians, booksellers, how do you do it?

Five Good Twitter Gifts

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:20:00 +0000

I'll admit it. I'm a bit of a social media maniac. Why, Mitali, why? you might be asking. Let me share five sweet outcomes of my involvement with Twitter, moving from the sublime to the practical:

Getting to know a slew of fabulous New England independent booksellers as well as local authors and illustrators via Kids Heart Authors Day, not to mention making a good buddy and colleague in Deborah Sloan, marketing maven. (Now Publisher's Weekly is hosting a National Bookstore Day, and I'm not beyond thinking that imitation is a form of flattery.)
The chance to shift from a myopic stare at my own book promotion to a wider vision of connecting kids to many great stories via Twitter Book Parties.
Editor Pradipta Sarkar of HarperCollins India found me on Twitter, and we chatted back and forth about my books via 140-character tweets. Now three of them are going to be published in India (the books, not the tweets.)
Books galore, books a-plenty. For example, Jennifer Hart of Harper Perennial and Harper paperbacks discovered I was a big Betsy-Tacy fan via my tweets, so she sent me copies of their re-issues. I got them today:
Several speaking gigs, like this one at the California School Library Association Convention on November 20, 2009 (notice that's just when I start to get the winter blues here in Boston), were fully arranged via Twitter.

Got any examples of your own when it comes to how social media has enhanced your writing career? Share them here and I'll use them for fodder at an NESCBWI Salon Deborah Sloan and I are leading this November.

Are Books Windows or Mirrors?

mitaliperk@yahoo.com (Mitali Perkins) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:56:00 +0000

Think of a novel you enjoyed recently. How did the protagonist remind you of yourself? On the other hand, what did you glean about living a different kind of life?

My guess is that you can answer both questions fairly well, because the best novels serve as windows and mirrors. Jhumpa Lahiri's books, for example, may be more of a mirror to me than you, but chances are you enjoy them as much as I do.

The publishing industry doesn't seem to expect adults to appreciate only those books that are mostly mirror-ish. Why, then, do we seem to hold that expectation for young readers? Here are a couple of phrases I overhear when people are talking about Kid/YA books:

"I just don't have that kind of population in my town. Nobody's going to want to read it."

"Hey, I'm going to need more multicultural books now. My community's changing."

So here's my twelve-second question for you (Note: If you write books for kids, you, too, can wear a muu-muu to work):

Are Books Windows or Mirrors? on 12seconds.tv

My hope is that the answer is no, but we'll see what the experts say. Wouldn't it be great if we promoted novels that serve as windows and mirrors for the kids, teens, and tweens in our communities? Because with the right slant of light, every window becomes a mirror.