Around the Web with OAV Authors: September 2017

Note: Please enjoy this rerun of last year’s Back to School post.

You already know that you can find our team’s individual profiles right here on the OAV site. You can also find links to their websites in the right-hand sidebar of every OnlineAuthorVisits.com page. We try to make it easy for schools, libraries, and other groups to get to know us so you can select the right publishing pro(s) for your important virtual events.

So, for this Back to School edition of “Around the Web,” we thought we’d make it even easier to connect with our authors and author-illustrators by rounding up direct links to each OAVer’s primary public social media pages. Think: Facebook author pages, Twitter profiles, and writing blogs. You’re on your own for Instagram, Google+ Pinterest, Tumblr, Goodreads, YouTube, and others — but do let your fingers do the typing in those platforms’ search fields. You will get OAV-member results!

Ready? Let’s go!

Row 1, L to R: Patrick Jennings, Janet Lee Carey, Joan Holub, Dia Calhoun. Row 2: Dori Hillestad Butler, Lisa L. Owens, Trudi Trueit, Suzanne Williams, Deb Lund. Row 3: Erik Brooks, Clare Hodgson Meeker, Laurie Ann Thompson, Dana Sullivan, David Patneaude. (Missing: Dori Jones Yang.)

 

Dori Jones Yang (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Dori Jones Yang

Suzanne Williams (author): Goddess Girls series Facebook page

Trudi Trueit (author): Facebook page, Twitter

Laurie Ann Thompson (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Dana Sullivan (author-illustrator): Twitter, blog

David Patneaude (author): Twitter, blog

Lisa L. Owens (author): Twitter, blog

Clare Hodgson Meeker (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Deb Lund (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blogs

Patrick Jennings (author): Twitter, blog

Joan Holub (author-illustrator): Facebook page, Goddess Girls series Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Janet Lee Carey (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog 1, blog 2

Dia Calhoun (author): Twitter, blog

Dori Hillestad Butler (author): Twitter, blog

Erik Brooks (author-illustrator): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Martha Brockenbrough (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

That covers the whole crew!

And, while you’re out and about taking a peek at our wonderful team’s various profiles, don’t forget to connect with OAV’s official Facebook page. We’d love to see — and hear from you — there!

 

 

Good News from the Online Author Visits Team!

Martha Brockenbrough reports that BACK TO SCHOOL WITH BIGFOOT is out this month. Kirkus said it “will have readers in stitches.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON, REVOLUTIONARY comes out in September and received a starred review from School Library Journal, which called the book “highly enjoyable” and “well researched.”

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Trudi Trudi joins the faculty of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Conference in Sea Tac, WA this summer. On Saturday, July 22, she’ll be teaching a conference workshop on how to infuse your children’s manuscript with engaging, inspirational, and unforgettable characters. The conference runs from July 20 – 23 and features more than 30 agents and editors, along with 75 workshops on everything from the craft of writing to marketing your work. To learn more or to register go to www.pnwa.org

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Dana Sullivan had a fantastic visit to Horance Mann Elementary, in Redmond, WA last week. Librarian Shannon Leonard had painted a huge welcome poster for him, including a rendering of the title page from Kay Kay’s Alphabet Safari! The first assembly was for the younger kids, who were so well behaved and attentive, listening to Kay Kay and its inspiration (www.starofhopecentre.org). For some reason, they got a big kick out of Dana ripping the paper off the flip chart he was drawing on. Big laughs. Next up was the graphic novel workshop with the older kids, where they drew along, making facial expressions and body language and then drawing their own stories and superpowers. Dana told them how much the little kids liked it when he ripped the flip chart, so they started giving him raucus applause every time, too. Dana says he wishes he’d known about this cheap trick for getting applause long ago! He’s ending all his presentations with a paper rip from now on.

 

Dana and Horace Mann librarian, Shannon Leonard, with the poster she painted

Dana draws “ANGRY!” while the kids draw along. (Note the new bunny slippers)

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Charles Martin Smith, director of the hit kid’s movie Dolphin Tale, has signed on to direct the screen adaptation of Patrick Jennings‘s 1996 novel, Faith and the Electric Dogs. The film will be produced by Kaleidoscope Media.

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Dori Hillestad Butler has a story about her dog in CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL: THE DOG REALLY DID THAT? 101 STORIES OF MIRACLES, MISCHIEF AND MAGICAL MOMENTS, which will be released on August 8.

If you’re at ALA in Chicago on Saturday, June 24, visit Dori at the Baker & Taylor booth at 9:30am, the Peachtree booth at 10:00am and the Grosset & Dunlap booth at 4:00. She will be signing copies of her King & Kayla books and her Haunted Library books.

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Suzanne Williams had a great Skype visit with fourth graders at Edinboro Elementary in Edinboro, PA on May 31st. Although she was in Oslo, Norway at the time, visiting her daughter and granddaughter, the magic of the internet (and, luckily, a good connection), made the distance unimportant. The students had terrific questions, and librarian Michelle Androstic did a fantastic job of moderating and keeping things moving along. Such fun!

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It’s been a busy time for Laurie Ann Thompson: She just finished two fulls days of school visits doing assemblies and writing workshops for grades K-5, the completed and revised manuscript for the second book in the Two Truths and a Lie series was just delivered to the publisher, and the promotion for the first book in the series (which releases on June 27th) has kicked into high gear! The blog tour officially started on June 5th at Librarian’s Quest and will continue right up until the launch with all kinds of fun interviews, reviews, and giveaways.

In other good news, Emmanuel’s Dream was nominated for Arizona’s 2018 Grand Canyon Reader Award. The book appears (in alphabetical order) right after The Cart That Carried Martin by Eve Bunting, who is one of Laurie’s all-time favorite authors, so it literally took her breath away when she first saw the list.

Good News from the Online Author Visits Team!

Trudi Trueit has a new book out for tween readers, MY TOP SECRET DARES & DON’TS (Simon & Schuster/Aladdin MIX). It’s the story of 12-year-old Kestrel, who travels to Whistler, BC to help her grandmother run the family ski lodge. However, Kestrel soon realizes the business is in dire trouble and it’s up to her to save it. SIGNED hard cover and paperback copies of the book are available through University Books in Mill Creek, WA. To order yours, call (425)385-3530.

Also, Trudi has inked a deal with National Geographic for a new middle grade fiction series, called EXPLORER ACADEMY. The books will focus on a twelve-year-old boy, who joins an elite group of young explorers. They travel the world, uncovering artifacts, protecting endangered species, and making new discoveries. Naturally, danger, intrigue, and more than a few family secrets give him plenty to tangle with in this illustrated action series with a dash of science fiction. The series will debut in 2018. Watch for more details or sign up for Trudi’s e-newelstter at www.truditrueit.com.

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Laurie Ann Thompson‘s upcoming book, TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: IT’S ALIVE! (co-authored with Ammi-Joan Paquette) was chosen by the Junior Library Guild as a Fall 2017 selection for the Elementary Nonfiction category (for grades 2-6). It also received its first professional review, from Kirkus Reviews, which called it, in part, “An engaging, entertaining compendium that will inform and confound.”

And, there was good news for EMMANUEL’S DREAM, too. First, it was selected to the 2017 IBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities. Second, Brooks Global Studies elementary school in North Carolina chose EMMANUEL’S DREAM as their all-school read during the month of March, which included Skype visits with Thompson for every grade level and a surprise in-person visit from Emmanuel! You can read more about their event, and even see a video, here.

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Dana Sullivan is at work on revisions to his sketches for MY RED VELVET CAPE and apologizes to the legions of readers for keeping them breathlessly awaiting news about whether this book would be published or not. YES! It’s to be published Spring 2018 and the art is due in August. But first he’s got to get the sketches revised and approved. A book is really a team effort, with everybody pushing to make the book the best it can be. The team includes an art director and mine is helping me with pacing to get the most emotional bang for your book. (Ha! He says he’s gonna keep that one.) The revisions are not huge, just tweaks to make things clearer, especially to young readers. For instance, the art director asked that these two spreads

be combined into one to keep the flow moving along.

In this image he was asked to remove the teacher, because at this age, kids really do NOT want a teacher to help them get into the bathroom (even if they might need it).

Dana really loves that teacher, so he’s moved her to another page. Her name is Vanessa (“Vern”) Aquilaria, by the way.

Now it’s back to work on revisions for Dana!

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Here’s a covers reveal for Lisa L. Owens‘s titles in Lerner’s new Primary Source Explorers series. Both books will come out in August 2017.

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Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams are celebrating two new releases this month. NYX THE MYSTERIOUS (Book 22 in the GODDESS GIRLS series for ages 8 – 12), and HERNES AND THE HORSE WITH WINGS (Book 13 in the HEROES IN TRAINING, created by Joan and Suzanne and written by Tracey West for ages 6 – 9.)

In NYX THE MYSTERIOUS, Nyx, the bringer of night in Greek mythology hopes to convince the students and staff at Mount Olympus Academy of the importance of her job. But no one seems appreciate what she does until, quite by accident, they experience what it’s like to have unending day.

In HERMES AND THE HORSE WITH WINGS, Zeus and his fellow Olympians are on their most important quest ever; to find the winged horse that flew away with Zeus’s beloved magical thunderbolt.

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Dori Hillestad Butler‘s brand new KING & KAYLA series has received nice reviews from Booklist (“This title is a delightful series start that will have kids returning to read more about Kayla and King. It’s also a great introduction to mysteries, gathering facts, and analytical thinking for an unusually young set.”), Kirkus (“Dog lovers will fall hard for this series.”), Hornbook (“Repetition both within and between books helps boost confidence in beginning readers, as do the generous, plot-reinforcing illustrations…Each book allows plenty of room for predictions and provides a glimpse into the great payoff reading can deliver.”) and YA and Kids Books Central (“It’s great to see books with diverse characters, and King is a very appealing dog, with his love of all things food and his devotion to Kayla.”). Both books were selected as Junior Library Guild selections this spring and both books will appear in the May Scholastic book orders.

Book 3, KING & KAYLA AND THE CASE OF THE MYSTERIOUS MOUSE will be out in September and it was also chosen as a Junior Library Guild selection for Fall 2017. Here’s a cover reveal:

In other news, Haunted Library #1 is now available in Czech and books #2 and #3 are now available in Japanese:

Good News from the Online Author Visits Team!

Martha Brockenbrough’s novel, THE GAME OF LOVE AND DEATH, is up for an Audie Award in the YA category. These are awards given to the best audio recording. Susan Hanfield reads the book, and the audio version includes three songs Martha co-wrote with jazz singer Victoria Contreras.

And here’s the cover of her Sept. 5 release, a young adult biography of Alexander Hamilton.

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The first two books in Dori Hillestad Butler‘s new KING & KAYLA easy reader series launch on March 1. KING & KAYLA is the prequel her Edgar award winning BUDDY FILES series. Book 1, THE CASE OF THE MISSING DOG TREATS is a Junior Library Guild selection for March. Kirkus says, “Readers will connect with this charmingly misunderstood pup (along with his exasperated howls, excited tail wagging, and sheepish grins).”

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The revised digital version of David Patneaude’s EPITAPH ROAD is now available from Amazon. Kirkus says, “Will hook readers of The Hunger Games trilogy.”

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Laurie Ann Thompson was excited to receive the Advanced Reader Copies for her upcoming book, TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: IT’S ALIVE (co-authored with the fabulous Ammi-Joan Paquette). It’s equal parts thrilling and nerve-wracking to think that book buyers and reviewers across the country will soon be evaluating your book!

Her book EMMANUEL’S DREAM showed up recently on some very nice lists, including 10 Great Picture Books on Heroism (from Waking Brain Cells), 35 Picture Books for Young Activists (from All the Wonders), and Making an Impact: 25 Mighty Girl Books About Charity and Community Service (from A Mighty Girl). She also learned that it is the “One School, One Book” selection that all students, grades K-5, will be reading in March at the Brooks Global Studies Extended-Year Magnet School in North Carolina!

To top it off, she’s had several fantastic in-person school visits in the last month, which are always energizing and inspiring!

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For kids who love learning about natural disasters, Trudi Trueit had two new titles debut recently, DETECTING AVALANCHES and DETECTING VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS. Each book features simple text that explains how scientists use technology to predict these catastrophic events. The books include “How It Works” spreads, fun facts, sidebars, a disaster preparedness checklist and more! For readers ages 7 and up. Trudi is also OAV’s February Author of the Month, and she’s GIVING AWAY an advanced copy (ARC) of her upcoming fiction book, MY TOP SECRET DARES & DON’TS. Click HERE to enter the contest!

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Dori Jones Yang is delighted to reveal the cover for her new middle-grade novel, THE FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION OF BASEBALL. It’s a lively and nuanced story about two brothers sent to America by the Emperor of China in 1875, as part of a group of 120 boys who were to live with American families, learn English, study technology, and return home to modernize China. Readers will experience culture clash and some of the difficulties immigrant children have in adapting to life in the United States. For readers aged 10 to 14, the book will come out August 15, 2017, with SparkPress.

 

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Good News from the Online Author Visits Team!

Skype school visits have been a terrific way for author/illustrator Erik Brooks to expand the participation in his Presidential Polar Bear Post Card Project. After some terrific in-person conversations in Boston at ILA, Erik just did his first PPBPC Skype visit of the new school year with a fantastic group of second graders in Maryville, TN. You can read about it on the classroom blogspot here. With much thanks to teachers Alyson and Courtney for the awesome write up!

Erik also has a new cover reveal for his fist board book project, If I Were a Whale by Shelley Gill (Little Bigfoot, Feb. 2017) and a newly published paperback version of last fall’s The Runaway Tortilla (by Eric Kimmel) that published on Sept. 1st.

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For those attending the upcoming Write on the Sound Writers’ Conference in Edmonds, WA, Lisa L. Owens would love to see you at her session “Exploring Your Voice As a Children’s Writer.” The content is appropriate for writers at all levels, whether you’re already actively publishing or just starting to think about writing for the children’s market. It’s scheduled for Sunday, October 2, at 1:45 p.m.

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Laurie Ann Thompson was thrilled to receive her author copies of the Japanese version of My Dog Is the Best! She’s also looking forward to reading the English version at the Seattle Public Library’s Central Library storytime on October 1st from 11am to noon.

 

In addition, she’s excited to be joining the incredible team of authors at iNK (Inter­est­ing Non­fic­tion for Kids), which “pro­motes the use of non­fic­tion in classrooms through pro­grams that help teach­ers use real books to teach to cur­ricu­lum stan­dards in ways that excite and inspire students.” Stay tuned for more!

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Suzanne Williams and Joan Holub are going to be writing a new series together! THUNDER GIRLS (tentative title) will be their fourth co-written series. This time they’ll be delving into the world of Norse mythology and writing about tween-age gods and godesses at Asgard Academy, which is located in the top one of nine worlds under the sheltering branches of the World-Tree, Yggdrasil. Books 1 and 2 (of an initial four) will pub Spring 2018. Suzanne is especially excited about this new series as she visits Norway often. Her daughter (and now a granddaughter too!) live in Oslo.

The Norse god, Odin, rides on his eight-legged horse, Sleipner, in this painted wooden frieze, one of many depicting Norse myths on the side of Oslo’s town hall.

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And if you’re attending the Washington Library Association’s conference on October 15 at Highline College in Des Moines, WA, come hear OAV members Erik Brooks, Dori Hillestad Butler, Martha Brockenbrough, Janet Lee Carey, Clare Hodgson Meeker and Dana Sullivan talk about their new books at two “Behind the Books” sessions. Deb Lund will be moderating the elementary session and Laurie Ann Thompson will be moderating the middle and high school session.

Around the Web with OAV Authors: August 2016

You already know that you can find our team’s individual profiles right here on the OAV site. You can also find links to their websites in the right-hand sidebar of every OnlineAuthorVisits.com page. We try to make it easy for schools, libraries, and other groups to get to know us so you can select the right publishing pro(s) for your important virtual events.

So, for this Back to School edition of “Around the Web,” we thought we’d make it even easier to connect with our authors and author-illustrators by rounding up direct links to each OAVer’s primary public social media pages. Think: Facebook author pages, Twitter profiles, and writing blogs. You’re on your own for Instagram, Google+ Pinterest, Tumblr, Goodreads, YouTube, and others — but do let your fingers do the typing in those platforms’ search fields. You will get OAV-member results!

Ready? Let’s go!

Row 1, L to R: Patrick Jennings, Janet Lee Carey, Joan Holub, Dia Calhoun. Row 2: Dori Hillestad Butler, Lisa L. Owens, Trudi Trueit, Suzanne Williams, Deb Lund. Row 3: Erik Brooks, Clare Hodgson Meeker, Laurie Ann Thompson, Dana Sullivan, David Patneaude. (Missing: Dori Jones Yang.)

 

Dori Jones Yang (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Dori Jones Yang

Suzanne Williams (author): Goddess Girls series Facebook page

Trudi Trueit (author): Facebook page, Twitter

Laurie Ann Thompson (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Dana Sullivan (author-illustrator): Twitter, blog

David Patneaude (author): Twitter, blog

Lisa L. Owens (author): Twitter, blog

Clare Hodgson Meeker (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Deb Lund (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blogs

Patrick Jennings (author): Twitter, blog

Joan Holub (author-illustrator): Facebook page, Goddess Girls series Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Janet Lee Carey (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog 1, blog 2

Dia Calhoun (author): Twitter, blog

Dori Hillestad Butler (author): Twitter, blog

Erik Brooks (author-illustrator): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Martha Brockenbrough (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

That covers the whole crew!

And, while you’re out and about taking a peek at our wonderful team’s various profiles, don’t forget to connect with OAV’s official Facebook page. We’d love to see — and hear from you — there!

 

 

Author of the Month: Martha Brockenbrough (and Alexander Hamilton)

I was the second of five kids, and we all shared textbooks when we could. My younger siblings especially appreciated inheriting my U.S. History textbook—and it wasn’t because I’d taken exceptional care of it.

They appreciated the comic relief.

Throughout the margins of this impossibly dull text, I’d written obnoxious, rude, and (I thought) hilarious comments, adding better facts. You know, things like the death of president Polk by chronic diarrhea. (Naturally, I drew a picture.)

We all know, as grownups, that history is important. We also know why: There really isn’t a better way to understand human nature than to study how we’ve behaved over the millennia. But still. The study of history often does a terrific job of removing humanity from the equation. There are dates. People (white men, usually). Events that, while momentous, feel bloodless.

How do you make history interesting? Story is one way, and here, images help. For example, the revolutionary battle at Germantown becomes specific and memorable when you see the note Alexander Hamilton wrote on behalf of George Washington afterward.

It’s a bit hard to read, but it indicates that a dog with a tag with General Howe’s name on it had crossed from the British side to the American side. On behalf of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton was returning the dog. The Americans had lost that battle, in part because of fog. This is also why the dog got lost—the poor thing was disoriented, no doubt because of the fog and the noise.

The note reveals a lot about the men involved. Washington had lost the battle and naturally feared he’d lose the war. But he cared about the fate of his enemy’s dog. (Or at least that’s what I think. Other people may have different ideas–and the discussion of possibilities is the vehicle to understanding and empathy.)

How’d I come across this note? It was part of the research I’m conducting on a biography of Alexander Hamilton. The note is one of many, many pieces of correspondence Hamilton wrote on behalf of Washington, and it’s a small window into humanity—which is, of course, the point of history.

Understanding history is never about memorizing all of the dates and people and places. It’s about understanding why some people have courage and some do not. What different principles are, and how those play out. It’s as much in the small gestures as it is in the big battles–and those big battles tend to be the culmination of small gestures and the larger patterns those gestures create.

To make this livelier for your students, find stories that illustrate larger points. Find images that can be interpreted in multiple ways. Encourage them to do the same. It’s not about regurgitating facts; it’s about incorporating those into your understand of the world and its ways, so you can make decisions based on history—which really does repeat itself.

The biography of Alexander Hamilton will be out in the fall of 2017. I’m looking forward to talking about it with your students!

Good News from the Online Author Visits Team!

Erik Brooks happily welcomed his newest picture book, Later, Gator! (Sterling) into the world on July 19th. He was also excited to participate in the recent International Literacy Association Conference in Boston, MA, both as an exhibitor for the Alaska Wilderness League (continuing to share his Polar Bear Post Card Project with teachers and librarians around the country!) and as a presenter for the Children’s Book Council’s “Humor in Children’s Literature” discussion. Erik and fellow Children’s Choices selection recipient Paul Czajak, both talked about the role of humor in their work in advance of the Council’s official presentation of the 2016 Children’s Choices list. More specifically, Erik’s artwork in The Runaway Tortilla (Graphic Arts), by Eric Kimmel was the subject of his talk.

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The Hide & Seek Ghost, which is book 8 in Dori Hillestad Butler‘s Haunted Library series,  releases on August 16. Book 8 was originally supposed to be the end of the series, but Dori is happy to report there will be a book 9 (The Ghost at the Movie Theater, which will be out February, 2017) and a Haunted Library Super Special (The Underground Ghosts, which will be out July 2017)

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Laurie Ann Thompson traveled to Orlando last month for the ALA Annual Conference, where she was presented with the Schneider Family Book Award for Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah.

She was also the keynote speaker, via Skype, at the Summer Institute for Human Rights and Genocide Studies, a one-week summer camp program held in West Seneca, NY, dedicated to providing in-depth human rights education for local high school students and teachers. This summer’s theme was “What You Do Matters—Be a Changemaker.”

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Ta da! It’s a cover reveal for Trudi Trueit‘s new tween novel, MY TOP SECRET DARES & DON’Ts (Aladdin MIX). It’s the story of 12-year-old Kestrel Adams, an American, who heads north of the border to help save her grandmother’s ski lodge from developers. To succeed, she’ll have to battle a pair of evil twins, save a rock star dangling from a ski lift, and hope a little luck hops her way. DARES & DON’TS is set for publication in the spring of 2017 and is Trudi’s third title for Aladdin MIX. To read more about the book or see Trudi’s other MIX and middle grade titles, visit www.truditrueit.com

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Suzanne Williams and Joan Holub have two new books out in August in their co-written Goddess Girls and Grimmtastic Girls series: Goddess Girls #20: Calliope the Muse and Grimmtastic Girls #8: Gretel Pushes Back.

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And if you happen to be at the PNWA (Pacific Northwest Writers Association) Writer’s Conference this weekend, come hear Dori Hillestad Butler, Dia Calhoun, Clare Hodgson Meeker, and Lisa L. Owens at noon on Saturday. We’ll be sharing our own personal tales of struggle and triumph on a panel entitled “Warrior Stories: True Tales of Survival in the Writing Biz.”

 

Around the Web with OAV Authors: June 2016

This installment of “Around the Web” is brought to you through the soft-focus lens of #TBT: Each item in this quick roundup of random OAVer web sightings features events and information from at least five years ago!

In 2010, reviewer Elizabeth Bird raved about the super-fun chapter book Guinea Dog by Patrick Jennings.

Deb Lund discussed her writing life and the 2008 picture book Monsters on Machines during an episode of “Book Bites for Kids,” a BlogTalkRadio show.

Trudi Trueit’s funny chapter book No Girls Allowed (Dogs Okay) received high praise in this 2010 video review by a young reader.

Here’s the 2010 trailer for David Patneaude’s YA novel Thin Wood Walls, a story about a Japanese-American boy’s experiences in the aftermath of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Enjoy this thought-provoking set of discussion questions for readers of Janet Lee Carey’s 2004 novel The Double Life of Zoe Flynn.

Lisa L. Owens enjoys talking with kids about the biographies she’s written, and about ten years ago ReadWriteThink published her six-session instructional plan for Grades 3–5 on the topic, “Writers’ Workshop: The Biographical Sketch.”

Here’s a great downloadable teacher guide to accompany Do You Know the Monkey Man? — a 2005 mystery by Dori Hillestad Butler.

And, finally, check out Erik Brooks’s 2008 “Something About the Author” bio to see his impressive list of accomplishments from that era; then take a peek at his current website to see just how much work he’s produced in the meantime.

 

Dori Jones Yang, Author of the Month: Let’s Hear It for Diverse Books!

My absolute happiest moments as a writer are those when I am talking to students, either in person or online via skype. It energizes me to see bright, curious faces and answer questions from eager readers. Perhaps this is because I have many vivid memories from my own childhood.

When I was in fourth grade, I decided I wanted to be a writer. So I went to the public library and looked up my name in the card catalogue. I had a common last name—Jones—and a first name that is not common now but was fairly ordinary then—Dorothy. I was sorely disappointed to discover that there were already several authors with my same name!  I kept writing any way.

By the time I was in high school, I had taken the nickname of Dori–borrowed from one of Tolkien’s dwarfs. I decided I should marry a man with an unusual last name. That would solve my “common name” problem. And it did!

What I never expected is that I would marry a Chinese man with the name Yang. Where I grew up, in Ohio, there were lots of white faces and black faces but no Asian ones. No kids who looked like my daughter, Emily. Today Asian Americans are the fastest growing group of students in American schools. Like all kids, they enjoy finding books with characters who look like them.

My Chinese-American daughter is the reason I started writing books for children. I worked as a journalist for Business Week for fifteen years, including eight years covering China from Hong Kong. Back in Seattle, my first book was about the origins of Starbucks Coffee Company, and it reached several bestseller lists. But Emily, at age ten, thought that was boring.

So I decided to write a books for kids her age. The Secret Voice of Gina Zhang is about a girl from China who arrives at school in Seattle speaking no English. I related to her because I remember how difficult it was for me to learn Chinese when I was living in Singapore. Most kids who immigrate to the U.S. learn English quickly, so I gave Gina another problem: She gets so nervous in front of other people that she can’t speak at all—in any language—at school. That makes it hard to learn English—and to make friends. An overly talkative classmate named Priscilla brings Gina out of her shell.

I was very lucky with that book. I heard about a contest by the publisher of the American Girls books, then called Pleasant Company Publications. They offered a prize of $10,000 to encourage more authors to write for them. The first year I submitted to the contest, I lost. But I got an encouraging letter from an editor. So the next year, I submitted the book that became The Secret Voice of Gina Zhang. It won the contest!

After that, I wrote a young adult book, Daughter of Xanadu, set in China at the time of Marco Polo and Kublai Khan. It turns history on its head, writing from the point of view of an Asian girl instead of a white male. Emmajin, granddaughter of the Khan, wants to become a soldier in the Mongol Army and fight. But when she learns about other countries and cultures, through Marco Polo, and experiences war herself, she decides she’d rather work for peace.

Most of my author visits so far have been to discuss Daughter of Xanadu. Middle school teachers have found that the topic works well with humanities studies about the history of China, the Silk Road, war and peace, and explorers. When I come to schools in person, I bring lots of props from my travels: a miniature yurt, a toy Mongol soldier on horseback, a Mongolian dress (del), and two hats, for men and women. Kids love it. In fact, my soldier’s horse has broken his ankle many times from eager sixth-grade hands.

As you can imagine, I strongly believe in the cause “We Need Diverse Books.” It shocked me to learn that, although 37 percent of Americans are Hispanics or people of color, only 10 percent of children’s books feature such children. My daughter is biracial and bicultural, and my husband and I raised her to value her heritage on both sides. She grew up near Seattle, with many friends of different backgrounds. Often her teachers asked me to recommend books about Chinese kids—and, frankly, there were not many to choose from. So I wrote children’s books about strong, interesting Asian girls. My upcoming middle-grade novel is about a Chinese boy who comes to America in 1875—not as a laborer but as one of 120 boys sent by the Emperor in a grand experiment to modernize China.

I look forward to many more classroom visits with bright, curious readers of all backgrounds, encouraging children to read about characters from many cultures and to empathize with them.