Rajani LaRocca's Blog, page 27
August 11, 2020
A New Picture Book Announcement!
I’m utterly thrilled to have another picture book with Candlewick Press!
Although Aarav’s always in a hurry and his grandpa likes to take things slow, they find a way to make masala chai together every day. When Thatha gets hurt, chai goes from delicious to undrinkable, until Aarav realizes that some things are worth slowing down for. MASALA CHAI, FAST AND SLOW will be illustrated by incredible Neha Rawat Battish and will publish in 2023!!
August 9, 2020
Legit Kidlit!
I’m honored to be the first guest on Legit Kidlit, where Alexis and Tiffany, two awesome teachers, interview authors and spread book love! Check out Part 1 of my “interview” below, and subscribe to hear more from other wonderful authors!
August 6, 2020
The First Finished Hardcover of SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS!!
I got a special delivery from my editor Cheryl Klein at Lee & Low Books, and I opened it with the help of my dog, Boomer. It was the first finished copy of my debut picture book, SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS, gorgeously illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan, and I couldn’t be more delighted!! The book will publish on October 27, 2020, and you can preorder today! In the meantime, share in my joy by watching the video below!
August 1, 2020
The Middle Ground Book Fest!
I had such a blast being a part of the first-ever Middle Ground Book Fest! This virtual book festival takes place on YouTube on August 1-2, 2020 and focuses on middle grade books! I was part of a “Sibling Relationships” panel with wonderful authors Nicole Panteleakos, Katie Zhao, Mariama Lockington, Melanie Sumrow, and Gracie Dix. The panel was moderated by awesome Christina Ammirati. Watch the video below to see us chat about siblings in our books and in our lives! You can see the many, many other wonderful panels at the Middle Ground Book Fest here!
July 17, 2020
The Inaugural nErDCampPA!!
On July 16, 2020 I was so thrilled to be a part of the first-ever nErdCampPA!!
The day started off with an incredible keynote from Paula Chase on “How Convenience is Killing Reading”:
I participated in five panels, including:
“Diversity and #ownvoices in Kidlit” with Mayra Cuevas, Angela Shanté, Ismée Williams, and Ana Siqueira:
“Connecting Authors with Classrooms During a Pandemic” with Kirsten Larson, Anna Crowley Redding, Shelley Johannes, Chana Stiefel, and Lindsay Metcalf:
“Teaching STEAM Topics With Picture Books” with Vicky Fang, Carrie Finison, Kirsten Larson, and Cathy Breisacher:
“Verse Novels in the Classroom” with Chris Baron, Dusti Bowling, Laura Shovan, and Darlene Beck Jacobson:
And a panel for students on “Fantasy and Science Fiction in Middle Grade” with Katie Zhao, Joshua Levy, Carlos Hernandez, Nicole Valentine, Jennifer Camiccia, Kim Long, and Jake Burt!
The day ended with an awesome panel with The Brown Bookshelf, featuring Paula Chase, Kelly Starling Lyons, and Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich on Using Literature to Teach Anti-Racism!
Many thanks to the incredible educators who put this all together! I loved connecting with fellow authors and educators alike, and I can’t wait to do it again next year…hopefully in person? I got to try out this nifty new Zoom background:
And, along with so many other awesome authors, I made a FlipGrid Video introducing myself and my books! Check them all out here!
July 1, 2020
RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE Cover Reveal and ARC giveaway!
I am utterly thrilled to share the cover of my next middle grade novel, RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE, coming February 2, 2021 with Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins!
RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE is a novel-in-verse set in 1983 about 13-year-old Reha, the daughter of Indian immigrants, who feels torn between the worlds of her parents and her friends, her immigrant community and 1980s pop culture. But then her mother falls ills, and Reha’s whole life changes.
This is a story about about India and America, heritage and fitting in, Hindu mythology and 80s pop music, holding on and letting go. I can’t wait to share it with the world. But in the meantime, I CAN share the incredible cover!
It’s always an adventure and a special joy to see the cover developed for your book. The team at Quill Tree Books chose superstar book designer Erin Fitzsimmons and incredible artist Vrinda Zaveri to create the gorgeous cover for RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE, and I’m overjoyed to show it to you! My newsletter subscribers got to see the cover a day early and got to be in a special ARC giveaway, so sign up today to be included next time!
RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE is written in poetry, and I think you’ll agree that if a cover could be a poem, this would be it. It is filled with imagery and metaphors from the story, and I couldn’t be more delighted.
So, without further ado, here is the cover reveal for this novel of my heart! Make sure to have your speakers on, because it features a 1980’s-inspired song composed by my son!
Giveaway Time!
Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) for RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE are coming in July! Enter below for a chance to win one!
June 24, 2020
nErDCampNJ 2020: Virtual But Valuable!
I was thrilled to participate in nErDCampNJ 2020 with so many amazing authors and educators! Click below to view the panels I participated in:
Reading and Writing Verse Novels with Chris Baron and Laura Shovan:
Document/Notes Link
Balancing Research and Imagination in Fiction with Josh Levy, Nicole Melleby, and Naomi Milliner:
Document/Notes Link
There were many other fantastic panels in nErDCampNJ 2020, and you can find all the links here!
June 18, 2020
How About Those F & G’s?!
This week I got a very special delivery from my editor at Lee & Low Books! “Folded and Gathered” (F & G) copies of my debut picture book, SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS: A TALE OF MUSIC AND MATH, arrived at my house! An F & G is a copy (two copies in my case, which I didn’t realize until I opened the envelope 
June 13, 2020
A Fantastic Inaugural nErDCampCT!
I was thrilled to take part in the first annual nErDCampCT on Saturday, June 13, 2020!
This virtual conference brought together CT educators and librarians with authors from across the country. After a livestreamed YouTube meetup with everyone, we broke into different “rooms” with panels and more casual discussions on a variety of bookish topics.
I took part in a discussion on “Connecting Authors to Classrooms in Pandemic Times” with fellow Soaring20sPB authors Carrie Finison, Lindsay Metcalf, Christina Soontornvat, Kirsten Larson, and others.
I was also on a fantastic poetry panel with extraordinary poets/verse novelists Christy Mihaly, Dusti Bowling, Kip Wilson, Leslie Bulion, and Varsha Bajaj.
It’s a fact that the nonfiction panel I was on with Anika Denise, Christina Soontornvat, and Sarah Albee and moderated by Susannah Richards was excellent!
And then, a fabulous interactive session on fostering a love of nonfiction in K-2, which included Abi Cushman, Jenna Grodzicki, Jennifer Thermes, Janet Lawler, Valerie Bolling, and others.
At the end of an extraordinary day, all the participants met up again with a livestream video, and we created this word cloud:
Given the incredible day, we’d just had, I’d say that wrapped things up perfectly.
Huge thanks to the Connecticut Association of School Librarians for organizing such a fantastic nErDCamp! I can’t wait until next year!
An Fantastic Inaugural nErDCampCT!
I was thrilled to take part in the first annual nErDCampCT on Saturday, June 13, 2020!
This virtual conference brought together CT educators and librarians with authors from across the country. After a livestreamed YouTube meetup with everyone, we broke into different “rooms” with panels and more casual discussions on a variety of bookish topics.
I took part in a discussion on “Connecting Authors to Classrooms in Pandemic Times” with fellow Soaring20sPB authors Carrie Finison, Lindsay Metcalf, Christina Soontornvat, Kirsten Larson, and others.
I was also on a fantastic poetry panel with extraordinary poets/verse novelists Christy Mihaly, Dusti Bowling, Kip Wilson, Leslie Bulion, and Varsha Bajaj.
It’s a fact that the nonfiction panel I was on with Anika Denise, Christina Soontornvat, and Sarah Albee and moderated by Susannah Richards was excellent!
And then, a fabulous interactive session on fostering a love of nonfiction in K-2, which included Abi Cushman, Jenna Grodzicki, Jennifer Thermes, Janet Lawler, Valerie Bolling, and others.
At the end of an extraordinary day, all the participants met up again with a livestream video, and we created this word cloud:
Given the incredible day, we’d just had, I’d say that wrapped things up perfectly.
Huge thanks to the Connecticut Association of School Librarians for organizing such a fantastic nErDCamp! I can’t wait until next year!
