Cynthia Leitich Smith's Blog, page 17

Cynsations Intern: Mitu Malhotra Reflects on “Where I’m From”

By Mitu Malhotra

In the foothills of the Himalayas, when the fireflies danced and the moon rose over the sharp silhouettes of the world’s tallest peaks, I listened to my grandfather and father recite Urdu poetry: ghazals, nazms and shers—songs, poems and couplets reminiscing about life. Those are indeed my favorite childhood memories. Those were the long summer holidays before electronic media invaded our lives. Those are the moments I dig into when I write for children now.

I arrived at writin...

Cynsational News

By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabakukk, Suma Subramaniam, A.J. Eversole and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations

Spotlight Image: Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Bridget George (Roaring Book Press, 2023).

Author/Illustrator Insights

Q&A: Jen Ferguson, Author of “Those Pink Mountain Nights” by Elise Dumpleton from The Nerd Daily. Peek: “You can only ever write about the real world with nuance, empathy, and care. Because these aren’t just difficult topics, they are t...

Throwback Thursday: Lupe Ruiz-Flores on Writing From the Heart & Lupita’s Papalote

Congratulations to Lupe Ruiz-Flores on her new picture book, Piece by Piece: Ernestine’s Gift for President Roosevelt, illustrated by Anna López Real (Millbrook, Sept. 5, 2023). From the promotional copy:

During the Great Depression, Ernestine Guerrero’s family didn’t have much. The Mexican American teen was so grateful for the government food aid they received in San Antonio, Texas, that she wanted to personally thank President Roosevelt. But how? After seeing the plans for a very difficult wo...

Guest Interview: Five in Five with Authors Kerry O’Malley Cerra & Anna Sortino

By Kerry O’Malley Cerra

Spotlight image: Debut author Anna Sortino

Happy Deaf Awareness Month! I’m Kerry O’Malley Cerra, and I’m here with Anna Sortino to help you celebrate September with books representing d/Deaf and hard of hearing experiences. We’re calling this Five in Five (x2). Typically, my Five in Five features five author-y or fun questions that should take you, the reader, only five minutes to read. But we’re upping the fun and multiplying it by two since we’re each asking the other ...

Cynsational News

By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabakukk, Suma Subramaniam, A.J. Eversole and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations

Spotlight Image: I’m From by Gary R. Gray Jr., illustrated by Oge Mora (Balzer + Bray, 2023).

Author/Illustrator Insights

What Kate DiCamillo Understands About Children by Casey Cep from The New Yorker. Peek: “I can never make my peace with suffering, but holding on to things doesn’t make my stories any better, it doesn’t make…people around me any happier….[W]e all have to push against t...

Throwback Thursday: Melissa de la Cruz’s Path to Publication & Writing Page-Turners

Congratulations to Melissa de la Cruz on The (Super Secret) Octagon Valley Society (Disney Hyperion, Sept. 5, 2023), the first book in a new middle grade series. From the promotional copy:

You only get in if you’re Extra ordinary….

After passing an intense exam, Edwin Edgefield becomes one of the lucky few to attend an exclusive weekend at the mysterious high-tech institute of the uber-famous-ultrabazillionaire-genius-recluse Onasander Octagon. Edwin hopes he’ll meet other kids like him—kids who...

Author Interview: Jen Ferguson on Sophomore Books & Shaping Characters

By AJ Eversole

I am thrilled to have award winning author Jen Ferguson (Métis/White) today on Cynsations! We’ve hosted her previously to speak about her debut, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet (Heartdrum, 2022). The book went on to win many awards including the 2022 Governor General’s Literacy Award, the 2022 Cybils’ Award for Young Adult Literature, and was a 2023 Stonewall Honor Book. Today we are chatting about her sophomore novel, Those Pink Mountain Nights (Heartdrum, 2023).

Bailey Macabre (...

Cynsations Summer Hiatus

By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabakukk, Suma Subramaniam, A.J. Eversole, and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations

Thank you to everyone who joined us over the 2022-2023 academic year!

We dearly appreciate the authors, illustrators, gatekeepers, and industry professionals who shared their insights and inspirations. We’re so grateful to our readers, signal boosters, and of course our wonderful reporters — Rebecca Kirshenbaum, Elisabeth Norton, Linda Joy Singleton, Clara Hammett, Helen Kampion, Michae...

Cynsational News

By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabakukk, Suma Subramaniam, A.J. Eversole and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations

Spotlight Image: Hello, Mister Blue by Daria Peoples (Greenwillow Books, 2023).

Author/Illustrator Insights

Q&A With Guadalupe García McCall: Author, Professor, and Educator by Shaughnessy Miller from Lee & Low Books. Peek: “We need to remind ourselves and tell our administrators that we are not supplanting, not replacing, not substituting the curriculum. We are, in fact, enriching t...

Author-Illustrator Interview: SD Nelson on the Power & Magic of Picture Books & Grandma’s Tipi

By AJ Eversole

I’m excited to share an interview with picture book author-illustrator, S.D. Nelson. He is the author of many picture books featuring his Native heritage, his newest release, Grandma’s Tipi (Abrams, 2023) released in early May.

What is at the heart of your new non-fiction picture book Grandma’s Tipi: A Present-Day Lakota Story?

Legacy and family. I’ve thought a lot about legacy and this book is an intergenerational story. What comes across is that teaching the young about their p...