Mitali Perkins's Blog, page 48

First, California. Next, My Winter Retreat.

I'm heading to Southern California today for CSLA's annual convention. I'll be presenting "Books Between Cultures" on Friday from 2:15-3:15, and then signing in the exhibit hall from 3:30 to 4:30. On Sunday, I'll be at the Author Brunch listening to Bruce Hale's speech and schmoozing with librarians. If you're there in real life, come find me, and I'll be sharing news from the conference virtually on twitter using hashtag #csla2009.



After that, I begin my winter retreat, backing away from th...

Thanksgiving From The Margins

Thanksgiving is my favorite North American holiday by far. It doesn't make new or poor Americans feel as left out as some of the other festival days. During winter break, why did the fat dude in red bring presents for everybody in my class except me?



Duck For Turkey Day, a new picture book from Albert Whitman & Co by Jacqueline Jules, illustrated by Kathryn Mitter, tells the story of Tuyet, a Vietnamese-American girl who worries about eating duck on "Turkey Day." A chorus of classmates reas...

Wordle Your Brand

Not sure how to describe your blog's "brand" or "niche"? I do an occasional check on search terms or keywords using free tools like statcounter or google analytics. For fun, you can also create a wordle to get a quick snapshot of your blog's brand. Here's one generated for Books With Flair, for example:







Pretty much sums up what I'm up to over at that blog, right?

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Could A Story Help This Happen?

I'm bullish on the power of story to inspire and revolutionize acts of justice and peace. So when I read about something as exciting as Bishop Desmond Tutu's simple yet powerful plan of universal birth registration, my mind begins to whirl around plot possibilities. A dystopian YA novel about teens with lost identities? A picture book featuring one of these children to show how important a birth certificate can be? As you watch the video below, what stories come to mind for you?

Come visit...

15 New YA Books Featuring Forgiveness

I put out a call for books published in 2009 that underline the theme of forgiveness, and received several responses in the YA category, listed below in alphabetical order by author's last name.



Thanks to everybody who contributed; if you don't see your suggestion, it's probably because the book wasn't released in 2009. Let me know if I've missed something.



I'm still collecting titles on the theme for tweens and kids, so feel free to add those in the comments, and don't forget to check the ...

Performance Evaluation 2009

What does a full-time not-famous author of Kid/YA books do for an (almost) living? Taking stock of 2009, here are a few work highlights:



Launched a new novel ( Secret Keeper , January 2009).



Organized Kids Heart Authors Day in February 2009.



Completed forty author visits in ten states.



Finished a novel ( Bamboo People , releasing Fall 2010).



Wrote an article for School Library Journal's April issue.



Wrote an original short story for Scholastic's Expert21 middle school textbook.



Wrote a ch...

Kid/YA Books About Forgiveness

My grandfather died a bitter man. He never recovered from the commandeering of our family jute farm in Bangladesh, hating that he'd had to resettle in Kolkata as a dependent, almost penniless old man.



Two generations removed from that loss, I have the freedom and distance to reflect on the shadow of unforgiveness in our family. I've shared the story of a meaningful visit I made to our ancestral property, when two white doves appeared out of nowhere to rest on the doorway of the house. (I wa...

Curators of YA Lit Keep Us Up-To-Date

In a hurry to find new stories for teenagers? Trying to discover what's hot off the presses? To save time, tune into lists generated by a few excellent curators of young adult literature:

Quick Picks for Reluctant YA Readers
Fabulous Films for Young Adults 
Great Graphic Novels for Teens
This Week's New YA releases
All YA book releases 

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Poetry Friday: Naomi Shihab Nye

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.

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But What About Your Writing, Mitali?

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...