Mitali Perkins's Blog, page 53

Poetry Friday: The Child of a Stranger

Enjoy the poem that won first prize this year in my annual poetry contest for teens between cultures.

the child of a stranger by Wendy China/USA, age 17

at birth I was offered up to this country, some
innocent and
crawling appeasement
subject to the laws and
dreams of its
people.

but my body holds the lines of your
country and my
country
unevenly. I cannot melt the borders
into one. I am no melting
pot. these borders are edged with
barbed wire.

I cannot fuse these patches of
redwhiteandblue with
yellowstarsandre

Stuff That Intrigues My Tweeps

Here are five links I shared via twitter recently that have most interested my followers (according to bit.ly metrics, and verbatim as I tweeted them):
Notes from the Horn Book | 8/09 | Back to school books, short story collections, YA summer shorts, and more: http://bit.ly/GiBnS

Kid/YA reviews this week from @publisherswkly http://bit.ly/4GuNHh (ONCE WAS LOST by @sarazarr gets a star!)

Join the conversation on recommending a book written by and/or about a person of color at Chasing Ray: http://bi

Black Women Kid Lit Illustrators

Check out these links to African American female children's book illustrators compiled by librarian and book reviewer Ed Spicer, published here with his permission:
Nneka BennettJaeMe BerealYvonne BuchananAdjoa J. Burrowes Chandra CoxNina CrewsPat CummingsNancy DevardLaura FreemanJan Spivey GilchristRilla JaggiaFelicia MarshallAnna RichCharlotte Riley-WebbFaith RinggoldShadra StricklandNicole TadgellMichele Wood
Others to add? If so, leave a name and URL in the comments, and I'll forward the links

Honing the Craft on the Cape

I'm taking a class taught by Deborah Kovacs, author of more than 30 books and editorial director at Walden Media. I'll be back on the Fire Escape on Wednesday. In the meantime, enjoy reading this article in Publisher's Weekly about our Twitter Book Parties.

Come visit me on the Fire Escape!

How To Launch a Book Virtually: Q & A with Grace Lin

These days, even award-winning authors in our industry must invest time and energy to market a new book.

Last month, author and illustrator Grace Lin (WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON / Little Brown) tried some new strategies to launch her book online. I asked Grace a few questions about the experience, hoping that other authors and illustrators might glean a few ideas for their own virtual efforts.

Why did you decide to launch your book online?

This book, in particular, is really important to me

YA Historical Fiction about India and the Indian Diaspora

Editor and author Sandhya Nankani writes a brilliant article in the August issue of Multicultural Review about five new young adult novels covering the history of India and Indians in the diaspora:
Anila's Journey by Mary Finn (late 18th century) / Candlewick
Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth (1920s, the rise of Gandhi) / Hyperion
Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman (1940s, India's Independence) / Penguin
Child of Dandelions by Shenaaz Nanji (1970s, ethnic cleansing in Uganda) / Front Street
Secr

Mitali of Green Gables

As an oft-displaced child, I borrowed roots from my favorite authors, and L.M. Montgomery's novels made Prince Edward Island feel like home to me. Just got back from a recent sojourn to "Avonlea," Montgomery's pseudonym for her beloved Cavendish, and savored a few of her books all over again.

the shoreline

rainbow valley


shining waters


birch trees in the haunted woods


mrs. lynde's house?


L. M. Montgomery


the view from Lucy's room


anne's room in green gables


ice cream at green gables

Come visit me on the F

Representing Kid Lit

Who shall be our next National Ambassador for Young People's Literature? Vote in my sidebar for the names most commonly suggested on Read Roger, the blog of Roger Sutton, editor-in-chief of the Horn Book.

Mr. Sutton was invited to help choose a successor for the current ambassador, Jon Scieszka. In a nutshell, the selection committee wants a person like this:

An author or illustrator of fiction or nonfiction books

U.S. citizen, living in the U.S.

Excellent and facile communicator

Dynamic and engagin

Teens Between Cultures 2009 Writing Contests

ANNOUNCING THE RESULTS OF THE 7th Annual
FIRE ESCAPE TEENS BETWEEN CULTURES WRITING CONTESTS!

POETRY Winners

PROSE Winners
CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who entered, and to the winners!

Special thanks to twitter buddies Ellen Hopkins and E. Kristin Anderson,
who helped me get unstuck in judging the poetry.

Come visit me on the Fire Escape!

Children of War in the Congo

I'm launching a new series on the Fire Escape about children growing up with war, hoping to showcase books that inform, illuminate, and inspire us to get involved.

We start with the Congo. Listen to Bahati's story in the video, remembering that he's fourteen.

I couldn't find any children's or YA fiction set in the country (apart from the controversial TINTIN IN THE CONGO), perhaps because of the extent of brutality and terror experienced by Congolese children. My recommendation is a recent non-f