Mitali Perkins's Blog, page 58

Writing Race: A Checklist For Writers

We've been talking a lot about this on the Fire Escape, but I thought it might be helpful to sum up ten questions we writers can ask ourselves once we've completed a story (these were presented during my workshop at the NESCBWI conference last weekend):
How and why did or didn't I define race? Did I use labels like "Black" or "white"? If so, which ones and why?

Did my setting, plot, and characters determine the cultural casting?

Am I aware and in charge of of any non-verbals that are race-specific

Princess Tiana's Accent

Disney's first Black princess is voiced by Anika Noni Rose. Rose grew up outside Hartford, Connecticut in the community of Bloomfield, so she's from New England, but she sustains a Bostwanan accent in HBO's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency as Grace Makutsi. You can get a taste of Rose's New Orleans spin on Princess Tiana's voice in the teaser:



Here's what she sounds like in real life. Interestingly, Disney chose to write Prince Naveen, Tiana's true love, as Middle Eastern/South Asian-ish, and he's

Meet the Fugees

Stopped by the Carter Center in Atlanta last night for the tail end of a presentation by Warren St. John (author of OUTCASTS UNITED: A Refugee Town, An American Dream) and Coach Luma Mufleh, who leads the Fugees Family.
But the highlight of the evening was meeting the Fugees themselves, who sat in the front rows, resplendent in nice shirts and ties, and after the event patiently signed books for dozens of visitors -- and posed for their growing number of fans.

Now I'm about to teach three classes

The Gupta Brothers' Kahani Movement

That Sanjay Gupta! He's been lurking around the Fire Escape and stealing my ideas. I guess I'll forgive him, since it's a good one.



Co-founded by brothers Dr. Sanjay Gupta (CNN) and Suneel Gupta (Mozilla), the Kahani Movement (not to be confused with our beloved Kahani Magazine, although we hope it's a win-win situation) is a non-profit project aiming to inspire generations of Indian-Americans to capture and share stories from their ancestors that immigrated to the United States from India.

The pr

The Lessons of OUTCASTS UNITED by Warren St. John

Yesterday New York Times reporter Warren St. John appeared on The Today Show to discuss his book, Outcasts United: A Refugee Town, An American Dream, releasing today from Random House.

For once, the buzz is about a book I've already read. My recommendation? Don't waste time. Get a copy and read it as soon as you can.

Yes, Outcasts United is about a small town in Georgia, an influx of refugees from war-torn countries, boys, and the sport of soccer. But the book also sheds light on immediate demogr

A Call For Entries

Please spread the word about the Seventh Annual Fire Escape Contest for teen-authored poetry and short stories. Entries are due by June 1, 2009, and cash prizes are awarded for first, second, and third place (plus winning looks great on those college apps, right?)

Here's the poem that won first place in the 2008 contest:

First Prize:
Doll Skin by Monika, Panama/USA, Age 17

Dear Josephina,

I owe you an apology
many years in

I Rocked The Drop ...

... at Boston Children's Hospital's Booking it in the Waiting Room. I brought along a box of various new books sent to the Fire Escape, along with a signed copy of my own Secret Keeper:


Dr. Jessica Daniel received me at noon, and then met with a group of Simmons College visitors later in the day who brought their book drop donations.

Before I left, I ducked into the Harvard Coop and saw a display of new teen books that included North of Beautiful by rgz Diva Justina Chen Headley (see third shelf f

Happy Jackie Robinson Day!

All 1000 or so Major League Baseball players in the United States are wearing #42 today to honor the great Jackie Robinson, who said, "A life is not important except for the impact it has on other lives."

Why not read the story of this hero as told by his daughter Sharon Robinson in PROMISES TO KEEP (Scholastic)? Listen to excerpts from an interview Ms. Robinson gave to Time For Kids:

How did he find the strength to continue playing even when people were insulting him and thr

One Day Without Shoes

I notice shoes.

Maybe it's because when we first arrived in New York, times were tough and Ma used to cut a slit in the toe box of my sneakers when they got tight. That way, I could wear them for a few more weeks before having to buy new ones.

Or maybe it's because of Baba's stories about walking barefoot for miles to his village school in Bengal. "One pair of shoes," he told us. "That's all I had. I didn't want to ruin them in the mud."

Across the globe, shoes represent wealth, privilege, status,

India in Children's Books

You want your ancient India,
Your other India,
Your monkey-jewel-barefoot India.

Draped in a tired colonial nostalgia,
Veiled and demure, perched on elephants.

But they are a dancing India,
A changing India,
A buying-selling-reading India.
Sorry. Can't have your bleeding India.

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