Tina M. Cho's Blog

my 1st translated book

Just a quick note that I recently received THE OTHER SIDE OF TOMORROW in Turkish. It's my first book to be translated, and I'm so grateful to the publisher Yuzukitap! If you read Turkish, check it out! I love that they want every book to feel like a gift, and so they include stickers, a postcard made by the illustrator, and a ribbon bookmark! Up next, the French edition on Sept. 10th, 2025! 

A Surprise Honor!

At the beginning of July, my editor emailed this awesome, surprising news--My novel, THE OTHER SIDE OF TOMORROW, was shortlisted for the Barnes & Noble Children's & YA Book Awards Young Readers List! Woo-hoo! I was so surprised and feel very honored to have our book on this list! Thanks you, B&N!

At the beginning of summer, I told God, please show me creative ways to market my books. Since I'm a teacher, I'm mostly unable to do author visits in schools during the school year. Perhaps this is His answer. Luck? I don't think so. Thank you, God! 

Also, the 5-day reading plan for God's Little Oceanographer is live in the You Version Bible app. If you download the app, click plans, in the search either type my name or type the title of my book to do this little devotion with your children. You can click the image below to go directly to the plan. I hope it's a blessing to your little ones!
​ Lastly, I write a monthly newsletter on Substack. Click the image below to subscribe!

Happy Book Birthday!

I'm a day late posting here, but you know all the hoopla associated with a new book. I wrote a newsletter about this book. Join me at my Substack! 

Thank you, SCBWI and Horn book!

I'm still amazed. This happened, February 21, 2025. If you missed the ceremony, you can watch it here.
The middle grade category starts at 50:10, with my speech at 55:10. 

​Other good news: It's a STAR from The Horn Book! Click for the full review. 
​
In case you missed it, there will be two more picture books in the Big Adventures for Growing Minds series published by Waterbrook, an imprint of Penguin Random House.  What's your good news? Share in the comments!

I did it! I started a substack newsletter!

I finally conquered something on my TO DO list. Start a newsletter.
It all came about from this past summer when my Facebook got hacked.
I have been procrastinating this big time. One, I don't have a lot of time since I teach fulltime and write and cook and do other home responsibilities with a family. But I didn't want to lose my followers. And I've been listening to webinars from Author's Guild and other places that say having a newsletter is the best connection with your readers.

It's only taken me about three hours to complete this task, setting it all up, taking photos, making graphics, etc...

So I hope you'll take a look, subscribe, and enter my contest for 4 separate giveaways. Contest ends, December 10th, midnight, CST.
Here's the link to the newsletter. I'm thankful for all my writer friends & readers. I hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving with your family & friends. 

The other side of tomorrow shines!

Also a star from Kirkus and a star from Publishers Weekly. You can read the reviews here. And it's a Jr. Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Hooray! Thank you!

And if you'd like to win a free copy here in the U.S., GoodReads via my publisher Harper Collins is giving away 5 copies! Check it out! 

I'm deep in schoolwork preparing for parent teacher conferences as well as a middle grade book launch! My plate is overflowing! 

Events you are invited to:
10/26 Preorder book launch at Marion Public Library, 1:00, over by Cedar Falls, Iowa (Eastern IA)
11/15 Des Moines Book Launch at Beaverdale Bookstore 6:30pm
11/23 Book signing at Jordan Creek Barnes & Nobles West Des Moines 1:00-3:00pm 

If you're in the area, please join us! And if you have book launch tips, especially for middle grade, let me know in the comments! 

Cover reveal

​New forthcoming graphic novel by me and Deb JJ Lee published by Harper Alley 11/12/24

In a nutshell: Two North Korean kids escape through the Asian Underground Railroad. Yes, it really exists! 
I interviewed many people for this story and did a lot of research. 

I started writing this story in 2012 in Deokso, South Korea. The early draft even won a Scholastic Asia Book Award! Since then it's morphed into different formats, structures, and even different titles.
You can read about part of the writing process here. 

I'm thankful for my agent and editor who had a vision for this story and that Deb JJ Lee took it to the next level with rich, flowing, and accurate illustrations.

Then in 2019 I met Mr. John Schu at the Iowa Library Associations conference. Never did I think he'd be doing the cover reveal for my novel! You can read his interview here.  

You can preorder it here: or wherever books are sold.
Now I wait until next November! 

Picture Book rising star mentor

I'm a Picture Book Rising Star mentor this coming summer. Founded by Ebony Lynn Mudd and Kailei Pew, this free program helps writers finetune their manuscripts and learn the craft of picture book writing. If you're interested, please check the post here and here.

CHRI Christian Radio out of Ottawa, Canada interviewed me about God's Little Astronomer. You can view it or just listen here. The book is also on sale at Christianbook.com

In other bookish news, I just saw sketches of the cover for God's Little Oceanographer coming in 2025. Marta Álvarez Miguéns is so talented!

And things are moving along nicely for my lyrical graphic novel, The Other Side of Tomorrow, a middle grade story coming November 12! I finished looking at art and revised some last minute text changes. Love what Deb JJ Lee brings to the story!
How are things going with you?

The Kirkus Review is in!

The Kirkus Review is in! You can read the full review here. They sum it up as: "​An informative and inspirational bridge between science and religion for Christian households."

I can't wait to hold it in my hands! Meanwhile, the illustrator is working on book 2, God's Little Oceanographer, swimming into publication in 2025.

I'm at the Grog Blog speaking on a topic near and dear to my heart as a mom, teacher, and author. You can read the post here.

​Just a reminder, please re-subscribe to my blog if you haven't done so. The previous subscription site no longer works. Please see the pink box on the top right to sign up. Thank you! And I updated my blog banner to reflect some new books.

I hope you're all staying cozy and warm. We've had 3 snow days with wind chills down to -45 and over 20 inches of snow. I'm thankful for the extra writing time! How are you spending your winter days?

An updated blog

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration! I'm thankful for all the blog followers I had in the past. Evidently, the Feed Burner subscription service I was using for this blog quit their service a while back, and I didn't realize it. I was wondering why there weren't comments :) So if you would like to sign up for my blog again, I'd love it if you'd enter your email into the box on the right. I'm now using the Follow It subscription service. I hope it works, and then I can deliver writing content & book updates once in a blue moon to you all. Thank you so much! Please comment below with something you're thankful for so I know this is working.