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As we’ve discussed on here before, diversity in children’s and YA books can be pretty controversial. Just reading the comments sections at any of the latest posts about diversity can make your head spin, between the people denying that white privilege exists and those saying that even if it does exist, it doesn’t matter, because “people of color don’t read.”

Those things aren’t true, but how do we dispel them? How do we address the multi-pronged issue of getting more diverse books out there?

The CBC Diversity Committee is working to help address this. This week on the CBC Diversity blog, the theme is “It’s Complicated.” Check out Nancy Mercado’s opening post:

The internet can often be a rough-and-tumble kind of place when it comes to complex and layered discussions, but we think it’s possible and necessary to have a respectful and open forum where we are able to chat about some of the challenges that we face, as well as the opportunities that exist when we come together as a community.

This will be a safe space for us in publishing—writers, editors, marketing folks, sales people, artists, anyone involved in getting books to kids—to discuss the issues.

Today, Cynthia Leitich Smith is talking about the fear of saying something wrong. Hop on over and join in on the conversation.

 

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On a related note, here’s some recent coverage of this issue.

The Atlantic Wire: The Ongoing Problem of Race in YA

Huffington Post: Race On YA Covers: Survey Reports A Continued Lack Of Diversity

Jezebel: White Folks Star in 90% of 2011′s Young Adult Book Covers

John Scalzi: Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is

John Scalzi: “Lowest Difficulty Setting” Follow-Up

Sarah Ockler: Race in YA Lit: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee-Colored Skin, YA Authors [at SFWA]

Sarah Ockler: Race in YA Lit: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee-Colored Skin, YA Authors [at her own blog]

Originally published at Stacy Whitman's Grimoire. You can comment here or there.

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I came across “Ode to the voiceless visitor” during last week’s Slice of Life Story Challenge. Riss Leung posted it over at L.I.T. Ladies. It resonated with me since I often wonder why… Read More →

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I came across “Ode to the voiceless visitor” during last week’s Slice of Life Story Challenge. Riss Leung posted it over at L.I.T. Ladies. It resonated with me since I often wonder why… Read More →

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Though I am frenetically working to get some fall ARCs out to the printer, making me absent here despite having a computer at home again (and friends coming into town last week and this weekend has made me busier than normal at home, too), I was able to write a couple posts over at the CBC Diversity Committee blog this week and last. If you’re interested in getting into publishing but unsure how, check out our series of posts by the committee members on How I Got into Publishing. Looking for a good book? Take a look at Books that Changed My Life and our Book Spotlight. And don’t forget that at the end of the month, the Highlights Foundation workshop Creating an Authentic Cultural Voice is coming up quickly!

Originally published at Stacy Whitman's Grimoire. You can comment here or there.

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It has been more than a month since my computer worked well on a regular basis, and most of that time I was without a computer at home at all. It still isn’t working well–there are days when it will take 15 minutes just to type a paragraph—but at least it kind of works… ish. Dell sucks, is all I’ll say, and I promise never to buy anything else from them as long as I live.

At any rate, sorry for being out of touch, particularly those who were waiting for the handout from LTUE. If that was you, can you comment here so I can send it to you? Just be sure to put your email in the comment form, and I’ll be able to contact you.

Originally published at Stacy Whitman's Grimoire. You can comment here or there.

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Mr. Stowlkey and Mr. Smith were the teachers in one of the kindergarten writing workshops I was in today. They are incredible teachers. They are both six. (Normally I don’t refer to students as Mr. or Miss…but since they were acting as teachers today, they wanted to go with this form of their names. I’ll [...]

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Slicing is supposed to be fun. Sure it’s a challenge. Not just the challenge of writing every single day for a month, but also the challenge of the technology. Unique URL? Commenting? Where do I link? If I miss a day can I still share my link? There are questions that abound. Most of these [...]

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Add this book to your collection: One Love

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Who’s going to New York Comic Con? We’re excited to be there for the first year, featuring Tu’s first three books! Make sure you stop by booth 2846 and say hi on your way to ogling slave Leias or taking pictures with Stormtrooper Elvis (or both). (Does Stormtrooper Elvis come to NYCC, or is he strictly a SDCC guy? I’m actually not sure.) I’ll be in the booth all day every day of the con, minus lunch breaks and some time to run around the show floor and attend a couple panels.

In fact, you should know that Galaxy Games series author Greg Fishbone will be dropping in on Saturday from 2-3.

Also, Tu’s books will be discounted at our booth, so come by for a good deal, too!

Originally published at Stacy Whitman's Grimoire. Please leave any comments there.

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My cousin is in town this weekend, and we have a tradition of walking around wherever we are with our fancy cameras and seeing who can get a great shot. Not so much a competition as just a way of sharing our interest in photography (me: semi-pro hobbyist who used to think about photography as a career, him: indie filmmaker and professional at the Armed Forces Network). Today, neither of us brought our good cameras, so we had to rely on our cell phone cameras (me: a Droid X which is EXTREMELY slow in reaction time, him: iPhone).

It just so happens that there was a parade and festival in Koreatown today. I found out because I saw a poster on the wall outside the restaurant on 32nd Street last night where I stopped for dinner on my way home from work.

So we saw a bit of the parade—there were some really gorgeous hanboks

예뻐다!!

and other traditional clothing in several groups–

 

and then wandered down the street sampling ddukboki and kimbap and stuff like that. One of the drumming groups (below) was practicing for a performance on the stage. Not sure if they got the chance to perform—we left when it started to rain and when I came back to walk to the train on my way home, they were gone. The stage had a roof on it so hopefully they were able to perform. (Again, crappy cell phone pictures. I kind of like the blur, but I hated how I had no control over it.)

 

 

 

Below, here they’re making inj

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The hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it hit us early Sunday morning, and in my neck of the woods (northern Manhattan), it was pretty much just a strong thunderstorm that I slept right through. I didn’t lose power and it was sunny by 11 am.

However, not as much can be said for other areas of the greater NYC area—New Jersey, Queens, and Brooklyn all had areas with power outages, downed trees, and flooding, and it was even worse in upstate New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and some parts of Massachusetts, where they’re still recovering from flooding and power outages. But the worst part of the storm for New England seems to be in Vermont, at least according to the reports I’ve seen from friends who are currently trapped in their house (thankfully on a hill) because their whole road just washed away; bridges are washed away and in nearby towns the whole downtown is flooded. I hope that despite the millions in damage to farms and businesses, that the people and animals who live there are okay.

Here are a few links and videos from Jo Knowles, a YA author who lives in Vermont, who is the friend I heard about the situation in VT from:

The Bennington, VT Banner reporting on damage in that area

Ottauquechee Over Banks Flooding Rt. 4 West

 

 

This one gets down to show how it’s affecting Vermonters on a personal level—their whole road is washed away.

Originally published at Stacy Whitman's Grimoire. Please leave any comments there.

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To catch you up, I was on vacation last week (went camping with a group of teen girls from church, got rained on a lot), we had an earthquake earlier this week, and this weekend we’re expecting a hurricane. So as you can imagine, between those things I’ve been mostly just working away at my spring 2012 books, getting them ready for copyediting, and working toward acquiring the next seasons.

I’ve had a number of friends and family ask if I’ll be in the path of the hurricane and whether I’ll be all right (hi, Mom!), so I figured posting here, which propagates to Facebook, Twitter, and LJ, should kill several birds with one stone. Short version: I’m good.

Long version:

I live in Inwood, a neighborhood far to the north on the island of Manhattan. I live on a hill, and on the 5th floor of my building. Not the highest hill, and not a high enough floor to be worried about exponentially high winds (you have to be above the 10th floor for the worst of it), so I’m pretty confident that if the hurricane is only a Category 1 by the time it hits us, as predicted, that I’ll be fine. Just pray that it loses intensity as it comes north, right?

I’m in Evacuation Zone C—and just at the border of it, really–so that means that I won’t be evacuated unless the hurricane is at least a Category 3. They’ve evacuated Zone A, which is the low-lying areas in lower Manhattan and Long Island, but so far they’re not expecting much else besides high winds, flooding, and lots of rain in the rest of New York City. I’m keeping my eye on the news, though, just in case. But the news also likes to scaremonger, so don’t believe half of what they say. There are plenty of evacuation centers that will be safe to be at, in the worst case scenario—which I don’t anticipate.

I live on the lee side of the building, so I think I’ll be fine wind-wise, too, but if all goes to heck, I’m keeping a bag by the door along with the cat carrier, which honestly I don’t think I’ll need, but better safe than sorry.

And my apartment has a nice feature of a long windowless hallway at the front door, so if I need to shelter from a broken window or something like that, I have a place to hide. A smelly place—that’s where the litter box is!—but smelly is better than cold and wet (worst case scenario).

But that’s all worst-case-scenario. What I’m really expecting is a weekend in watching TV and movies in the midst of a bad thunderstorm/windstorm during which I’m not going to want to leave the house, which aside from the rain is not all that different from most weekends for me. I’ve baked some cookies, I have a nice stock of Fruit Roll-ups and granola bars if both the gas and the electricity are disrupted, I have 4 gallons of drinking water set aside (which I’ve been doing regularly anyway due to the frustration of my neighborhood in the summer, when all the hydrants are opened for literally weeks to months on end and I am likely to lose water for days at a time at any moment), and I’m going to wash the tub and fill it in the morning in the case of needing that water for flushing. Tomorrow’s project involves making onigiri (Japanese rice balls) as well, which are great for picnics, so they’d be great for hunkering down from a hurricane, too. And I have plans tomorrow to cook up the ingredients for curry which have been sitting around almost too long, as well, because what else am I going to spend the day doing? Though I’m worried about the potatoes being rotten and I just threw out the carrots, so I might make a quick trip to the corner grocery in the morning–where I might grab another gallon of water just in case, if they’re not completely out the way that Target was earlier tonight.

It’s also incentive to get the camera out to take pictures of everything I own, just in case–I got an email from my renter&

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BY JEN VAUGHN – Opening up my mail the other day I was assaulted by religious propaganda from Jack Chick for the most fabulous of holidays, HALLOWEEN. My pack included TWO holiday-appropriate comics that I will not share with you but be certain they took all the fun out of pranks, scary stories and trick-or-treating in their clumsy attempt to remind you that ‘Halloween was created by the devil.’

The included pamphlet encouraged the reader to yell things like “We’ve got comics” to get a swarm of kids at your door, filling their candy buckets with the little comics. More like ‘thank you for the toilet paper.’ What is unfortunate and a poor marketing campaign is that the claim to ‘witness’ to hundreds of people without ever leaving home. Most people prefer you to speak to them face-to-face about your beliefs than sneakily slip it into a bag of fun their kids worked hard to earn. Halloween is an appropriation of many holidays be they Pagan, Catholic or Capitalism. And with that, I will show you what Halloween means to me and give you some bitchin’ comics to hand out.

Halloween is about community. Many towns have events equivalent to ‘Take Back the Night’ or ‘Make Those Streets Safe’. With darkness comes shadows, mystery and all things evil but Halloween is about banding together with your town and neighbors to prance around the place and just be AWESOME. Your town doesn’t have one? Next year organize events fun for adults and kids with all things witchy and pumkpkin-dazzling, ask local businesses to sponsor the events to pay for supplies and make sure to thank them copious. My town, White River Junction, has an egg haunt, carnival complete with a monster petting zoo and parade that the whole town marches in that ends in one big dance party.

Halloween is costumes. Not everyone can sew or has money to spend on costumes (not that you want to be Sexy Robin Hood anyway) but there are great ways to make costumes using recycled items and other things from around the house. I make it a point to host an annual workshop where I bring a sewing machine, pounds of fabric, cardboard boxes I’ve hoarded throughout the month of September and more glue guns than y

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You'll recall the wildfires that devastated Bastrop in early September.  Here are a couple pics along US 71 from when Cyn and I drove through later that month.

If anything, the photos understate the damage. That time of year, all the trees should be fairly lush and green.

It turns out that the Bastrop Public Library was hard hit: while the building itself didn't burn, many books were checked out and in children's homes which did burn down.  So, the Friends of the Bastrop Public Library and the Austin Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators are planning an outreach. 

During the Bastrop Public Library Open House, to be held December 10, the Friends will be giving each child who attends two books, tied with a ribbon.  In addition, the FRIENDS will be accepting monetary donations in pursuit of its mission to promote and advocate for the Bastrop Public Library. 

To assist, the Austin SCBWI is collecting money and book donations for the giveaway, through December 8.  Books can be anything from picture books to young adult novels. 

Details here.

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I had the pleasure of meeting several Slicers, not just the ones I blogged about last Friday, when I was in Chicago for NCTE.  I had breakfast with Bonnie (and Tuvia) and Sarah who slices with us every March.  I ran into Elisa at a session.  I also saw folks who Slice with us at [...]

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Heads up fans of NBC’s Community. Tonight’s episode has a Retro Anime sequence animated by our friends at Titmouse. The sequence has characters from Community animated in the style of 80’s anime (Robotech/Voltron/Bubblegum Crisis style designs). We’ll add an embed of the piece after it airs, but in the meantime enjoy these exclusive advance images. The animation is directed by Grif Kimmins, animated by Parker Simmons, and Produced by Ben Kalina. Additional credits include: BG Layout & Paint: Lauren Airress & Khang Li, Composite by Mike Newton. Community airs at 8pm on NBC.

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Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Community, Titmouse

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Life, the Universe, and Everything is NEXT WEEK! That means I’ll be seeing many of you then. If you’re unable to attend LTUE, though, and are in the area, you should check out this event. It’s free for any who’d like to attend—you don’t have to be a student. And if you are going to LTUE, come anyway! Karen won’t be on any panels officially, so this is your chance to ask her questions and perhaps even get a book signed after the program.

So You Want to Work in Publishing For Young Readers?

If you are interested in working as an author, an illustrator, an editor, or in any other position in the publishing for young readers market, you are invited to come listen to, discuss with, and learn from Stacy Whitman, on February 8th, from 5:10-7:40 pm. in room 251 Tanner Bldg at BYU.

Stacy Whitman is the editorial director of Tu Books, an imprint of Lee & Low Books. In 2009 while living in Orem, Utah, she founded a small press named Tu Publishing, dedicated to publishing multicultural fantasy and science fiction for children and young adults, which was acquired by Lee & Low Books of New York City and became Tu Books. The imprint launched fall 2011 with Tankborn, Wolf Mark, and Galaxy Games: The Challengers, and will follow up with BYU graduate Bryce Moore’s book this spring, Vodnik. Whitman holds a master’s degree in children’s literature from Simmons College. Learn more about Tu, including submissions guidelines and links to buy books, at http://www.leeandlow.com/p/tu.mhtml. Stacy’s blog of writing and publishing advice can be found at www.stacylwhitman.com.

Stacy’s presentation will be a wide open discussion on the publishing business, including, but not limited to the following topics:

• Preparing for a career in publishing
• What does an editor do all day?
• Working with authors and art directors
• Advice for writers and illustrators on getting published
• Diversity in publishing and books
• Genre fiction and children’s fiction

Stacy will be accompanied by author Karen Sandler.

Karen Sandler is the author of seventeen novels for adults, as well as several short stories and screenplays. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as a software engineer, including work on the space shuttle program and communications satellites. TANKBORN, published by Tu Books, is her first young adult science fiction novel. She lives in northern California with her husband, three cats, and an Andalusian/Morgan mare. For more information about Sandler, visit karensandler.net.

 

 

Originally published at Stacy Whitman's Grimoire. You can comment here or there.

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For you TANKBORN fans in Utah, not only is Karen Sandler joining me this Wednesday night at the BYU Linguistics Event before LTUE and attending LTUE itself, she’s signing at the mass signing this Friday night from 8:30 to 10 pm. For more details, check out the LTUE schedule. Well, kind of. It hasn’t been updated with the change (the signing was originally supposed to start at 8 pm) and I’m not sure what room it’s in. If you come to LTUE, though, I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out from the printed handouts.

Originally published at Stacy Whitman's Grimoire. You can comment here or there.

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