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1. Author Interview: Joyce Lee Wong


"Sixteen-year-old Emily Wu is a good daughter, good student, good artist, and good friend. She works hard at school and in the Chinese restaurant she helps her parents run. But her life, which once seemed as sweet as the bao zi dumplings she and her mother make together, now feels stifling. Just as her paintings transform a canvas, Emily wants to create a new self.

Then Nick, a sexy transfer student, asks her out. His kisses and the other girls' envious glances give Emily a thrilling, disconcerting new vision of herself, so different from the one she sees in the eyes of her parents and friends. Which Emily is the real Emily?"


Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! This month, Into the Wardrobe's reviews and interviews will be celebrating Asian and Asian American children's and young adult books and their authors and illustrators. So I hope you'll stop by often to join the conversation on Asian and Asian American literature for the young and young at heart. :D

I'm kicking things off with the perfect bridge from American National Poetry Month to Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: an interview with Joyce Lee Wong, author of Seeing Emily (Amulet, 2005), a beautiful young adult novel in verse.

Joyce, can you please tell us a bit about your Asian American heritage?

I’m a second-generation Chinese American. After finishing college in Taiwan, my parents came to the States for graduate school, intending to return to Taiwan after finishing their studies. Instead, they met and married here, and my father accepted a job offer in Virginia, where I was born and raised.

It’s interesting— when my second-generation Asian American friends try to define certain aspects of ourselves as originating in Asian or American culture, it seems as impossible to isolate one strand from the other as it is to completely separate the raw egg white from the yolk.

This is something of an oversimplification, but I’ve heard it said that first generation immigrants strive to assimilate into the majority culture, whereas the second generation has the luxury of seeking to reclaim their cultural roots. I have found this true, in some instances, for example, when I consider the contrast between my mother’s wedding dress and mine.

My mother wore a traditional white wedding dress, lace-trimmed and decidedly Western. I wore her dress at my wedding, but not the one she wore to hers. Instead, I wore a qi-pao that my mother wore when she was my age.

This photo was at my wedding, where I’m wearing the qi-pao my mother wore when she was my age:


I’ve tried to capture this dichotomy in Seeing Emily, as in the following lines from the poem, “Sailing For America,” where Emily sees a photograph of her mother as a college student:

The young woman
in the photograph
wore a rose-colored qi-pao,
a long Chinese dress
with a slit at the ankles.
Looking
at this picture
I was struck by her features and expression
and I saw how much
she looked like me…

I could almost feel the salt breeze
teasing her dark, wavy hair,
styled like Au-de-li Hepburn’s in Roman Holiday.
Perhaps that day
the ship’s captain,
a friend of my grandfather,
passed her a red-cheeked apple he’d saved…

How did that apple taste
as my mother bit through the smooth,
shiny skin and crunched into sweet,
white meat? Perhaps
she licked a stray drop of juice
from her knuckle,
tasting ocean
and in that moment
of sweetness and brine
my mother looked out
over the endlessly waving sea
scattered with diamonds of light
and imagined the shores
of America.

What is your love story with young adult literature?

YA literature speaks so poignantly and directly to me because it is such a wide-open genre-- innovative, fresh and diverse as the very teens for which it is written. Just as I love the immediacy, beauty and power of the literature, I particularly enjoy writing for this age group. Teens are on the cusp of discovering themselves, beginning to form the ideas that will define their evolving adult selves.

With their media savvy and as they grow up in an information-saturated world, teens today seem, in many ways, much more sophisticated than my friends and I were at their age.

This was taken when I was Emily’s age:

Yet teens are often still wonderfully child-like in their enthusiasm and in the intensity with which they experience life and its corresponding emotions. They can also be a difficult audience to reach, so the experience of speaking to teens through one’s writing is a tremendous pleasure and privilege.

What is your love story with poetry?

Poetry is beauty and power: the music of language and the grace of a line, the strength of true emotions mingled with the power to awaken one’s reader to a new experience or idea. Heady stuff, indeed!

For me, writing a poem is like painting a picture. It is holding up a lens through which the reader can peer and see your world as you envision it.

My parents are both musical, and they often sang my sisters and me songs (poems set to music) in English and Chinese. From the time we were small, they also read to us, both prose and also such classic children’s poetry as Mother Goose, Dr. Seuss, Margaret Wise Brown. These rhythms, American and Chinese folk songs, poetry and prose, formed a musical backdrop to my childhood and influence me still, as I write.

What inspired you to write Seeing Emily?

Seeing Emily, my first book, is a Young Adult novel-in-verse. While it is not autobiographical, I drew upon my experiences, growing up in Virginia and traveling to Taiwan, to write it.

I trace Emily’s beginnings to my college days, when I found myself writing a series of poems about my experiences living in Virginia, Taiwan, and Spain. While I’ve continued to write fiction and other forms of poetry, these narrative poems kept reappearing in my writing, and in Emily, they ultimately coalesced in a sequence of poems chronicling a high school sophomore’s quest to discover who she is.

Emily Wu, the book’s protagonist, wants desperately to break away from her family, in order to find a new vision of herself. She has difficulty seeing which of the reflections of herself she perceives in the eyes of others (her friends, her family, her new boyfriend), is the real Emily. I think this is something we all have to go through— discovering who we are as we grow into our adult selves— and I wanted to write about a girl who navigates the stormy waters of the teen years as she makes her own way.


Why did you decide to write Seeing Emily in verse?

Seeing Emily began as a collection of poems, which I submitted to my amazing editor, Susan Van Metre. These poems chronicled one character’s childhood, pre-teen and teen years, and Susan noticed that they were growing from what appeared to be the kernel of a novel. Her suggestion that I write additional poems and ultimately craft a novel seemed right for this piece, and I proceeded in that direction.

So the novel-in-verse began as a set of poems which assembled themselves in novel format, somewhat later in the process. I think this is the way it is with creative writing— the writing decides what form best suits it, and you, the writer, must listen to your writing (and in my case, also to the suggestions of a gifted editor!) and shape it into the form that allows its unique story to shine through.

What was the path to publication for Seeing Emily? Was it difficult to find an agent and a publisher?

I entered a group of poems (that later became a part of Emily) in the SCBWI’s fabulous Ventura / Santa Barbara Writers Day contest and won the privilege of having my editor read my submission. She said she could envision the poems as a collection for middle grade and YA readers, and asked if I had additional poems to submit. I did, which I sent her, and in the process of writing and editing these poems, we realized that this set of poems actually wanted to be a novel. To my delight, she made an offer on the book.

Why do you think there is the misconception that young adult literature is not as deep or as complex as literature for adults?

Teens (like children and tweens) are disenfranchised (until age 18), and they have little purchasing power. Thus, whenever a product or service is offered for children or teens, it is often valued significantly lower than a comparable product or service for adults. I think these factors contribute to this misconception about YA literature.

Until very recently, there was less money to be made from publishing children’s and YA literature, as compared with the adult publishing industry, and this is often still the case. In a society that often correlates quality with price, it is, unfortunately, unsurprising that adults who are unfamiliar with the breadth and depth of contemporary YA literature would make this assumption.

What is your response to this misconception?

This is my challenge to Into the Wardrobe visitors: the next time you hear someone compare the quality of YA literature unfavorably with literature written for adults, ask him whether he’s read any YA books recently. If the answer is no, as it often is, recommend several of your favorite YA titles!

Why do you think there is a recent trend of writing young adult novels in verse?

With the success of such pioneers of this genre as Karen Hesse and Virginia Euwer Wolff, publishers saw that novels-in-verse were a promising form, one that has found a wide, enthusiastic readership among teens as well as teachers and librarians.

Novels-in-verse entice reluctant readers, who are less intimidated by shorter lines and more white space on the page. They also appeal to sophisticated readers, who enjoy the challenge of diving deep within a particular image or metaphor and using their imaginations to make a poem sing for them personally.

For me, the form combines the immediacy of the image and its corresponding emotion with a narrative thread that draws the reader in.

What are the challenges and rewards of being an Asian American young adult writer?

When I was growing up, there was a scarcity of Asian American protagonists and characters in the books I was reading. We’ve seen great strides in this area, from many wonderful authors writing about Asian American characters, and I’m honored to join their ranks. It is a deep pleasure to hear from tweens, teens, and adults who tell me they can relate to Emily. Readers from diverse backgrounds-- Asian, Caucasian, Latino and African American… have told me that Emily’s story resonates with feelings and experiences they’ve had growing up. This is one of the most rewarding aspects of writing— hearing readers say that they’ve connected with your book on some level.

As for the challenges, I believe your question perfectly captures the conundrum Asian American YA writers face. As proud as we are to take on the important work of writing Asian American YA fiction and poetry, neither do we wish to be defined by these parameters. As necessary as it is to increase the range of voices speaking out through YA literature, the danger lies in being too narrowly construed. What is the solution? We need more writers speaking from different perspectives— more diversity, whether cultural, gender-based, or economic… Into the Wardrobe readers (and writers), we want to hear your voices!

What are your favorite Asian American young adult books?

I’m going to list a few, among those that I’ve read recently: Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese, An Na’s A Step From Heaven, Maxine Hong Kingston’s Woman Warrior, Kyoko Mori’s Shizuko’s Daughter, Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen, Lois-Ann Yamanaka’s Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers, Paula Yoo’s Good Enough, Janet Wong’s Behind the Wheel.

Do you celebrate American National Poetry Month?

I celebrate the Academy of American Poets’ tremendous efforts to focus popular attention on the art of poetry, National Poetry Month in particular. For me, reading and writing poetry is part of my daily life. This morning, while working on my next novel in verse, I re-envisioned a metaphor, streamlined an image, polished a poem-in-progress. I find that reading and writing poetry awakens a different part of my mind than reading and writing prose, and I hope that National Poetry Month has encouraged us all to read and write more poetry!

How did you celebrate it this year?

This year, one of my most enjoyable moments in celebration of National Poetry Month has been sitting down for this interview with you, Tarie, in which you’ve created this lovely bridge between National Poetry Month and APA Heritage Month, allowing me to talk a little about the foot I have in each world (one iambic and one jiau, or foot in Mandarin). See how much fun I’m having? :)

Do you celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month?

Now that I live in Los Angeles, I sometimes feel that every month is APA Heritage Month, in that, depending on what neighborhood one visits, one can be instantly immersed in not Asian-American culture, or more narrowly, Chinese-American culture, but in cultural hallmarks that are specifically Taiwanese-American in flavor. For example, the quintessentially Taiwanese boba tea is so popular in the San Gabriel Valley that you’ll see Latino or Caucasian kids drinking it (and yes, slurping up those chewy tapioca balls through the big, bright straws) just as readily as their Asian friends.

How will you celebrate it this year?

How else? By eating my favorite Asian desserts-- shaved ice with taro, green bean and pineapple chunks; champagne mango over rice soaked in coconut milk; mochi; halo halo with ube and caramelized plantain, yum!

What young adult books are you reading now?

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi, Almost Alice by Patricia Reynolds Naylor and Rewind by William Sleator. As a YA writer, I read YA literature for pleasure, as well as from a craft-analysis perspective. Each of these books stands out, for the unique, strong voice of its protagonist and for each author’s considerable skill as a structuralist. One of the best things you can do as a writer (other than writing, of course!) is to READ. I highly recommend any of the books I’ve listed here.

What are you working on now?

I’m writing another novel-in-verse. When I begin a new book, I start with the voice, the emotions, the conflict. A book begins to take shape for me through images, feelings and moments of intense emotion. It is not until later that the inner scaffolding emerges. Of course, the process of writing is highly individual and many writers work from very detailed outlines— experiment, and see what works best for you!

Wow. Thank you, Joyce, for your thought-provoking and enlightening answers to my questions! Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! :D

11 Comments on Author Interview: Joyce Lee Wong, last added: 5/18/2009
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2. A Big Bowl of Ketchup

Oiy, life. Anyway, I'm crossing things off the To-Do list--the one in my day planner and the one in my head.

So, I did the Banned Books give-away drawing tonight and emailed the winners--there were 5! So, if you entered, check your inbox.

Also, some books I reviewed finally came out, so you can now go grab your very own copy of Hip Hop Speaks to Children (review here) Vibes (review here), and Paper Towns (review here). Go check 'em out.

AND! Last spring, I tried to read all of the Fusion Stories, but not all of them were out yet, so here are the reviews of the two I missed!


Minn and Jake's Almost Terrible Summer Janet S. Wong

In this verse-novel sequel to Minn and Jake, Jake has gone back to LA for the summer. Jake thought it would be fun to go back to LA, but his grandmother keeps stuffing him full of food (but not the kind he likes) and Soup keeps waking him up at 6am. Not only that, but his friends have all moved on and and don't have time to hang out with him.

Then Minn comes down to LA, despite the fact Jake hasn't written back once all summer. Sadly, things don't go well. Minn's upset that Jake never told her his grandmother is Korean. Jake's upset that he cares. Then, when Minn and Jake run into cute Haylee at Disneyland and Jake totally ignores Minn, things get really bad.

An excellent look at friendship, going home again, and trying to navigate the whole boy/girl dynamic. I liked it even better than the first one.


Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before David Yoo

Albert Kim is an intentional loser--in a life where was always on the fringe and never really fit in, he decided it was just easier to stop trying. No one can reject you if you don't make advances towards friendship in the first place. But then, he ends up spending the summer working with Mia, 1/2 of the school's power couple. Only, Mia and Ryan have broken up and by the end of the summer, Albert and Mia are... something. Albert's days as an intentional loser are over, not that it's that easy, of course. To make matters worse, Ryan gets cancer and needs Mia by his side constantly. Can Albert hang on to her without making everyone in town kill him?

Part of the book are funny and Yoo writes an unbelievably authentic voice in Albert. Sadly, it was also one that really annoyed me. I knew Albert in high school--not my favorite person and I was never sure why Mia went for him. Part of me felt really sorry for him when things went wrong, but part of me just wanted him to shut up. I think teen boys, especially the lovable losers, will identify and like it.

Full disclosure: ARC provided by publisher, via Picnic Basket.

0 Comments on A Big Bowl of Ketchup as of 10/19/2008 11:49:00 PM
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3. Fusion Stories Panel in Hartford

Today at NECME in Hartford, Connecticut I'm moderating a panel of three other Fusion Stories authors, Janet Wong (MINN AND JAKE'S ALMOST TERRIBLE SUMMER), Paula Yoo (GOOD ENOUGH), and David Yoo (STOP ME IF YOU'VE HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE). We'll be signing books, too.

Here are some of the questions I plan to ask Paula, David, and Janet:

  • What was your experience growing up as an Asian-American? How did you connect to the "Asian" part of your heritage (if at all)?

  • What are some advantages of the "multicultural" label when it comes to books and authors?

  • What are some disadvantages?

  • How do you feel about authors who aren't Asians writing about Asia or creating Asian characters?

  • How do American standards of beauty affect an Asian-American child?

  • Do you see pop culture changing when it comes to being Asian-American? If so, why?

  • What are you working on now?

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4. Fusion Stories Buzz and Events

Photo of Asian Week taken by Lisa Yee

During this year's Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I want to thank my fellow Fusion Stories authors for our joint whirlwind of events, articles, interviews, and reviews: Cherry Cheva, Justina Chen Headley, Grace Lin, An Na, Joyce Lee Wong, Janet Wong, Lisa Yee, Paula Yoo, and David Yoo. We had fun collaborating, as Lisa Yee recently discovered.

Two future events include an evening panel (7 p.m.) at the Asian American Writer's Workshop on June 5, 2008 in New York City and another one at the New England Conference on Multicultural Education, Wednesday, October 8, 2008 in Hartford, Connecticut.

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5. The Year of the Good Book

I'm trying out Amazon's new MP3 widget in my sidebar. You can listen to a 30 second clip of my top songs at the moment and buy them if you so choose. Amazon MP3s are DRM free which means you can put them on your iPod! yay! Trust me, Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go will be the best $.99 you'll ever spend. Because it's "Tainted Love" and then it morphs perfectly into a little Baby, baby, baby where did our love go? while still maintaining the "Tainted Love" feel. It totally works. Also, I'm a big fan of This Is Us which is what my sister and her husband recessed to at their wedding. This is us on our wedding day... on our way to a barbecue which is exactly what it was...

Other musical things you wouldn't think work, but totally do:



Anyway, by this time you're thinking "Jennie, this isn't a music blog. It's a book blog. Get on with it already..."

So, we have a Fusion Story today. But this Fusion Story is a sequel, so I had to read the first book first. Yes, I'm anal. SHUT UP! I'm a librarian, I'm supposed to be! It's what they pay me for.


The Year of the Dog Grace Lin

This story starts and ends with Chinese New Year. This year is the Year of the Dog, which is the year that Grace was born in, so it's supposed to be a lucky year. It's also supposed to be the year where she discovers what her gift is, but she's having a hard time of it! Maybe a new friend, Melody, can help Grace discover her gifts, or at least be a good partner for adventure along the way.

Very episodic in plot, this book draws heavily from Lin's life, so it's extremely realistic and covers day-to-day life perfectly. It's so heavily drawn from Lin's life that it turns out that Melody is really Alvina of Blue Rose Girls (where Lin also blogs!)

Lin's illustrations are sprinkled throughout, as are special side stories from Chinese tradition, family stories, and stories of what happened to Grace before The Year of the Dog. Very fun and a great recommendation for 3rd graders.


The Year of the Rat Grace Lin

This is actually the Fusion Story. It takes place a few years after The Year of the Dog, once again starting with Chinese New Year. The Year of the Rat is a year of change and this year brings a big one-- Melody is moving to California!

Grace knows she wants to be an author and illustrator when she grows up, but she hears that being an artist is a "cold door" and that she might starve! If being an artist is a "cold door" should she try and find something else to do?

Then a new Chinese family who just moved to the US from China move into Melody's old house. Their son, Dun-Wei is Grace's age and everyone thinks they should go together, just because they're both Chinese! Grace doesn't want to be stuck with the new kid "Dumb Way" but if she sticks up for him when the other kids tease him, she might be stuck...

If you liked the first one, you'll love this one. It's longer and Grace handles some bigger issues that face all kids. I especially "liked" (that's really not the word I'm looking for) how the kids changed "Dun-Wei" into "Dumb Way" mainly because of this conversation:

Mark (my boyfriend at the time): What's your name in Chinese Class?
Me: Wei Rong [Wei being one of the 3 Kingdoms and Rong meaning hibiscus flower]
Mark: Wait, your name is WAY WRONG?

Let's just say Way Wrong stuck. But it was a good dodge in Chinese class when I got called on and completely botched the answer "Dui bu qi. Wei Rong is WAY WRONG. Can you call on someone else? Xie Xie"

2 Comments on The Year of the Good Book, last added: 6/1/2008
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6. Fusion Stories! (and other ramblings)

So, May is Asian-American Heritage Month. To celebrate, 10 children's and YA authors got together to spotlight "Ten new contemporary novels by Asian Americans aren’t traditional tales set in Asia nor stories about coming to America for the first time."

Check out the list at Fusion Stories.

I thought this was an awesome idea, so to join the party, I'm reading all the fusion stories this month, substituting earlier works if the highlighted story isn't published yet.

But, first I'm going to ramble on about myself for a while, because it's my blog! I can do what I want!

Mainly, the wedding I went to this weekend was wonderfully fun AND I got to meet some other kidlit dorks, including someone who knows David Levithan. And Rachel Cohn! My geeky heart just about died! My response was "Can I touch you?!" Initially, he thought I was being a bitch, when really, I was in total AWE!

And now I'm off to North Carolina for my sister's wedding!

Also, I want to give a shout-out to Lauren. She's my new-ish coworker and she is awesome. I don't think I've mentioned that yet. But who else would randomly burst into song with you on the reference desk? Especially when said song is a medley of the Simpson's musical version of Street Car Named Desire?

You can always depend on the kindness of strangers!
To buck up your spirits and shield you from dangers!
Now here's a tip from Blanche you won't regret:
A stranger's just a friend you haven't met.
You haven't met!
STREETCAR!


That's what too much story time can do to a person!

Also, here's a video I've been watching a lot of lately:



Because do you know what's better than a Kate Pierson muppet? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

Also, how awesome is it when you look like a total moody rock star while rocking out on a banjo?!

Anyway, some reviews!



Good Luck, Ivy Lisa Yee

I haven't read an American Girl book in years. Like, not since I was the targeted reading age and read all of the Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly books. Yes, only those three, because BACK IN MY DAY there only were three. Initially, there were only 3 books for 3 dolls! Yes, I was a recipient of the original Pleasant Company catalog.

Anyway, Yee's book took me right back there. And it was weird at the same time, because after reading Yee's other work (by which I mean the hysterical Millicent Min, Girl Genius) this has a very different voice. This... reads like an American Girl book, which it should. I think writing like that, in someone else's corporate voice must be very hard, but Yee's awesome at it. (Ok, I've drafted my share of press releases in hoity toity British English in the proper corporate voice. I know it's hard.)

Anyway, the book. Ivy Ling is not feeling lucky. Her best friend, Julie (who is actually the American Girl) has moved across town. Her parents are really busy and can't help Ivy with her Chinese school project. Plus, they've been eating take-away Chinese food from her grandparent's Chinese resteraunt. And Ivy's grandparents heard her complaining.

But that's not the worst of it. The big inter-city gymnastics tournament is coming up. Ivy needs to compete in the all events, but she fell off the balance beam last time and is having a hard time getting her routine right again. As if that weren't bad enough, the big Ling family reunion is coming up. On the same day as the gymnastics meet.

Ivy can't go to both, and her parents are making her decide, only they have different ideas about which one is more important.

Whatever will Ivy do?!

I loved the "American Girl" ness of it. Also, in the background material, there are some awesome pictures of Lisa Yee in the 70s.

I had forgotten how many appearance details American Girl books put in. As a kid I really liked that, but it's a little jarring to me as an adult.


Minn and Jake Janet S. Wong

This is not really a fusion story. Minn and Jake's Almost Terrible Summer is a Fusion Story, but it doesn't come out until August, so I have to wait for it. So, I read the one that came before it instead. But, as far as the reader knows, this one doesn't have any Asian-Americans in it, because the fact that Jake is 1/4 Korean comes out in the next book and causes some tension when Minn wonders why Jake didn't tell her. At least, that's what the various blurbs I've read tell me.

Anyway, in this book (a prose novel)

Minn is feeling very empty,
and very tall,
and very odd,
and very pigtailed,
and very lizardy,
and very much alone.


Because her best friend laughed at her with another girl. She ends up being paired with the new kid,Jake, who's afraid of lizards. Catching lizards is the only thing kids do in Santa Brunella. So, Minn is going to teach Jake how to catch lizards. But there are accidents and mean kids and other grade-school stuff to endure.

Very well told. Minn and Jake, as well as the rest of the kids, are authentic, and their trials and tribulations are small, as they are for most kids, but aren't trivialized, which is refreshing.

And now for some non-Fusion Stories, because who knows when I'll get to blog again?

Thumbelina: Tiny Runaway Bride Barbara Ensor

This is a retelling of Thumbelina, in the sense of straight-up retelling it with a few variations, not recasting it, a la Shannon Hale or Gail Carson Levine.

Except the ending is different. But the narrator warns us. I'm quoting from an ARC here, so it might not be 100% accurate (but I hope it is, because it's the very matter-of-fact voice that the narrator and Thumbelina use throughout)

Now you know exactly what happened and can write a book report, if you need to do that, or count this as part of your summer reading list. Nobody will mind or think any less of you if you just close the book and DO NOT READ ANOTHER WORD.

But, to tell you the truth, there is something more. If you felt there was something forced about that ending, you were right."

And that's why I loved the book. That, and the wonderful illustrations that were made by cutting out black construction paper. A nice retelling of a fairy tale that gives Thumbelina back her spunk without detracting from Anderson's original.


Clementine's Letter Sara Pennypaker

Just when Clementine and her 3rd grade teacher have figured each other out, Mr. D'Matz is going to go off and go to Egypt IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCHOOL YEAR! And the new teacher has new rules that Clementine can't guess.

If you liked the others, you'll like this. I'm seriously starting to worry about Margaret though. That girl's going to need therapy sooner rather than later. I do like how well Clementine handles her, though.

In the paint section, hundreds of little paint tubes, all neat and new, sat on the shelf. Margaret threw her hands up and backed away, as if the tubes of paint were just waiting to burst all over her clean clothes. Margaret doesn't even liket o look at things that might get her dirty.

"Quick, run over to the paper aisle!" I told her. "Just keep staring at all those nice clean stacks of paper!"

I also like how the trip to the Chinese grocery store yields a whole new host of vegetable names for her brother. Bamboo shoot, scallion, daikon radish...

3 Comments on Fusion Stories! (and other ramblings), last added: 5/14/2008
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7. KABA Modern, JABBAWOCKEEZ, and FUSION STORIES

Anybody catch Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew this week? The show is down to fifteen great dancers, including nine Asian Americans who are rocking Planet MTV. This type of fusion hip makes the embarrassment of William Hung a distant memory -- in fact Asian American teens today can hardly remember that American Idol contestant.


Times are definitely changing. That's why, in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month this May 2008, ten of us are launching FUSION STORIES, a menu of delectable next-gen hot-off-the-press novels for middle readers and teens.

A wave of middle grade novels (ages 7-11) featuring Asian American protagonists is catching the attention of readers, teachers, librarians, and parents – and not just within multicultural circles. Children’s literature experts are calling Grace Lin’s Year of the Rat (sequel to the popular Year of the Dog) a “classic in the making” along the lines of Besty-Tacy. Janet Wong’s forthcoming novel Minn and Jake's Almost Terrible Summer explores the joys of vacation and friendship, with Jake divulging that he’s a “quarpa,” or one-quarter Korean. Winner of the Sid Fleischman humor award, author Lisa Yee makes kids (and adults) laugh out loud with bestselling stories like Millicent Min: Girl Genius and her newest title, Good Luck, Ivy. When it comes to books like these, as Newbery winner Linda Sue Park told author Cynthia Leitich Smith (Tantalize) during an on-line chat: “At last it seems we’re getting ready to go to stories where a person’s ethnicity is a part but not the sum of them.”

New releases for teens, too, aren’t mainly immigrant stories or traditional tales retold. These YA novels deal with universal themes such as a straight-A teen struggling with a cheating scandal at her school (She’s So Money by Cherry Cheva), a promising athlete coping with a snowboarding injury (Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley), and a Pakistani-born blogger whose father is about to become President (First Daughter: White House Rules by Mitali Perkins). An Na’s The Fold, a novel about a teen considering plastic surgery to change the shape of her eyelids, speaks to all who long to be beautiful, and art-loving teens far and wide will connect with Joyce Lee Wong’s novel-in-verse Seeing Emily. Paula Yoo, a one-time writer for People magazine and television hits like The West Wing, fuses her pop culture savvy and love of music in Good Enough, a novel about a violinist in rebellion. Her brother, David Yoo, connected with hormone-crazed nerds of every race in his funny novel Girls For Breakfast and is offering his fans the forthcoming Stop Me if You've Heard This One Before.

FUSION STORIES aims to be a helpful resource for parents, educators, and young readers, so if you know of a novel that (1) is for middle readers or teens, (2) was published in 2007-2008 by a traditional publishing house, (3) features an Asian American protagonist, and (4) is set primarily in contemporary America, please send a .jpg of the cover, a .jpg of the author, one or two reviews, and a brief description of the novel to [email protected]. We at FUSION STORIES would be delighted to add titles and authors to the site.

A press kit package (available at FUSION STORIES, www.fusionstories.com) includes downloads, bios of FUSION STORIES authors, information on the books, and a few conversations with experts about Asian American literature for young readers. For more information, review copies, or interview requests with any of the authors, please contact [email protected].

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8. One Small Step


mmmm, ahhhh, spring is in the air. smells a bit like... rotten crocs from last summer???

say what you will about crocs, yes, unattractive, yes, ubiquitous, yes, middle-american children everywhere running around in them, but they really serve their purpose. cheap (ish), slip on, waterproof and ALMOST indestructible. now that we are spring cleaning and gearing up for the warmer months, here is the place for those shredded crocs that haven't seen sunlight in months. SOLES UNITED will take old worn out pairs and recycle them into new, wearable ones to send to children in need.

the lesson: waste not want not?

added bonus: once you're already back there in the dark corners of your kid's closet, you might find some treasure. not sure what, but that's what makes it an added bonus.


here's a link: "soles united" for info and drop off locations

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9. Edmonton's Reuse Center

I finally broke down and bought an unlimited "pass" to Edmonton's ReUse Center. If you have not yet been to this amazing place you simply must go (this is a must for crafters, quilters, junk collectors and treasure hunters). It's chalked full of amazing fabric, buttons, binders, magazines, books, cardboard odds&ends, baskets, jars, clothes pins, magnets, pins, seashells and so so much more. It's free to donate items and it's only $2 for as much as you can stuff into your car (or as little) or $20 for a year of unlimited, take all you want pass. I found a book with patterns for stuffed animals in it and it's darling (I also found fun fabric to make these items... hmmm, should have taken some buttons for the eyes, oh well). I found a working music box, some fun pins for my bulletin board (i use pins, not push pins for my bulletin board), thread and a strange looking dolphin floaty thing for my fish tank (no crafting required).

The reuse center is located at 10004-103A Ave (in front of the CN Tower). See the hours and list of items that are found/can be donated by clicking on the title of this blog.

Happy crafting!



*photo from reuse center website*

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