Month: April 2016
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Hosting a Poetry Slam at Your Library
Klebanoff suggests the following rules and guidelines as a starting point: Select and emcee to introduce the judges Performers must be prepared to present twice Poems must be performed not …
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Happy 100th Birthday, Beverly Cleary!
By the time she and her family moved to Portland, Cleary was an avid reader. With encouragement from her school librarian, she began penning children’s stories. Cleary has gone on …
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Newbery Award Winner Avi to Headline AASL President’s Program
CHICAGO, IL – Award winning author Avi will headline the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) President’s Program taking place at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 25, as part of …
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U.S.A. Gold® Pencils Announces Student Poetry Contest
Students and teachers can win cash or gift cards and school products Irvine, CA — Feb. 25, 2016 — In celebration of National Poetry Month in April, U.S.A. Gold launched …
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Scholastic Acquires World English Rights For ‘The Goldfish Boy’
GLOBAL RELEASE — 11The first of two stand-alone titles, The Goldfish Boy, which will publish in the UK, US, and Canada in early 2017, is an extraordinary middle-grade contemporary novel with a …
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Author Beverly Cleary on Turning 100
Prior to becoming a writer, Cleary worked as a children’s librarian in Yakima, Washington. Her experience working directly with young readers inspired her to create such memorable and relatable characters as …
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Scholastic & Blizzard Entertainment Announce World of Warcraft®: Traveler, a New Book Series Based on the Bestselling Franchise
NEW YORK, NY — Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, and internationally acclaimed game developer and publisher Blizzard Entertainment today announced a collaboration on a new …
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Library of Congress National Book Festival Welcomes Extraordinary Lineup of Writers
The Library of Congress National Book Festival routinely attracts the participation of many of the nation’s most-honored and most-respected authors, and 2016 is no exception. This year’s festival, to be …
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Didi and the Diverse
Contributed by Kate Evangelista, Author
The word diverse can mean a lot of things to a lot people. That’s what’s fantastic about the word. Diverse literally means variety.
As a budding writer, I have always been attracted to diverse characters. This goes beyond just the color of their skin or the culture they come from. Although I already have characters in my head that represent different races and cultural backgrounds, I’m waiting for the right opportunity to start writing their stories.
A couple of years ago, I was in search of a critique partner, as many of us writerly types do. I had just written Disclaimer: I Like Boys, which has since been renamed No Holding Back. This is the story of Nathan and Preston. My boys. Finding love.
I found an author who also writes diverse books and is very vocal about writing diverse books, so I thought: Why not? We exchanged chapters. A day later I got an email from this author telling me that she couldn’t critique my story anymore. Why? Because my book was about two boys falling in love. I found that quite ironic. Apparently to this author, the word “diversity” has limits.
That is the funny thing about writing. You meet many different types of people. Diverse people. With diverse ideas. And these are just the characters in my head.
Before No Holding Back, there is No Love Allowed. Didi’s story. Oh, Caleb is in there too. But for the sake of this post, let’s focus on Didi.
When Didi first came to me, she was a character who was clearly different from any heroine I had ever encountered. She spoke her mind. Demanded that she be written in the fashion she dictated. What is a humble writer—i.e. typist—like me to do?
So I sat down and listened.
As she told me her story, one aspect of her character came up. Didi has bipolar disorder. Like many in this world we call home, all I knew about this disease of the mind were the extreme mood swings. Right away I knew I had to do my research. I couldn’t go into writing Didi’s story blind to what she goes through on a daily basis.
I needed to learn more. So I turned to an abundance of articles, documentaries, and interviews (some personally conducted by yours truly). But the weird thing is the more I learned about Didi’s disorder, the more I realized I knew nothing. I reached the point where writing her story became daunting.
First of all, I did not want to bog down the book with information. No Love Allowed is a love story. It’s an easy read meant to entertain you for a couple of hours. A book you can read in one sitting. Imagine doing that when all you’re reading are facts fit for a website Q&A.
This is why Didi said she didn’t want her story to be about her disorder. She had bipolar disorder, but she wasn’t the disease. She was more.
That was when writing her story became fun. Each and every scene she was in came alive in my head. From her makeover scene with Nathan to the moment she feels her hand shaking and couldn’t paint because the side effects from her meds were particularly bad that day. Each and every piece of dialogue is wholly Didi.
With No Love Allowed finally hitting shelves, I must say farewell to Didi and her beloved Caleb and move on to the other characters in my head. Those who have been following my work since my very first publication may notice that my characters have become more diverse with each book. I want that to continue until I can write no more.
Because for me: Diversity has no limits.
When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn’t going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department and never looked back. Today, she is a graduate of De La Salle University - Manila with a Bachelor of Arts in Literature. She taught high school English for three years and was an essay consultant for two. Currently she writes full-time and is based in the Philippines.
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J.K. Rowling’s Writing Chair up for Auction
The chair features a hand-painted message from the author, as well as a quote from the Sorting Hat. It also comes with a signed letter: Dear new-owner-of-my-chair. I was given …
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Klutz® to Launch Klutz® Jr. January 2017
New York, NY – Klutz, the creator of premium activity kits for kids, today announced plans to launch Klutz Jr., a book and craft kit product line for kids ages 4 …
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Promote Your Book in Story Monsters Ink™ Magazine!
Story Monsters Ink is a free subscription-based magazine by Five Star Publications, Inc., that gives parents and educators the latest news about award-winning and debut books, profiles on renowned and emerging authors, upcoming book …
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Submit for the Anansesem Caribbean Children’s Literature Ezine
Anansesem is currently seeking new works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art from children’s authors and illustrators. For additional information and guidelines, visit anansesem.com. You may submit your online application here. …
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Warner Bros. Consumer Products Announces Global Publishing Partners For ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’
Burbank, CA – Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP) announced today a slate of new publishing partners signed on to support Warner Bros. Pictures’ highly anticipated return to J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding …
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#DrawingDiversity: ‘Dear Bunny’ by Katie Cotton, illustrated by Blanca Gomez
Dear Bunny by Katie Cotton, illustrated by Blanca Gomez (Quarto Kids, March 2016). All rights reserved.
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Harry Potter Fans are #ReadyForHermione, Run Global Literacy Campaign
Harry Potter fans are feeling the Herm. Hermione Granger, that is. It’s easy to feel disenchanted by the political process during election season, but the Harry Potter Alliance (HPA) is …
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B.J. Novak, Penguin Young Readers, Donate 10,000 Books to Children in Need
New York, NY – B.J. Novak, actor and #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book With No Pictures, will donate 5,000 copies of his acclaimed children’s book to …
