Year: 2016
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DK Launches Braille Line of Picture Books
The series includes board and nonfiction books, pairing braille and textured images with printed text to make stories accessible for both sighted and visually impaired readers. These books are a …
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Librarians Bring Books to Child Refugees
A task force of REFORMA, Children in Crisis is run entirely by volunteers working closely with librarians to support literacy in both Spanish and English among detained youth. Founder Oralia Garza de Cortes spearheaded the …
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The 2016 Guide to the Newbery and Caldecott Awards
CHICAGO, IL — Updated to include the 2016 award and honor books, “The Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Guide to the Medal and Honor Books, 2016 Edition,” published byALA Editions, …
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Introducing the Hallmark Great Stories Award
Hallmark honors new children’s picture books that celebrate family, friendship and community; inaugural winner to be announced in March 2017 KANSAS CITY, Mo. (May 11, 2016) — In keeping with …
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Industry Q&A with Author Leopoldo Gout
Tell us about your most recent book and how you came to write/illustrate it.
My new book is titled Genius – The Game. It is the first in a series of books about child prodigies from diverse backgrounds who come together to change their stars and the world. The launch pad for their revolution is a competition called the Game. There, they will compete with 200 other prodigies in a contest that will not only test their brains but also challenge their ideals.
Genius – The Game explores the outer reaches of technology, the explosive power of young minds, and the bonds of family. It is filled with big ideas and even bigger emotions. But more than just a book, the Genius series is a movement – it is my call to the youth of the world: liberate your minds and you can liberate the planet.
Do you think of yourself as a diverse author/illustrator?
I am an immigrant. Born and raised in Mexico, I went to art school in England before I came to the US ten years ago.
Who is your favorite character of all time in children’s or young adult literature?
I don’t have just one. I love many things about many characters. And they’ve all helped me form who I am today. Some of them include: Max from Where the Wild Things Are, because we all have a secret island we imagine ourselves escaping to (so long as we’re back for supper). Jack in Lord of the Flies, because it’s scary how the darkness can hit us at any moment (and where I come from, you never forget that it’s always looming right around the corner). Of course, I also like Harry Potter. In fact, I like to think of Genius as being a kindred spirit – but instead of using magic, the kids in Genius use their minds.
Hypothetically speaking, let’s say you are forced to sell all of the books you own except for one. Which do you keep?
Ah! What a nightmare. Where would I be without my books?! That’s a tough question and my answer changes frequently but I have never fallen out of love with The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov. The book has everything, from a deep sense of humanity – including all our best and worst traits – to a fantastically grounded inventiveness.
What does diversity mean to you as you think about your own books?
I consider all of us immigrants. It might have happened 100 million years ago, but we all trekked up out of the ocean and onto the land! And all of us are diverse. Sure, there are majorities and minorities and I celebrate the distinctive cultures we’ve developed, but we are all people – all driven by the same needs and emotions. I like to think of my characters less as products of their unique environments or backgrounds and more as humans of the world. This, in fact, is the message at the heart of my books.
What is your thought process in including or excluding characters of diverse backgrounds?
It is not a process. It is instinctual. It’s the reflection of the world I live in. As an artist, I studied sculpture with people from many countries – from Egypt to Japan. As a director and producer, I spent years making music videos with a whole range of diverse people – from elite hip hop artists like Mos Def and Ahmir Questlove from the Roots to David Byrne. Right now, I’m exploring a project with Idris Elba and a Chinese/Thai writer…Truth is: I want my books to be filled with the most exceptional, flawed, emotional, and brilliant characters. If you get beneath the surface, you find that most people come from diverse backgrounds. There is no quota system in my stories, the only thing that drives their creation is my passion, my deepest need, to write realistic but fascinating characters.
Final thoughts
What I see is simple: People lack an understanding of how diversity enriches our culture. The more voices we have in a conversation, they better that conversation will be. I’m not immune to this either. Just recently, my brilliant friend Marlon James taught me incredible things about the West Indies that I was completely ignorant about.
Leopoldo Gout, the producer behind Days of Grace, which A.O. Scott of the New York Times called “a potent and vigorous film,” is also a writer, artist, and filmmaker. He hails from Mexico, studied Contemporary Art at Central Saint Martins in London, and now resides in New York City with his wife and two children.
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Dan Brown’s International Blockbuster ‘The Da Vinci Code’ to be Adapted For Young Adults
New York and London —The Random House US and Penguin Random House UK children’s divisions of Penguin Random House will jointly publish a young adult adaptation of Dan Brown’s The Da …
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PJ Lynch Announced as Laureate Na NÓg by President Michael D. Higgins
On Tuesday 17th May, 2016, author and illustrator PJ Lynch was announced as the fourth Laureate na nÓg, Ireland’s laureate for children’s literature, at a special event at the Arts Council’s …
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Commemorating 100 Years of Roald Dahl
The redesigned hardcovers will hit bookstores on September 6, 2016! The new book covers are a part of a year-long celebration of Dahl by Penguin Young Readers and the Roald …
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CBC Diversity Presents “Strategies for Selling Diverse Books” at BEA 2016
The discussion was moderated by Betsy Bird, Collection Development Manager at the Evanston Public Library. Panelists included Shauntee Burns, Outreach Librarian at the New York Public Library; Elizabeth Bluemle, Co-owner of The Flying Pig …
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Scholastic News Kids Press Corps Now Accepting Applications for 2016-2017 School Year
Kids ages 10-14 with a “nose for news” encouraged to apply New York, NY – May 17, 2016 – The Scholastic News Kids Press Corps, a team of Kid Reporters …
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BEA 2016 Children’s Book Author Breakfast
National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and acclaimed graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang discussed his latest series, Secret Coders, and his commitment to diverse books. Through his platform, “Reading Without …
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National Readathon Day Campaign Now Includes Facebook Donate Option And Profile Picture Frame
NEW YORK, NY — Penguin Random House, which is partnering with the American Library Association (ALA) for this year’s National Readathon Day, announced today that readers everywhere will be able to …
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#DrawingDiversity: ‘The Journey’ by Francesca Sanna
The Journey by Francesca Sanna (Flying Eye Books/Nobrow Press, 2016). All rights reserved. @nobrowpress
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15 Student Heroes Honored For Remarkable Reading and Math Gains
BOSTON, MA – Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) today announced the 15 winners of the national 2016 180 Student Awards, which recognize students who have made tremendous gains in …
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Children’s Books in the Classroom
Lewis Carroll’s classic fantasy Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) ushered in a golden age of children’s literature, one that captured the playful joy of children. But it wasn’t until the mid-20th century …
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YALSA Releases Position Paper, Adopting a Summer Learning Approach for Increased Impact
CHICAGO, IL — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA) has released a new position paper titled, “Adopting a Summer Learning Approach …
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National Ambassador Gene Luen Yang Celebrates Children’s Book Week with Raina Telgemeier
Yang and Telgemeier addressed roughly 250 attendees on their work and the diverse books that continue to resonate with them. The discussion was followed by a reception and signing. Watch the complete …
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Winners of the 2016 Comstock-Gág Read Aloud Books Awards Announced
For the twelfth year, children have chosen the best books when read out loud to them in the Minnesota State University Moorhead’s (MSUM) Comstock-Gág Read Aloud Book Awards program. The …
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Library of Congress and Mid-Atlantic Public Libraries Kick Off Summer Essay Contest
Washington, D.C. — The Library of Congress today launched its annual summer 12essay contest, in conjunction with public libraries in the Mid-Atlantic region, to encourage rising 5th- and 6th-grade students to …
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Can you name a single, lovable Middle Eastern character in a middle grade novel? Now you can!
Contributed by Firoozeh Dumas, Author
People often me ask why I waited so long to start writing. I always thought that in order to be a writer, one had to be English and dead. I started writing when I was thirty-six years old so I could tell my stories to my children. I wanted them to know what I have known since I was seven years old; that our commonalities far outweigh our differences. I learned this when my family moved from Abadan, Iran to Whittier, California. From a young age, I did not fear those who are different from me, and what an asset that has been in my life! As an adult, I discovered that many people never learn this simple truth. They live in fear of “the other”, and there are many “others.”
After my first book, Funny in Farsi, was published, I started giving lectures around the country. Readers in every nook and cranny that I visited said the same two things to me, “I never thought a writer from the Middle East could make me laugh out loud” and “Your family is just like my family!” I soon realized that most people learn about other cultures from the evening news. The problem is that only bad news is news. Most people never expect a female Iranian writer to be relatable; they expect me to be oppressed and sad. That is what they have seen on the news. I am neither.
When I visit schools, I always ask if it is anyone’s birthday. It always is, so I sing “Happy birthday” in Persian. A stunned silence descends upon the room. I can see from the looks on their faces that some of the students had never thought that children in the Middle East also celebrate birthdays and sing a special song. The only images of the Middle East that many students have seen are of war. Some cannot fathom any images of joy with the Middle East. I don’t blame them.
People often ask me why diversity in literature is important. The news does not teach us that there is a universality to the human experience. We don’t learn that in every culture, mothers worry about their children, that children love to play, and that we all have a weird uncle. Not everyone has a chance to travel to other cultures and to learn about our shared humanity, as I did. In the absence of travel, books are the next best thing. In fact, they’re even better since books allow us to time travel as well.
I regularly get emails from readers who tell me that whenever they see Iran on the evening news, they now think of my family. For them, Iran is no longer the face of bearded mullahs and angry men. It is the country where regular families, like mine, are from. My tween novel, It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel, features one of the few Iranian character for younger readers. I am thrilled that readers will laugh and cry with her, root for her, and most importantly, relate to her. There is no downside to learning about all kinds of people. Every time we read about a diverse character, we open a window into our hearts and minds. And who doesn’t want more windows?
Firoozeh Dumas was born in Abadan, Iran, and grew up in California and her birth country. She is the New York Times best-selling author of Funny in Farsi and Laughing Without an Accent. It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel is her first novel for young readers. Firoozeh lives in Munich, Germany with her husband and three children. Visit her website at www.firoozehdumas.com.
