Industry News
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Pottermore Publishes New Writing from J.K. Rowling with Revealing Details about the Magical Congress of the United States of America
Writing and video provide important backstory to the upcoming feature film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them London, England, 6 October, 2016 – ‘The Magical Congress of the United …
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Author Ross Welford on the Pleasure of Reading Aloud
Welford says reading aloud lets parents share their own favorite books with their children, exercise creativity with dramatic voices and characterization, and revive their imaginations through the magical worlds of children’s …
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Eight American Teenagers Chosen to Represent the Political Views of the Next Generation of Voters
BOSTON, MA – Channel One News, a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt company, today announced the eight students who will represent the political views of America’s youth vote leading up to the …
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Four Debuts on the NYT Children’s Best Sellers Lists
The following books made the list: Middle Grade Hardcover: The Littlest Bigfoot by Jennifer Weiner (Aladdin) The Answer by Rebecca Sugar, illus. by Elle Michalka and Tiffany Ford (Cartoon Network) Young Adult Hardcover: …
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Best-selling Children’s Author Mo Willems to Match Donations to First Book Up to $50,000
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Mo Willems, author and illustrator of the award-winning Elephant & Piggie books, and his wife Cher are matching up to $50,000 in new donations to First Book, a …
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United for Libraries to Coordinate National Friends of Libraries Week, Oct. 16-22
BRYN MAWR, PA — Friends of the Library groups and libraries across the country will be celebrating the 11th annual National Friends of Libraries Week Oct. 16-22, 2016. National Friends …
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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Launches GO Math! GO, the Fun Math App for Young Learners At Home and On the Move
BOSTON, MA – Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) today announced the launch of GO Math! GO, a new playful learning app available for iPhone and iPad that offers …
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First Book and NEA Foundation to Bring Thousands of Diverse Books and Resources for Children in Need
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The NEA Foundation and publisher Lee & Low Books have joined forces with First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise, to expand the Stories for All Project™, First …
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Library of Congress Selects Early Elementary Teacher-in-Residence
Teresa St. Angelo, a kindergarten teacher from Manalapan, New Jersey, has been selected to serve as the 2016-2017 Teacher-in-Residence at the Library of Congress. Since 2000, the Library has recruited …
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Debuts on the NYT Children’s Best Sellers Lists
The following books made the list: Middle Grade Hardcover: Dog Man by Dav Pilkey (Scholastic) Gravity Falls: Journal 3 by Rob Renzetti (Disney Press) The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan (Disney-Hyperion) The …
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Library of Congress Literacy Award Winners Announced
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced the winners of the 2016 Library of Congress Literacy Awards today at the Library of Congress National Book Festival gala. The winners are WETA …
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Four Debuts on the Indie Bestsellers List
The following books have made the list for the second consecutive week: Children’s Illustrated: Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty, illus. by David Roberts (Abrams Books for Young Readers) Eek! Halloween! by …
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Submit for the Ezra Jack Keats Book Award
Publishers are invited to submit books for consideration before December 15, 2016. Click here for more information on the awards program, including submission guidelines. # Contacts:Ellen Ruffin, Curatorde Grummond Children’s …
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National Book Festival Summer Writing Contest Winners Announced
The Library of Congress today announced the winners of its “A Book That Shaped Me” Summer Writing Contest, a program that asks rising fifth- and sixth-graders to reflect on a …
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Why I Write about the Immigrant Experience
Contributed by Reyna Grande, Author
I learned to read in English in the 8th grade. As a child immigrant from Mexico struggling to adapt to the American way of life, I had a hard time finding my experiences reflected in the books given to me by my teachers at school or the librarian at the public library. Closest were the works of the Chicana writers I’d read in college, such as Sandra Cisneros and Helena María Viramontes, where I found bits and pieces of myself. But I did not find books that spoke directly to my experience as a child immigrant.
I did find books about adult immigrants and the struggles that adults—like my parents— experience when they arrive in the United States: low paying jobs, abuse and discrimination in the workplace, fear of deportation, struggles to assimilate and learn English, and the hardships of navigating and understanding the nuances of American culture and society. But as a child, wasn’t I as much a part of the immigration narrative? Weren’t my pain and heartbreak, struggles and triumphs, also worth telling? Didn’t I also risk my life and fight just as hard for my dreams?
Why weren’t children’s voices being heard?
I read and I read, though I’d always felt a void—a yearning, a missing piece that I desperately wanted to find. What I wanted most of all: to not feel invisible. Where was the book that spoke to the trauma of being a child immigrant; to being separated from your parents when they go in search of opportunities, leaving you behind as you wait for years; to being afraid that your parents have abandoned you or replaced you with American children; and to running across the border, attempting to evade the ever-watching eyes of border patrol and knowing if you’re caught, you’ll never be reunited with your parents? Where was the book that spoke about the effects of separation and how immigration can turn both parents and children into strangers?
When I complained to my creative writing teacher, she said something that I’ll never forget: “Reyna, sometimes you have to write the book that you want to read.”
And I went home, visualizing that book. I knew in my heart what it was, yet I was frightened. What if I was incapable of writing it? What if I wasn’t a good enough writer? Perhaps I should leave the project to someone else. Surely, one day, someone would write that book. It just couldn’t be me.
One day, the UC Santa Cruz creative writing department hosted an event for Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and invited her to speak about her work to an auditorium full of literature majors and aspiring writers. Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston was the very first author that I met in the flesh! Seeing her on stage made my dream of being a writer feel more real. There she was, a real author standing under the bright stage lights. She was tiny, just as small as I was at 5’0”, but she held herself with such confidence and spoke with such conviction that a minute into her talk, I stopped seeing her as small. She was larger than life and I clung to her every word as she spoke about her memoir, Farewell to Manzanar. Though it was about the effects of the Pearl Harbor bombing on Japanese-Americans, I still related to the story. As a woman of color, I knew what it was like to be marginalized, to constantly have to prove how American I was, and to always have to fight for my right to remain.
When Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston spoke that night, something changed inside me. Watching her talk about how she found the courage to write about her experiences in an internment camp, hearing her answering our questions, then sitting at a table while we all lined up to meet her, shake her hand, and have our books signed, I felt completely and utterly inspired. It was this moment—her book, her words, her presence—that I felt empowered as a woman and writer of color.
Many of the students waiting in line were in tears—especially those students who were Japanese-American—and kept telling her, “Thank you for writing our story. You’ve inspired me to keep fighting.”
And I went home that night thinking about the book inside of me that I wanted to write but was afraid to. I remembered what my creative teacher had said to me, and I knew then that I needed to find the courage to do it.
Now, when I visit school campuses to speak about The Distance Between Us, I am proud to be the writer up on stage inspiring young people to tell their stories. Through my books, I hope I can empower a new generation to find the courage to write the books that they want to read.
Reyna Grande is an award-winning novelist and memoirist. She has received an American Book Award, the El Premio Aztlán Literary Award, and the Latino Book Award. Her second novel, Dancing with Butterflies, received critical acclaim. In 2012, she was a finalist for the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Awards for her memoir The Distance Between Us. Her works have been published internationally in countries such as Norway and South Korea.
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On the Need for Children’s Literature in Translation
Some of Hahn’s favorite book and comics from childhood hailed from countries outside his home in Britain. In order to expand exposure to international voices, Hahn is teaming up with …
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ALA Awarded IMLS Grant to Offer Free Community Engagement Training For Libraries
CHICAGO, IL — The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office has been awarded $243,922 by the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program …
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The 2016 PW Publishing Industry Salary Survey
Despite lower salaries (possibly due to the younger age of female respondents and fewer women occupying higher-paying management positions), women continue to outnumber men in the field. On the diversity …
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Library to Host 2016 Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature
Authors Pam Muñoz Ryan and Ashley Hope-Perez will receive the Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature during a special awards presentation on Thursday, Sept. 22, at 2:30 p.m. …
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Six Debuts on the NYT Children’s Best Sellers List
The following books made the list: Middle Grade Hardcover Dog Man by Dav Pilkey (Scholastic) Moo by Sharon Creech (HarperCollins) Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi (Dutton/Penguin) Young Adult Hardcover A Torch Against …
