Blog
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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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Pottermore launches unique online experience from J.K. Rowling, enabling users to discover their Patronus
London, England, 22 September, 2016 – One of the most famous magical elements in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World becomes accessible to all for the first time today, as Pottermore launches …
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Scholastic Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2017 Results
Solid Revenue Gains in all Segments, Led by Children’s Books on Strong Harry Potter Sales New York – September 22, 2016 – Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children’s publishing, …
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Creator of #1000BlackGirlBooks Launches ‘Marley Mag’
In her new publishing venture, Dias interviews such icons as ballerina Misty Copeland and director Ava DuVernay. I want to change the way we imagine black girls in books and in culture …
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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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National Ambassador Gene Luen Yang’s Reading Without Walls Podcast: Episode 6 with Thien Pham
Through his platform, “Reading Without Walls,” Yang hopes to inspire readers of all ages to pick up a book outside their comfort zone. In episode six of his podcast, Yang …
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National Ambassador Gene Luen Yang Awarded a MacArthur Fellowship
Yang, who is currently on tour for the second book in his Secret Coders series, hopes to put the grant towards his work as a comics creator and as National …
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Little, Brown Emerging Artist Award
The inaugural prize will be judged by Caldecott Medalist and Caldecott Honor artist Jerry Pinkney along with members of the Little, Brown editorial team. Diversity is, in fact, the keynote of the initiative. …
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The Alliance For Young Artists & Writers Receives Grant From The New York Life Foundation to Support Grieving Teens
NEW YORK, NY – Nearly one in 20 children in the U.S. will lose a parent before the age of 16* – and, now more than ever, there is 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 …
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Comic Book Fans Prefer Print
Retailers cite the community feel of the comic book store as a major factor in encouraging print sales. Physical books are also thought to offer a superior reading experience for heavily-illustrated …
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ALSC Now Accepting Applications For 2017 Maureen Hayes Author/Illustrator Award
CHICAGO, IL — The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Grants Administration Committee are now accepting online applications for the 2017 Maureen Hayes Author/Illustrator Award. This $4,000 …
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Carla Hayden Appointed 14th Librarian of Congress
Hayden remarked on the historic moment and its implications for literacy and equality: As a descendant of people who were denied the right to read, to now have the opportunity …
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Candlewick Press Announces Acquisition of Sixth Book in the Best-Selling Timmy Failure Children’s Book Series
SOMERVILLE, MA — Popular cartoonist and author Stephan Pastis continues to strike comic gold with his best-selling middle-grade books starring the most inept kid detective in children’s literature history. Timmy Failure, …
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NCBLA Relaunches “Our White House” Website
The website, which serves as a companion to Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out (Candlewick Press), features activities and discussion questions designed to engage kids and teens in informed discussions about American …
