Blog
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Every Child a Reader Announces the Launch of National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Gene Luen Yang’s “READING WITHOUT WALLS Challenge” Pilot Program
Beginning this fall, in preparation for the full roll-out of the Reading Without Walls Challenge for summer 2017, Every Child a Reader is testing the campaign at 25 schools and …
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White House Committee Names Five Student Poets For Prestigious National Student Poets Program
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The fifth annual class of the National Student Poets Program (NSPP)—the nation’s highest honor for youth poets— has been announced by the President’s Committee on the Arts …
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Literary Greats Headline Children’s Literature Festival at Bank Street College of Education
BookFest @ Bank Street will host best sellers and Caldecott, Pura Belpré, and Newbery recipients to discuss topics in visual literacy New York, NY, September 14, 2016 — On October …
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I Still Wrote
Contributed by Randi Pink, Author
During summer breaks, my mother dropped me and my siblings at the library before she went to work. The first three floors of the library consisted of thousands of books, and the fourth floor housed abstract paintings, still shots, and delicate sculptures. All four floors were skewered by our roller coaster — or escalator — depending on how you looked at it. We had my mother’s eight-hour shift to make ourselves useful, or busy, or seditious, or wild, or all of the above. The bookshelves were our hiding places, magazine quizzes our entertainment, and frustrated librarians our complimentary babysitters.
Back then, I was a reluctant reader in every sense of the word. Even bored in a library, I rebelled against the written word. During especially dull lunch hours, I’d ditch my siblings and snake my way through the bookshelves, sliding my index finger along the spines in search of little black superheroes, or fairies, or Cinderellas. But I rarely found them. Rosa Parks was there. Harriet Tubman was there. They were usually displayed on the front most round tables marked “Black History.” The learn something tables, as I called them. Today, I would inhale those books, but as an eleven-year-old girl, I wanted little black superheroes, or fairies, or Cinderellas. I wanted to read for pleasure, not work. It nagged me. Bugged me. It got on my nerves that I didn’t adequately see myself in that giant library. So I did what any eleven-year-old girl would do, I wrote my own stories.
And I kept writing my own stories throughout high school, then undergrad, and then graduate school, but they were for my eyes only. Not because they weren’t any good; they were quite fabulous, actually. I didn’t share them because any success as a writer felt like a pipe dream. I wasn’t as exceptionally brave as Harriet, or as steadfast as Rosa, so I didn’t think there was space for me on the bookshelf. I didn’t see myself in that massive library as a child; therefore, on some level, I didn’t think I belonged there. Many young writers of color quietly struggle with this conundrum, maybe even unconsciously. Lack of representation breeds lack of participation. Still somehow, I fought through that mentality, stamping out decades of doubt with willpower I didn’t know that I had. I decided to take control. I began reading everything I could get my hands on, and quickly fell in love with the written word, especially the novel.
I’d always wanted to write a novel and had lazily written a few chapters here and there. In my late twenties, I started to realize that my years were flying by with little progress. The ball would drop on New Year’s Eve, and seemingly a month later, the ball would drop again with no decipherable novel in hand. So I set the firm intention and wrote the novel I wanted to write.
To start, I silenced the eleven-year-old kid in my head. Although she’s a goldmine of mischief and adventure, she instigated self-doubt, and there was no room for that. I put tape on her mouth and shut her out for as long as it took. Then, I got to work. I signed up for a children’s literature course to find out all the things I didn’t know about writing – technique, conferences, and writing programs. I attended every children’s writing conference within driving distance to be in the priceless presence of other creative minds. But above all, I wrote. I wrote at home, school, Sunday school. I wrote everywhere, even in places I had no business writing, I still wrote.
Looking back, I can’t adequately articulate what propelled me to set such a lofty aim, tear down that twenty-year-old wall, and throw myself into the unknown territory of publication. It took guts. I’m proud of that.
I’ve since revisited my summer library. The escalator, or roller coaster depending on how you look at it, has been out of order for a while. And most of the kids hang in the computer labs instead of near the bookshelves as we did. Aside from that, it’s exactly the same. One welcomed change: I found more little black faces on the covers of children’s books. There’s still a long way to go, but I did find them, and that certainly counts for something.
Randi Pink grew up in the South and attended a mostly white high school. She lives with her husband and their two rescue dogs in Birmingham, Alabama, where she works for a branch of National Public Radio. Into White is her fiction debut.
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Disney to Launch New Rick Riordan Imprint
The imprint is set to launch in summer 2018, led by Riordan’s editor, Stephanie Owens Lurie. The mission of Rick Riordan Presents will be to ‘find, nurture, and promote the best storytellers …
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Temple Grandin to Publish Children’s Book About Invention and Innovation With Penguin Young Readers
New York, NY – September 13, 2016 – Temple Grandin, master innovator and author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Animals in Translation, will publish a hands-on, fun-filled, thought-provoking …
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The Eric Carle Museum Launches 2016 Carle Honors Art Auction
New York, NY – Art lovers and picture book enthusiasts are in for a treat when The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art launches its eighth annual Carle Honors Art …
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Happy 100th Birthday, Roald Dahl!
Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, Dahl spent his early years in Llandaff. After receiving his boarding school education, Dahl traveled the world through his work at Shell Oil. He saw …
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2016 National Book Awards Longlist for Young People’s Literature Revealed
Finalists will be announced on October 13. The National Book Awards Ceremony will be held on November 16 in New York City, at which time the winners will be announced. 2016 …
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Young Adult Authors to Speak With At-Risk Youth as Part of the ALA Great Stories Club Tour
CHICAGO, IL — Five acclaimed young adult authors and illustrators will travel to public libraries, alternative high schools and juvenile justice centers around the country to speak with young people …
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CBC Diversity Presents: “Religion in the Workplace”
Mark Fowler, deputy CEO for Tanenbaum, served as moderator for the discussion. The panelists included Preeti Chhibber, senior editorial manager at Scholastic Reading Clubs; Ellice M. Lee, incoming associate art director …
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Connecting Preschoolers With Nonfiction Books Through Movement
CHICAGO, IL — An underutilized source for storytime programs, quality nonfiction books can help bridge the reading gap between preschool boys and girls; boys enjoy facts and “true stuff,” and …
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Texas Gov. Abbott Declares September 15 “Power Up at Your Library Day” and Libraries Statewide Revv Up
TEXAS – Texas Governor Greg Abbott formally declared Thursday, September 15, 2016 as Power Up at Your Library Day, and libraries around the state have responded by curating events geared …
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Happy Anniversary, ‘American Born Chinese’!
American Born Chinese received popular and critical acclaim as the first graphic novel to be a finalist for a National Book Award and the first to win the American Library Association’s Printz …
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The Carle Awarded Competitive Seeding Artful Aging Grant to Catalyze the Growing National Artful Aging Movement
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art was selected as one of only 15 non-profit organizations throughout the U.S. to receive a grant from Aroha Philanthropies …
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Remembering Author and Illustrator Anna Dewdney
A graduate of Wesleyan University, Dewdney worked a series of odd jobs before becoming a full-time children’s book creator. Her debut came in 1994 as illustrator of The Peppermint Race by …
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International Literacy Day: Get Kids Reading with Four Big Ideas from Four Countries
Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report™ U.S., U.K., Australia and India Editions Reveal Four Key Themes to Help Kids Everywhere Fall in Love with Reading NEW YORK, NY – September …
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Banned Books Week Makes International Splash Across the Pond
CHICAGO, IL — Banned Books Week — an annual event that celebrates the freedom to read — is making waves across the pond. With support from the American Library Association …
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SCBWI Announces Slate of Winners for SCBWI Work-in-Progress and Karen Cushman Late Bloomer Grants
Grants Made Available To Writers And Illustrators For Works Not Currently Under Contract SEPTEMBER 2—The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators congratulates the winners of the 2016 Work-In-Progress Grants …
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First Book and Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing to Donate 20,000 Jason Reynolds’ Books to Children in Need
WASHINGTON, D.C. – First Book, the nonprofit social enterprise that has distributed more than 150 million books to children in need, has partnered with Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing to distribute 20,000 …
