How to use this Page

I'm rejoicing in the upcoming release of former readergirlz guest, Laura Resau. In The Lightning Queen there's magic, friendship, truth, and beauty in words calling up a former Oaxaca, Mexico. The modern day accompanying story strings the work together like Esma's own silver-coined necklace. The friendship between her, a Romani girl, and the Mixteco boy, Teo, rises up against impediments and barriers.

Favorite quotes to treasure:

"Give yourself a fortune and make it come true."

"Better to be the head of a mouse than the tail of a lion."

"'You know what you are?'
'What?' I called up.
Through hundreds of sunlit leaves, her coins flashed, and her voice sang out, 'The wings of a bird, my friend! A whole flock of birds! You lift everyone up!'"

Thank you, Laura, for another book of hope and beauty! Watch for it, rgz!

The Lightning Queen
by Laura Resau
Scholastic Press, October 27, 2015

Natalie Bakopoulos

     The Green Shore, Natalie’s debut novel is set inAthens and Paris, against the backdrop of the Greek military dictatorshipand  centered around four memorablecharacters.  She received her MFAin Fiction from the University of Michigan.  She was also recognized as a 2010 PEN/O. Henry Award-winningauthor.

Judith Ortiz Cofer

     Critically acclaimed and widely published poet, novelist, andessayist Judith Ortiz Cofer’s latest book, If I Could Fly,tells the story of 15 year old Doris, who learns that ‘she might have to fly far distancesbefore she finds out where she belongs. Judith writes extensively about the experience of being Puerto Rican andher identity as a woman and writer in the U.S.  Currently she is teaching literature and creative writing atthe University of Georgia.

Kelly Milner Halls

1 Comments on Judging Teen Stories with a Remarkable Cast for the "It's All Write" Contest, last added: 4/17/2012

Display Comments

Serena said, on 4/17/2012 8:20:00 AM

I hope you have a great time!

Add a Comment

More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag

4. Review: The Jade Notebook

0 Comments | Previous | Top | Next

By: Kimberly Pauley, on 4/6/2012
Blog: Young Adult (& Kid's) Books Central (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Laura Resau, young adult book, The Jade Notebook, book review, Add a tag

Zeeta and her mother Layla have moved to a new country every year for Zeeta's entire life. When they end up running cabanas in Mazunte, Mexico, Zeeta is determined to make it stick. After all, her beloved Wendell has an internship nearby and her long-lost father is supposedly from Mazunte. Of course, nothing can be that easy, especially when the cabanas where Zeeta lives are said to be cursed and someone is poaching the sea turtles' eggs. Laura Resau's fans will love The Jade Notebook, the final book in the Notebook trilogy.

To read my full review, click here.

0 Comments on Review: The Jade Notebook as of 1/1/1900

Add a Comment

More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag

5. First Goal of 2011 Completed

0 Comments | Previous | Top | Next

By: Natasha Wing, on 1/30/2011
Blog: Natasha's News (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Laura Resau, The Ruby Notebook, Add a tag

I can check off my first goal of 2011-finish reading Laura Resau's novel, The Ruby Notebook. It was a delightful story that continues the adventures of world travelers, Zeeta and her mom, Layla, who now live in Aix-en-Provence in France. Resau has a dreamy writing quality which does a fantastic job of capturing  settings. And since I took some French in high school, I enjoyed trying to figure out what the French saying sprinkled in the story meant without checking the glossary at the end. Her story also carries a heart-warming message of seizing love when it's in front of you. I can see teen girls loving this story for both Zeeta's desires and the cool people she hangs out with. The book would also appeal to woman pining for a little far-away romance.

0 Comments on First Goal of 2011 Completed as of 1/1/1900

Add a Comment

More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag

6. Buy Local Authors

1 Comments | Previous | Top | Next

By: Natasha Wing, on 11/30/2010
Blog: Natasha's News (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Teresa Funke, Christmas shopping, Laura Resau, Amy Kathleen Ryan, Todd Mitchell, Add a tag

It's one thing to shop local. You're supporting neighborhood businesses. When you buy local products, you're supporting both a business and an artisan - two entities within your community. That's why when you give a book as a gift this year, please choose to purchase one written by a Fort Collins author.

Here are some suggestions for kids and teens on your list. And if you don't have children, why not donate a book to your local public or school library, or give one to your Toys for Tots drive. They are always in need of gifts for teens.

By Colorado Book Award Winner, Laura Resau

15-year-old Zeeta and her flighty mother live in a different country every year. This year, in the Ecuadoran Andes, Zeeta helps an American boy search for his birth parents. With him, she encounters adventure, mystery, love, and ultimately, the truth about what she really wants.

In this companion to The Indigo Notebook, Zeeta continues her adventures in the southern French town of Aix-en-Provence, where she encounters captivating street performers, age-old secrets, and mysteries of love.


By acclaimed novelist, Todd Mitchell

1 Comments on Buy Local Authors, last added: 12/1/2010

Display Comments

Natasha Wing said, on 12/1/2010 7:42:00 PM

Victoria Hanley also has a cool book out, Violet Wings.

Add a Comment

More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag

7. LAURA RESAU & THE WRITING LIFE

Add/View Comments | Previous | Top | Next

Posted on 10/1/2009
Blog: Through The Tollbooth (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  star in the forest, wise woman, writing & motherhood, author & editor relationship, the indigo notebook, writing refuge, writing & solitude, writing life, journaling, laura resau, Add a tag

  

     "Through journaling, I have regular 'conversations' with what I call the 'old lady' part of myself… the compassionate and wise woman I hope to be in fifty years. "     
                                                                        --Laura Resau

Day Three with Laura Resau

 

          You began writing your first book What the Moon Saw after you’d spent two years in Mexico and returned to graduate school. This moment comes differently for each writer, that transition from writing in secret (as you did when you locked your early work in a box as a young girl) and writing more seriously for publication. How were you able to take that step that allowed your dream to become reality?

 

          There were really two parts of the process of revealing myself as a writer to the world. The first step was to start showing my writing to family and friends. After my first year living in Mexico I put together some spiral-bound, photocopied books filled with my essays, poems, stories and photos inspired by my first year in Oaxaca. I felt shy exposing this piece of my soul, but my desire to share my experiences won out over my fears. I wanted other people to know about this fascinating little corner of the world that I'd been getting to know and love.

         

          It took me a while to admit to myself that I wanted to be a writer as my primary profession… and to arrange my life to make this a possibility. In grad school in anthropology, I would get up before dawn to squeeze in a couple precious hours of writing before I went to classes, fulfilled RA and TA responsibilities, did volunteer work, wrote academic papers, and read endless journal articles (which left me utterly exhausted at the end of the day.) Eventually I realized that those couple hours before dawn, doing creative writing, were the hours I felt most alive, and that ultimately, that I wanted to be a novelist, not an anthropology professor.

         

          The next step was to begin sending my stories and essays and book manuscript (What the Moon Saw) in for publication, and deal with the rejection that was part of the process. I co-founded a writers group here in Ft. Collins about six years ago, which I'm still part of. Thanks to them, I was able to have the confidence to keep sending out my writing to agents and editors.

         

          I began going to conferences, and at the first ones, I felt way too nervous to talk to editors or agents or published writers. I did manage to begin networking with other pre-published writers, which made me realize that we all have fears and anxieties surround writing and publishing. I felt a strong sense of community with all these pre-published writers, and eventually (once I got over the palm-sweating, voice-shaking nervousness), I found support with published writers who encouraged me as well.

         

          Do you see any correlation in the way you’ve followed other dreams to fruition in your life?

         

          I've found that regular journaling helps me stay in touch with my feelings and goals, and ensure that I follow through with them. Through journaling, I have regular "conversations" with what I call the "old lady" part of myself… the compassionate and wise woman I hope to be in fifty years. She always helps me put my life into perspective and understand what I need to be doing, whether it's in the realm of creativity, relationships, travel, or other dreams and goals.

 

          When my thoughts are stuck inside my head, they often feel muddled, but once I have conversations with myself on paper, everything becomes much clearer. I honestly don't think I could have written and published my books (or followed through with other life goals) without journaling throughout the process.

 

          Now that you have two award winning books, are launching your new series and will soon have a new middle grade out, has your writing process changed? Just as your writing evolved from being locked in a box to being sent out into the world, perhaps another evolution is moving from a first novel to a series. Can you talk about this evolution and what it’s meant to your writing? What about your relationship with your editor? How has it evolved over time?  

 

          Just when I think I have the writing process down pat, something changes—like having a baby or being flooded with author visit requests – and then I have to reflect on how I'm spending my time, and make adjustments. For me the conflicts mainly have to do with finding a balance between the unconscious/wild mind/depths/stream-of-consciousness part of writing and the conscious/meeting-deadlines/sticking-to-a-schedule/book-promoting part of the writing life.

 

          The unconscious part requires being alone, embracing playfulness, spontaneity, having time to sit and stare into space, taking long, meandering walks… all things that feel hard to justify now that I have a child and want to spend time with him, not to mention the tight deadlines of series-writing and tons of unanswered emails piling up.

         

          My relationship with my editor at Delacorte has been wonderful from the beginning. For my first five books with Stephanie, I gave her fairly polished manuscripts that required only one round of relatively minor revisions. For the sequel to The Indigo Notebook, I handed her a manuscript that was much rougher than anything of mine she'd seen before. This was painful for me, since it had been drilled into my head that a manuscript had to be polished to a shine before an editor saw it. I was worried Stephanie would think I'd suddenly turned into a terrible writer.

 

          I just got her comments back last week… and I'm so glad I did send it to her in its rough state, because she had some big revision suggestions that are fairly easy to incorporate at this stage. We had a long phone conversation about possible endings (and how they might fit with the third book in the series), which was something we'd never done with my other books, but was definitely useful in this case.

  

          You’ve written that your decision to adopt a child came with some trepidation about not being able to travel as much as you have in the past. How has being a mother affected your writing? (I love the idea of you finding a room of your own in the small silver trailer you bought to put outside your house. Do you see a metaphor in that it’s a travel trailer, and you love to travel?)  

 

 

          Yes, my trailer is symbolic in many ways… it's the vehicle in which I travel to other lands in my imagination. It's been a much-needed refuge when I need to have writing time alone, especially before my toddler started daycare. I’m grateful that I'm making enough money at this point to afford daycare, but I still feel guilty that I can't spend more time with my son. I've tried different ways to use time more efficiently.

 

          Sometimes I've tried to stick to a tight schedule of X number of pages per day, but I feel that the writing I do with only the "rational" part of my mind lacks soul. Still, it's hard to justify doing creative activities that nourish my writer's soul but aren't directly contributing to the word count. If I take a solitary walk by the river while my son's at daycare, part of me thinks, Oh, God, I'm a selfish mother! Yet letting the story simmer in my unconscious mind is really a necessary part of my writing process. I'm still trying to deal with this! (And I welcome suggestions!)

 

          Thanks for your wonderful, interesting questions, Zu! It's been a joy!

 

            Tomorrow, librarian and reader’s advisor Cathy Ensley talks about teen readers, technology and the special flavor and insight behind her brand new blog.

                                                                                                --z.v.

Add a Comment

More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag

8. LAURA RESAU

Add/View Comments | Previous | Top | Next

Posted on 9/29/2009
Blog: Through The Tollbooth (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  laura resau, red glass, indigo notebook, star in the forest, writing & soul, myth & story, Add a tag

“I've found that incorporating my own life experiences into my writing gives it more soul.”

                                                          ---Laura Resau 

 

Day One with Laura Resau

 

A little about Laura….

 

          Laura Resau has a background in cultural anthropology and ESL-teaching and has lived and traveled extensively in Latin America. Her first book in a new travel-adventure series, The Indigo Notebook (available October 13, 2009), has been heralded as "a poignant, thoughtful novel filled with cultural details" by Kirkus Reviews. Her previous novel, Red Glass, won numerous awards, including the IRA YA Fiction Award and the Americas Award, and was selected as an Oprah's Pick.

 

          Acclaimed for its sensitive treatment of immigration issues, a starred review from Publishers' Weekly calls Red Glass a "vibrant, large-hearted story." Resau's award-winning debut novel, What the Moon Saw was praised as "a powerful, magical story ... a rare glimpse into an indigenous culture" in a starred review from Booklist.

 

          Resau now lives with her husband, toddler, and dog in Colorado. She is donating a portion of her royalties to indigenous rights organizations in Latin America.

 

          Laura, Congratulations on the October 16 launch of Indigo Notebook! the first book in your new series. You also have a book for younger readers, Star in the Forest, coming in Spring 2010.

 
          Thanks, Zu!  And thanks for inviting me here—this blog is an amazing resource for writers… I'm honored to be a guest!

 

          You’ve said that you see your fiction “as a mosaic, bits of life, myth and dreams pieced together that hopefully tells an engaging story and speaks to deeper truths.” Can you talk about how life, myth and dreams come together in Indigo Notebook and Star in the Forest?

 

          I've noticed that my writing is much stronger—and resonates with readers more deeply-- when it has a mythological underpinning, usually a mix of the universal, cultural, and personal.  For example, in Star in the Forest, a girl whose father has recently been deported to Mexico believes that the abandoned dog she befriends in the junk yard is her father's spirit animal.  In this way, she feels some sense of comfort and control in a situation apparently out of her control.  While living in southern Mexico, I heard many variations of nahual (spirit animal) stories, which to me, seemed to speak to some deeper truths about the human psyche.

         

          Many bits of folklore appear in The Indigo Notebook as well, based on tales I've heard—some unique to the Otavalo region and some which are told all over Latin America.  There's the man rumored to have made a pact with the devil, the cave of treasures hidden inside tunnels in the mountain, the rich man's hacienda drowned in a lake, and others.

         

          I think that we all have our own personal mythologies, too, which can be treasure chests for writers.  In The Indigo Notebook, there's a recurring image of a blind beggar who carries a blue wooden chair with him so he'll always have a comfortable place to feel at home.  This character was inspired by a man from the town in Oaxaca where I lived.  His blue chair became a rich metaphor for me.  I've thought of it often over the past ten years, and finally found a good place for it in this book.  

         

          I also borrow from my friend's personal mythologies.  A good friend from southern Mexico grew up in a Nahuatl community, where he would get up before dawn as a young child and walk through the forests to gather firewood for that morning's tortillas and tea.  It was cold and scary in the dark, and he found that his "star friend"—a special star that he felt a bond with—would comfort him.  During the daytime, too, his star friend was up there watching him, even though he couldn't see it.  The "star friend" idea comes up in The Indigo Notebook as a metaphor for Wendell's birth family thinking about him throughout his life, even if he hasn't realized it.

         

          I love listening to people's real life experiences and weaving variations of them into fictional stories.  One major plotline in The Indigo Notebook was inspired by my indigenous Otavaleno friend's experience of discovering a biological half-brother he never knew existed.  The boy had been adopted as a baby by foreigners, and he returned a teenager to the Otavalo region to find his birth family.   

         

          I've also found that incorporating my own life experiences into my writing gives it more soul.  As I was writing The Indigo Notebook, I was in the process of adopting my own son from Guatemala, often wondering how he might feel about his adoption at different stages of his life in the future.  This helped me get inside Wendell's head and heart.

 

          You’ve always loved to travel, and your books and travel essays reflect a delight of other cultures, their stories and the magic of their myths. Beyond this, you seem especially drawn to speak for those who might not otherwise have a voice, such as Pablo, the five-year-old Mexican boy in Red Glass who is the only survivor of a dangerous border crossing. What is it about such characters that draw you?

 

          Writing about people who have been marginalized by society wasn't exactly something I set out to do.  It so happened that fortuitous life circumstances led me to friendships with people who fit that category.  Living in rural Oaxaca, Mexico, I became close to a number of indigenous families, and had the opportunity to learn about their lives and issues facing them. 

 

          Here in the Southwest U.S. (Arizona and Colorado), I've taught ESL for many years, which has given me a close-up view of undocumented immigrants' lives and challenges.  Many of my friends' stories are fascinating and touching and important, yet hadn't been widely heard.  I hope that my writing can generate more interest in their experiences and open another doorway for their stories to be appreciated.

       Tomorrow Laura discusses writing about another culture from the “outside in,” portraying shamans in fiction and the real reason there’s romance in her books.  

                                                                        --z.v.

Add a Comment

More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag

9. SAND DOLLAR DAYS

Add/View Comments | Previous | Top | Next

Posted on 9/28/2009
Blog: Through The Tollbooth (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  laura resau, skype, encyclomedia, beach & books, indigo notebook, sand dollar, teen reads week, cathy ensley, Add a tag

 

          THE final day of a short stay on the California coast I was taking my last beach walk. Just off shore came leaping dolphins, diving pelicans and birds by the hundreds, their long lines wavering like blue velvet ribbons out to sea. Still, the waves had yet to give up a single, unblemished shell. So I made a wish.

 

          Just let me find one whole and perfect sand dollar!

 

          And there it was. As the water pulled back. One delicate, white, whole and perfect sand dollar. Excited by the gift, I lifted it gingerly, took a few steps and, incredible luck, found another one. I carried my little cache down the beach and stopped. Here were three more sand dollars. And here three more. And three more!

 

          On it went until my hands were full of delicate shells. Then my pockets. Perhaps on this beach such finds are as common as sand. But it was a thrilling few minutes for me. A gluttonous adventure. More sand dollars than I could carry!

 

          Back at my cabin I lined them up outside the door along a weathered redwood rail. I admired their beautiful feathered designs. Each with a sea flower delicately etched. As if some artisan lived beneath the Pacific, working shells with her tiny chisel.

 

          BOOKS are not unlike sand dollars. At least to those of us who cherish them, books are like treasure from the sea. We collect them. Study their beautiful designs. Admire their craftsmanship and hope, if we are writers, to carve out something just as fine. Our own whole and perfect sea flower design tossed into the sea to later be drawn in, a gift for someone else’s pocket.

         

          About a week ago I flew to the Midwest to speak at Oklahoma’s EncycloMedia conference with a group of fabulous authors (Suzanne Morgan Williams, Stacy Nyikos, Barrie Summy, Jenny Meyerhoff, P.J. Hoover, Jessica Anderson, Donna St. Cyr, Cynthea Liu and Eileen Cook). We were met with an equally fabulous audience of educators and librarians. Copies of our novels sold out at our signings and we were filmed for a reader’s broadcast. I went on to a packed and appreciative school visit.

 

          As a writer you couldn’t ask for more. It was a wonderful affirmation of the world of books, and what an honor it is to be included in this circle of writers, readers, librarians and educators who are looking for the next good read.  

 

          Which got me thinking. This week I want to celebrate (to paraphrase YALSA’s press on the upcoming Teen Read Week) “the possibilities that exist within a library’s doors, and within the covers of books.”

 

          I’m excited to have a thoughtful interview with author Laura Resau. Her newest novel Indigo Notebook is launching this October and it’s an amazing read. Resau’s writing is both beautiful and honest, and she brings that same integrity to her thoughts on the writing life, the meaning of story, and how she’s found her niche by moving between cultures.

 

          Then expert librarian Cathy Ensley from Idaho talks about her years in the stacks and her brand new blog. She has some surprising insights into teen readers and shares her latest venture to foster the love of books—helping rural libraries hook up with authors via SKYPE.

 

          And just an END NOTE to my sand dollar days.

 

          Isn’t it gratifying to know it’s not so out of reach—that whole and perfect shell? Something to remember if, like me, you carve your designs as you go.

 

          And to those of us who walk the beach waiting for what the artisan might reveal, may we find what we’ve been looking for in the sand. 

                            

                                                                   --z.v.

 

Add a Comment

More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag

10. Waiting on Wednesday: September 16

1 Comments | Previous | Top | Next

By: Kristin, on 9/16/2009
Blog: Feed Your Imagination (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Waiting on Wednesday, Laura Resau, Add a tag

Title: The Indigo Notebook
Author: Laura Resau
Series: 1st in The Notebook series

US Release date: October 13, 2009

Summary (from GoodReads): Zeeta's life with her free-spirited mother, Layla, is anything but normal. Every year Layla picks another country she wants to live in. This summer they’re in Ecuador, and Zeeta is determined to convince her mother to settle down. Zeeta makes friends with vendors at the town market and begs them to think of upstanding, “normal” men to set up with Layla. There, Zeeta meets Wendell. She learns that he was born nearby, but adopted by an American family. His one wish is to find his birth parents, and Zeeta agrees to help him. But when Wendell’s biological father turns out to be involved in something very dangerous, Zeeta wonders whether she’ll ever get the chance to tell her mom how she really feels—or to enjoy her deepening feelings for Wendell.

Why I'm interested: First, I absolutely loved Laura Resau's writing in Red Glass. While the plot is entirely different, this book looks like it will have many of the same themes, which would be great. I also love to travel, so I really like Zeeta's background.

1 Comments on Waiting on Wednesday: September 16, last added: 9/19/2009

Display Comments

Steph Su said, on 9/17/2009 8:57:00 AM

Ooh, I like that cover! I have yet to read Red Glass but I've only heard good things about it. I should probably check it out soon, right? :)

Add a Comment

More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag

11. Laura Resau Love

0 Comments | Previous | Top | Next

By: Kristin, on 8/6/2009
Blog: Feed Your Imagination (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Laura Resau, Add a tag

First of all, much love to author Laura Resau for not only linking to my review of Red Glass, but sharing my review with the readers of her blog. :)

And since I've stopped being a lazy butt and have finally started working my way down the long checklist of things I have to write, I have finally finished said review by writing my own summary. You can find the entire review here, but for those of you just wondering what Red Glass is about, look no further:

High school student Sophie had no idea how much her life would change after her family received a phone call, bringing them to a nearby hospital. There they found the six-year-old Pablo, the only survivor of a group of Mexicans attempting to cross the Arizona border. The young Pablo quickly becomes a member – Sophie’s Principito, her Little Prince. A year later, contact is made with Pablo’s remaining family, and so Sophie joins her Aunt Dika, Dika’s boyfriend Mr. Lorenzo, and Mr. Lorenzo’s son Angel on a journey to rejoin Pablo with the only family he has left. Along the way, Sophie is torn knowing the decision Pablo must make and recognizing the risks she faces by allowing herself to get close to Angel.

0 Comments on Laura Resau Love as of 8/6/2009 1:37:00 PM

Add a Comment

More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag

12. Readergirlz presents: Laura Resau

0 Comments | Previous | Top | Next

By: Erin, on 5/5/2009
Blog: Miss Erin (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  readergirlz, laura resau, Add a tag

This month, readergirlz are discussing Red Glass by Laura Resau.

Read the May issue of readergirlz. There's a playlist for the book, plus book guide questions and party ideas.

Drop by the readergirlz blog to discuss the book with other readers, ALL MONTH LONG!

LIVE CHAT:
Join our hour-long chat with Laura Resau at the readergirlz blog on Wednesday, May 20th at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST.

Roundtable Discussion
Some of the readergirlz divas and postergirlz had a great time talking together about Red Glass. Read the roundtable discussion.

0 Comments on Readergirlz presents: Laura Resau as of 1/1/1900

Add a Comment

More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag

13. 2008 Américas Award: A Celebration of Cultural Heritages

3 Comments | Previous | Top | Next

By: Aline Pereira, on 10/3/2008
Blog: PaperTigers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Authors, Yuyi Morales, Pat Mora, Eventful World, Illustrators, Laura Resau, Latino Book Awards, Rafael Lopez, Hispanic Heritage Month, Jorge Argueta, 2008 Américas Award, Carmen T. Bernier, hispanic children's books, latino children's books, multicultural children's literature, Children's Books, Add a tag

If you’ve had a chance to savor Yum! Mmm! Que Rico! America’s Sproutings, or any of the books in this year’s Américas Award list of winners, honor books and commended titles, you will understand how spot-on this award’s committee is in recognizing and honoring accurate portrayals of our Americas’ rich cultural heritage.

As this year’s winners, Pat Mora and Rafael Lopez’s Yum! Mmm! Que Rico! and Laura Resau’s Red Glass will be honored tomorrow (Oct 4), at a ceremony at the Library of Congress, in Washington D.C. Hosted by the Library of Congress’s Hispanic Division and the Center for the Book, the event is free and open to the public, so don’t miss it if you are in the area!

Yuyi Morales’ Little Night, Jorge Argueta’s Alfredito Flies Home and Carmen T. Bernier’s Frida: Viva la Vida! are among the honored and commended titles selected by the award’s 2008 committee.

What better way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month than by giving these books the recognition and readership they deserve?

3 Comments on 2008 Américas Award: A Celebration of Cultural Heritages, last added: 10/27/2008

Display Comments

Corinne said, on 10/5/2008 11:18:00 PM

Kidlitosphere blogger and literacy advocate Jen Robinson announces:

Nominations for the third annual Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards (the Cybils) will be open Wednesday, October 1st through Wednesday, October 15th. The goal of the Cybils team (some 100 bloggers) is to highlight books that are high in both literary quality and kid appeal. The Cybils were founded by Anne Boles Levy and Kelly Herold.

The Cybils lists, from long lists to short lists to the lists of winners, offer a wonderful resource to anyone looking for high-quality, kid-friendly books. The Cybils team has worked hard to balance democracy (anyone can nominate titles) with quality control (two rounds of panel judging by people who focus on children’s books every day). We do this work because we consider it vital to get great books into the hands of children and young adults.

To nominate titles and to learn how you can help spread the word, check the Cybils blog.

Marjorie said, on 10/19/2008 11:02:00 AM

We will be publishing a full review of Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein with art by Ed Young in our next issue of PaperTigers so I’m not going to say much now - except that it is stunning and enriching, a gentle, heart-warming delight that lends itself to being read aloud in many different ways! It had already been nominated for a Fiction Picture Book Cybils Award by the time I got round to it (as had a couple of others on my list, making decisions much easier… I finally plumped for Colors! ¡Colores!, which I blogged about last week…).

We’ve been waiting for Wabi Sabi to come out for a while – and one of Aline’s and my thrills at the Bologna Book Fair in April was being shown the proofs for the book by Andrew Smith at Little, Brown and Company, where we learnt that we were not looking at the original but at the second version of art-work…

Yes, this book has an amazing, Wabi Sabi-esque story behind it. It’s hard to explain but Alvina, over at Blue Rose Girls, is the book’s editor and has blogged about its amazing story in four installments – read from Number 1 now! In the meantime, here’s what she says about what Wabi Sabi actually means:

Mark spent some time living in Japan, and while there he was introduced to the concept of wabi sabi. He asked many people about it, and they all paused and said, “That’s hard to explain.” but they would offer a poem, or a photograph, a small description, and gradually, Mark began to piece together the meaning of wabi sabi.

So, what is wabi sabi? Well, as I understand it, it is a Japanese philosophical belief in finding beauty in the imperfect, the unexpected, in simplicity and modesty. For example, a old, cracked clay tea cup is wabi sabi, but a fine china cup is not. Fallen leaves in muddy water is wabi sabi. A scruffy, multi-colored cat can be wabi sabi. Mark actually named his cat in Japan Wabi Sabi!

Her final post on the subject came out on Monday and has had me chuckling aloud – but only after I knew the outcome. All’s well, that ends well! Phew – if ever a book has gone through a parallel journey in real life, this is it!

Corinne said, on 10/27/2008 12:18:00 PM

Author Holly Thompson was raised in New England and earned her M.A. in fiction writing from New York University. She has resided for many years in Kamakura, Japan where she teaches creative writing at Yokohama City University and is a Regional Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) -Tokyo branch.

Her latest book The Wakame Gatherers, published by Shen’s Books, is the story of a young girl, Nanami, who has two grandmothers - Baachan whom she lives with in Japan, and Gram who lives in Maine. When Gram visits Japan for the first time, Baachan and Nanami take her on a trip to the seashore for the centuries-old Japanese tradition of gathering wakame seaweed. Nanami acts as translator as her two grandmothers discover they have much in common, despite being from two countries that fought each other during a time that both women remember vividly. With bright, beautiful illustrations by Kazumi Wilds, this book captures the warmth and love of a blended Japanese and American family, with its two grandmothers who become close despite their memories of war.

Recently 14 teachers from Colorado traveled to Japan to take part in a three week study tour entitled “Japan Through Children’s Literature”. Holly was asked to host a study session based on The Wakame Gatherers and took the teachers, along with community volunteers, to the sites illustrated in her book. It was a truly memorable event for all involved, with teachers commenting “That was the best day we’ve had on the tour!” “Amazing!” “So great to be able to cook together,” and “This, today, was the true meaning of exchange.”

Click here to read Holly’s description of the day’s events and learn more about wakame!

Add a Comment

More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag

14. Announcements

4 Comments | Previous | Top |

By: Mary Hershey, on 4/28/2008
Blog: Shrinking Violet Promotions (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  National Independent Bookseller Month, Laura Resau, Add a tag

. . . a-a-annndd the novel Red Glass by author Laura Resau goes to our reader, Lafreya, who was one of our Milestone Monday candidates. Congrats! Lafreya shared that she had just signed with an agent. That is such an behemoth accomplishment. If you'll email me your address, Lafreya, by clicking here, I'll get a copy out to you right away. Boy, and get ready for a treat. It is an exceptional read!

Next on our list of important announcements is that we are now just three days away from the start of our National Independent Bookseller Month. There is still time for you to send in the name of your favorite indie. We plan to feature a different one each and every day during the month of May. Please help us celebrate these very deserving souls!

Robin and I challenge you each to think of something you can do this month to honor your local independent bookseller. They continue to champion our field day after day after day with their love and knowledge of literature. Do you have a writing group or writing buddy that you can brainstorm with?

Last week, the writing group that Robin and I are in went down to a local park with a photographer and had him take some group shots of us. We plan to pick one of these photos and make a big poster for our local indie to put up that will read something like: Local Children's Authors Love to Shop at Chaucer's Books. Help Us Celebrate Them During May, National Independent Bookseller Month. Once we get it done, we'll post it here so you can see it.

This is just one way that we can bring attention to the good work that they do. We'd love to hear your ideas! We challenge YOU to do at least one thing to commemorate them in May.

The clock is ticking. Get ready, folks.

Indies rule!
~(:-])

4 Comments on Announcements, last added: 5/1/2008

Display Comments

Kimberly Lynn said, on 4/30/2008 4:08:00 PM

Lafreya,

Congratulations on your big news. I did try to post on Milestone Monday when I first read it, but it didn’t go through for some reason. I’m having a heck of a time getting acquainted with all of today’s techno gadget-thingies. Anyway . . .

TOOT! TOOT!

(Can’t wait to see what happens with your novel!)

Marisa said, on 4/30/2008 11:16:00 PM

I don't know if you already know these but...

One of my favorite is Maria's in Durango, I've been known to detour hundreds of miles to stop by.

Maria's Bookshop
960 Main Avenue
Durango, CO 81301
Tel: 970-247-1438
www.mariasbookshop.com

Another favorite is up in Medocino...great finds every time; once I stopped there before a week with a cabin on a creek and bought some fantastic books I'd never heard of before, including some amazing poverty urban street teen lit, which is funny given its location.

Gallery Bookshop and Bookwinkle's Children's Books
PO Box 270
Main & Kasten Streets, Mendocino, CA 95460
707-937-BOOK (2665) FAX: 707-937-3737
http://www.gallerybooks.com/default.html

Lafreya said, on 5/1/2008 10:26:00 AM

Wow Thank you so much.

Karen

Barrie said, on 5/1/2008 3:21:00 PM

Here's my favorite indie bookstore:
The Yellow Book Road
7200 Fletcher Parkway Drive, La Mesa, CA 91942
619-463-4900

http://www.yellowbookroad.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=YBR

Add a Comment

More from this Blog | Email This | Add a Tag