Category Middle Grade

Dec 12 2013

JOIN OUR 2014 READING CHALLENGE!

2014 Reading Challenge

A year ago, The New York Times wrote about the lack of Latin@ literature in classrooms, which leaves the youngest members of the largest ethnic or racial minority in the U.S. with little chance to “see themselves in books.” The School Library Journal countered that the literature is there but needs to be promoted.

We believe both statements and would like to see more all around, meaning: more Latin@ children’s literature on bookshelves and in libraries and classrooms, more titles by and for Latin@s on year-end “Best of” lists and best-seller lists, more people buying, reading, and writing about Latin@ children’s literature.

We cannot control publishing and marketing, but we can read and write about Latin@s in children’s literature. So, as the new year approaches, we invite you to participate in our 2014 Reading Challenge. This would be a great way to diversify your reading lists and support already established and emerging writers who include Latin@s in their books. One of the best ways to express that diversity in kid lit is important is to buy, read, and write about these titles.

Here are the Guidelines:

  • This challenge will run from January 1, 2014-December 31, 2014.
  • Anyone can join! You don’t have to be a book blogger. WordPress doesn’t accept anything that uses JavaScript, so we can’t use a linky list. If you want to participate: post somewhere that you are joining the 2014 Latin@s in Kid Lit Reading Challenge, sign up in the comments, and include a direct link to your announcement. Copy and paste our reading challenge logo onto your site. If you don’t have a site, you can spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, or any other way.
  • The goal is one book per month. You may post reviews on GoodReads (use a shelf dedicated to 2014 Latin@s in Kid Lit Reading Challenge), Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Facebook, or wherever else you post your reviews. Again, link back to the challenge. Each month, we will check up on participants, but you can also send a direct link to our email at: latinosinkidlit@gmail.com whenever you read and review a book. We will have a monthly round-up post that lists all reviews available online.
  • Re-reads and crossovers from other challenges are fine.
  • You may select books as you go.
  • You can join at anytime during the year.  Any books you have read in 2014 can be added.
  • Prizes will be given to those who stick with it through the year!
  • Any format, level (children’s, MG, or YA), or  genre is welcome. The book, however, must be written by a Latin@ author and/or include Latin@ characters, settings, themes, etc.

“How will I find such books?” you ask.

“No problemo,” we say. Here are some suggestions:

Also, these titles were on “Best of” 2013 lists:

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina; SLJ, Kirkus

From Norvelt to Nowhere by Jack Gantos: PW

Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario, Kirkus

Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny Torres Sanchez, Kirkus

Niño Wrestles the World written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales, Horn

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson, Kirkus

If you’re like us, then you will be reading anyway because you’re a person who loves books and children’s literature, in particular. Why not challenge yourself to add some Latin@ literature to your TBR pile? We hope you join us!

Dec 4 2013

12 Days of Christmas Book Giveaway!!

¡Feliz Navidad! ¡Feliz Natal! Merry Christmas!

We are celebrating the holiday with a 12-book giveaway. Here’s how it works: enter by clicking on the “a Rafflecopter giveaway” link below the book images. From Christmas Day through Three Kings Day (January 6), one lucky winner will win one of these awesome books.

12 days = 12 books = 12 winners.

One of them could be you!

Remember, when you enter, you are putting your name into a pool for any of these books, not one in particular. To increase your chances, you can Tweet about the giveaway, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page, leave a comment, or share news of our giveaway on your blog or website. Good luck and thanks for entering and spreading the word about Latin@s in Kid Lit! Winners will be notified each day and arrangements will be made for shipping. We will ship only within the US and Canada.

After today, you will also find this information on a page in the menu area so that you can easily find it and enter over the next three weeks!

What Can't Wait    The Knife and the Butterfly    Torn    Billy the Kid     The Savage Blue      Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White     Thunderous whisper     Frenchie     The Living     Aristotle    Feliz    Senor Pancho

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nov 11 2013

The Road to Publishing

 

Where do you find yourself along the road to publishing?

Check all that apply:

__Shopping for a vehicle

__Mapping a route

__Calling for roadside service

road signs

Image from Creative Commons

__Arriving at your destination

Let’s say this is your first publishing quest. How nice if you could enjoy the ride and worry less about breakdowns and wrong turns. We know how you feel. Over the coming weeks, our posts will provide tips for the rewarding, but arduous journey toward seeing your book in print.

To get things rolling, please enjoy a few insights from our experiences:

What made you realize THIS was the book you wanted to share with the world?

Zoraida: I had been working on some contemporary stories about a young Ecuadorian girl (we were very similar), but it just wasn’t going anywhere. Then one day after wanting to read a mermaid fantasy with action and cute boys, I decided to start writing the story myself. It is true what “they” say: you have to write the story you want to read.

Stephanie: I’ll apply this question to my upcoming series, Betting Blind and its sequel, Out of Aces, which will be pubbing in 2015. Both books were inspired by my youth in Las Vegas. I lived on my own at sixteen in a colorful, funny, sleazy, interesting city. It gave me a lot to write about.

Cindy: I am a visual person, so I “saw” the opening scene in my head long before I knew how the entire story would unfold. I was in the middle of a master’s program and had no real plans to be a novelist although writing a book was always in the back of my mind. I tried mentally to set aside this “daydream,” but it wouldn’t leave me alone. One night, although dead tired, I was compelled to write out the scene. After that, I had to keep going. The basics of the story–teens, teaching, depression, Emily Dickinson–are all familiar to me.

What’s on your recommended-reading list for all things publishing?

Ashley: Many things helped me on the journey to professionalization, but none was more crucial than agent and editor Noah Lukeman’s excellent little e-book, How to Write a Great Query Letter. Lukeman’s advice cuts straight to the heart, and once I revised my query letter (about 7 times!) according to his advice, I started getting requests for partial and complete manuscripts.

Zoraida: When I was in high school, Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott was my writing bible. I haven’t read it in years, but I always think about it when I’m working on a novel. I recommend it to anyone who asks.

Stephanie: For more soul-feeding, encouraging material, especially for those who also teach writing, I recommend Wallace Stegner’s On Teaching and Writing Fiction. He writes with candor and clarity about the rejections, the wait time, and all the other thorns in the path to publication, but ultimately his message is really encouraging.

Lila: Mary Kole’s Writing Irresistible KidLit is a solid resource. The bulk is about craft, but you’ll also find advice on querying and approaching agents. I also tune into reliable blogs and newsletters. You can’t go wrong with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.  

Cindy: I searched online for most of my information. The places I found most helpful were: SCBWI, YALitChat, YA Highway, and Query Tracker. SCBWI and YALitChat introduced me to critique groups, regional and national conferences, and other people like me chasing the dream. YA Highway is a popular site with loads of information about the process provided by writers. Query Tracker is a free–FREE!–online database of agents and editors. This is what I used to find agents to query and to keep track of my process– when a query was sent, what was the response, etc. It was a great resource and led me to my wonderful agent, Laura Langlie.

On our Facebook page, Samantha Villarreal asked: “Is it best to have an agent? Are the major publishing companies actively searching for Latino children’s lit or is it better to try smaller companies that focus on Latino lit?”

Ashley: I would say yes to the agent question. Whether you aspire to ultimately publish with a larger publisher or with a smaller press like Cinco Puntos or Arte Público, an agent can help you manage the decision-making and handle the business side of things. Later, we’ll be sharing more on how we connected with our agents and publishers.

Lila: I can vouch for the fact that it’s possible to break in without an agent.  My book was published through an academic press. Within six months of its release, the exposure that the book brought me led to contact with an agent.

Cindy: To seek an agent or not, to aim for big or small publishers, or to self-publish are all personal decisions based on your strengths and needs. From the start, I knew I wanted an agent and would pursue traditional publishing. I had no experience or connections in the publishing world, and I had little confidence in my abilities to produce and promote my own novel as a self-publisher. For these reasons, I decided I would do the writing and rely on an experienced agent and editor to guide me through the rest of the process.

Have agents and editors preserved your artistic vision?

Zoraida: My agent, Adrienne Rosado, is very encouraging. Even though I’m sure she gets an ulcer every time I say, “I have an idea…” My editor at Sourcebooks Fire, Aubrey Poole, is great at looking at my fantasy world and asking the questions I don’t ask. And she pushes my hero in the right direction. We’re working on the last book in the trilogy and I’m excited for the final product.

Stephanie: My editor has been completely supportive of my artistic vision. She’s never asked me to make changes I disagreed with, and she has always left the final decision in my court. We’ve worked on three books–soon to be four–together, and I love the smooth partnership we’ve developed.

Cindy: As a first time writer, I can say the search for an agent and editor is like literary e-harmony. You put yourself out there and wait until you find the perfect match for you and your project. Both my agent and editor loved my story, which is why they both said, “yes.” That’s what you want and need–an agent and editor who fully support your choice of subject matter and your writing style. They need to love it because they will be wedded to it–and you–for a long time during the publishing process.

Suppose your efforts to capture an agent’s interest haven’t gone anywhere: what then?

Cindy: Analyze what may not be “right.” Is the writing as good as it can be? Is the query the best you could do? Are you aware of what the agents and editors are looking for when you are querying? Then I would say go to a conference, have a one-on-one, join a critique group…do something you’re not already doing.

Image from Creative Commons

Image from Creative Commons

So now we’re off on a roll. Join us in the coming weeks as we bring you more advice from agents, editors, and other authors traveling the road to publishing. AND, we would love to hear from you! What has your journey taught you?

Oct 28 2013

Las Calaveras Todas Blancas Son* Or What is the Day of the Dead?

 

By Zoraida Córdova

The Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday that takes place on November 1st (All Soul’s Day) and November 2nd (All Saint’s Day), and celebrates, even plays with, the dead. Its roots are a mixture of Orthodox Catholicism and pre-Hispanic traditions of prayers and material offerings. Catholics all over the world celebrate these two days, but Mexico takes it to another level. Instead of just celebrating the saints and martyrs, entire altars are built for deceased family members. There’s food and drinks and sugar skulls and singing. It’s like a big family reunion, only your grandmother’s ghost is invited as well. It is colorful and loud; the opposite of what you think of when visiting cemeteries.**

So, what does the Day of the Dead have to do with you, Zoraida?

Now, I’m a third-party observer here. Although, in Ecuador, they do make a purple drink called “colada morada” (made of some sort of blackberry and purple maize) specifically for this time of year. My Ecuadorian family is Catholic, but I’ve always considered myself a practicing agnostic (it’s not a real thing, but sure). I suck at memorizing prayers, and yet every time I pass a cemetery I cross myself. I don’t associate with any religion, and yet, I’ve always been drawn to this particular celebration.

It could be that I’m not drawn to the religious aspects of this celebration, but to the dead themselves. It’s a little macabre, I know, but hang with me here. Ever since I was little I loved ghost stories. I thought La Llorona (the weeping woman/Latina banshee figure) was real the same way most kids think the Easter Bunny is real. I sang to old salsa songs about skeletons (see blog post title). I am fascinated by death, and you know what? So are a lot of people who are not Catholic or Mexican.

What do you mean?

Well, go to your nearest book store and browse. How many bestsellers do you see featuring vampires and ghosts and zombies? I know, it’s not the same as a religious celebration honoring your dead loved ones. But I do believe that we are drawn to death and the undead, and all of the mystery it holds.

Then, think about other religions that have ceremonies/feasts to celebrate their dead. In Chinese culture, the seventh month is called “ghost month,” when the dead come to walk among the living*** In Korea, Chuseok is a holiday when people return to their ancestral hometowns.**** It’s like a combination of Thanksgiving and the Day of the Dead. And these are the only ones I’ve heard about. I can only imagine the others.

And what does this have to do with kidlit?

Loads! Look at these titles.

9607766    13418252    865499

The Tequila Worm     Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia     The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus, #4)

From twin sisters finding a way to contact each other post mortem, to a skeleton boy who makes friends with the living, to a young girl dealing with her grandfather’s death, to demigods conquering the physical manifestations of death, the Day of the Dead has made its way into our literature.

No matter what we believe in or where we come from, at the end of the day, we can all relate to loss. It’s sad and powerful and it connects us at a very basic level.

Do you celebrate the Day of the Dead? And if you don’t, do you have a similar tradition? Share it with us in the comments!

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pezwkyaW51A Las Calaberas by Lisandro Meza

** The Skeleton at the Feast: The Day of the Dead in Mexico by Elizabeth Carmichael and Chloe Sayer

*** I first read this in House of Hades by Rick Riordan (it’s true).

**** http://www.allkpop.com/article/2013/09/a-detailed-explanation-of-chuseok-1#axzz2igWmLmCK

Sep 23 2013

Future of Latino/a Lit Is Being Written Now

For our first set of posts, each of us will respond to the question: “Why Latin@ Kid Lit?” to address why we created a site dedicated to celebrating books by, for, or about Latin@s.

By Zoraida Córdova

Why Latin@ Kid Lit?

Well, why not?

Growing up in Hollis, Queens, I never thought of myself as a minority. Personally, I think that word is crap. Are we minor things? Less-than things? Not at all, but this is what they (the proverbial they) call it.

I had my friends, some fourth-generation Irish, some Filipino immigrants, some Guyanese, Jamaican, Mexican, Mexican-Haitian, and the list goes on and on. But this is NYC and diversity is not foreign to us.

This same diversity was not reflected in the television I watched or books I read. My favorite shows were Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Dawson’s Creek. My favorite books were by Sarah Dessen. I was a freshman in high school and I had encountered zero characters who look like me, as I recently noted over at Diversity in YA.

The House on Mango StreetI’d like to think that Latino Lit has come in waves. First, THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET by Sandra Cisneros and HOW THE GARCIA GIRLS LOST THEIR ACCENTS by Julia Alvarez, and while those stories are still relevant, they might not pertain to the kids who have already assimilated. I moved to New York when I was six; this Fall I will be celebrating 20 years here. While I most definitely know where I come from, my identity very much belongs to New York.

I want to see myself in the books I read.

Junot Diaz says, “Every single immigrant we have, undocumented or documented, is a future American. That’s just the truth of it.” And he’s 100% right. The future of Latin@ Lit is being written right now. I believe that not every book with a Hispanic or Latin@ character has to be an “issue” book. Not all of us have issues with our heritage. We just are.

Some good examples of this are GOING BOVINE by Libbra Bray,  SEAN GRISWOLD’S HEAD by Lindsay Leavitt,  and YAQUI DELGADO WANTS TO KICK YOUR ASS by Meg Medina. Each of these novels has Latin@ characters, but the story is not centered on being Latin@.

Going BovineSean Griswold's HeadYaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

In GOING BOVINE, Paul Ignacio “Gonzo” Gonzales is a video-game-playing hypochondriac who has an overbearing Mexican mother. He’s dealing with lots of issues, but being Latino doesn’t seem to be one of them. The MC in SEAN GRISWOLD’S HEAD, Payton Gritas, is half-Colombian. Hers is a story of family and first love. Along the way, her ethnicity is mentioned, but it’s not the center of the narrative. In Medina’s novel, the MC is a Cuban-American–the new girl in school who is bullied by another Latina. Of course, the story includes plenty of background and action that touches upon Latin@ culture, but the central issue is not about racial or ethnic discovery.

We need stories that are as diverse as the Latin@ community, stories about Latin@s like me who are as American as they are Latin@. This is one of the things I want to explore in this blog with wonderful writers and readers like yourself.

Happy reading,

Zoraida

(Zor-eye-duh)