Hypable Hi Rafi. It’s Monday, November 27, 2000. You just got off the phone with Dad and a weight has lifted. He told you he didn’t like how Saturday’s conversation ended because he never explicitly said that nothing’s changed; he didn’t say, “I love you.” He wanted to make sure you knew. You did, but... Continue Reading →
By L.L. McKinneyI’m seven and falling in love with Spider-Man. I learn everything I can about this kid who has incredible powers, but (unlike all the other heroes) his city hates him. He tries his best, and people are always knocking him down for it. Sometimes he wants to give up, but he doesn’t. Somehow,... Continue Reading →
Many children today inherit biased language and concepts from generations before. In An ABC of Equality (Frances Lincoln, The Quarto Group, 9781786037428) debut author and intersectionality expert, Chana Ginelle Ewing offers the first children’s concept book focused on educating youth about the importance of the intersections of equality. Together with Chilean illustrator Paulina Morgan, Ewing... Continue Reading →
Stargazing by Jen Wang (First Second, September 2019). All rights reserved. @macmillanchildrensbooks
At the Mountain’s Base features powerful artwork by comics/graphics artist Weshoyot Alvitre (Tongva) in her picture book debut. Written by Traci Sorell (Cherokee), the story centers on a family waiting for their relative to return from war. Penguin’s new imprint Kokila Books connected these creators and here they share how this process worked for them.Sorell:... Continue Reading →
By Mina JavaherbinI grew up in prerevolutionary Iran and immigrated to the United States when I was a teen. My new book, My Grandma and Me, is an homage to a peaceful childhood, when everyday activities are bliss. When I came to America, I was running from war and revolution. It took me a long... Continue Reading →
Both Isle of Blood and Stone and its standalone companion, Song of the Abyss, are about mapmakers and explorers. Why did you decide to write about these topics?It really came down to writing what interests me. I’ve always loved adventure stories and historical fiction. The Count of Monte Cristo, Jane Eyre, and Anne of Green... Continue Reading →
What inspired you to write The Thing About Bees?I wrote the book because I have a ridiculous fear of bees. When my sons were born I didn’t want to pass that fear to them, so I set out to discover all I could about the little buzzers. What did you find out?I learned three things about... Continue Reading →
There are two Black queer girls from two different Black cultures in this book falling in love. What was it like writing a Caribbean and Black American protagonist?As a first generation Caribbean-American author, I got to connect with the spectrum and multitudes of Blackness that shaped me through writing this book. Audre and Mabel represent... Continue Reading →
By Natasha DíazAs a white-presenting, multiracial Jewish woman, I looked like most of the protagonists in the books that I read growing up (aka white girls), but I never related to them. I didn’t understand why all the characters somehow came from families that seemed exactly the same. These casually all-white, anglo universes weren’t a... Continue Reading →
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