That's Amore!The 43rd SCBWI Summer Conference!!

by Hilde Garcia

This year's theme for the 43rd Annual SCBWI Summer Conference. This year, Tomie dePaola turned 80 and in honor of our successful flash mob from 2012, we serenaded Tomie on Saturday night with That's Amore.

Happy Birthday Tomie!

Tomie was ill and couldn't fly out to see it in person so a video was sent to him. He Skyped the closing Key Note with Lin Oliver as his moderator to a crowd of 1200 fans!  To conclude the incredible weekend, we had none other than the one and only Judy Blume give us an inspiring farewell.

My daughter sat in the front row, sketching Judy at the podium. She then walked up to her after her speech and gave her the illustration.  Judy was touched. I had no camera and I wish I had a photo of her drawing to share with you, but I will never forget the image of that moment when my daughter, brave enough to be in a room with 1200 people, walked up to Judy Blume and said, "I drew this for you.  I loved Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing."

Judy Blume

That to me was the quintessential moment of the conference.  Judy graciously took it and shared it with other noteworthy people who were gathered around her at that moment.  She was genuinely touched.  Considering how many books of Judy's have inspired me over the years, it was quite amazing to see my daughter make Judy smile.  Then Judy shook her hand. I was so glad I have taught my kids how to shake a hand!

I have attended this Conference regularly for the last 6 or 7 years and I must say that this year, I was inspired more deeply than in past years. Maybe it was the right mix of key notes, break out sessions, socials, piña coladas, and Judy Blume, or maybe it was that I was ready for a break through with the revision of my novel.  And when you are ready, the universe embraces you.

Either way, I was in the zone and the weekend proved to be worth the time, money and effort to attend. (Communicating my crazy schedule to my husband who agreed to be Mr. Mom was nothing short of miraculous).  The intensives on Monday shook loose the problems with my plot, giving me a way out of the darkness.

The break out sessions that stayed with me included Maggie Stiefvater, Sharon Flake, Adriana Dominguez, and Linda Sue Park's Key Note.  (For full conference schedule, go to www.scbwi.org.

Linda Sue Park

This year, I also participated in the Intensives that take place on Monday.  I went to Linda Sue's on Revision and took away fabulous techniques for tightening your novel and really finding the heart of the story.

                 Maggie Stiefvater

I also attend Maggie's intensive on Character - Specifics vs Details.  It was an eye opener and I noticed what is necessary and what is not in my story.

Meanwhile, during my intensives, I was getting calls from the twins' summer camp of a possible lice outbreak and a fractured finger- each kid with one of those problems, but yet, I managed to have a break through despite the joys of motherhood and was able to stay without darting to save either one!  (By the way, all was clear in the end, but talk about impeding your Main Character!)

Here are some highlights of advice and suggestions from some of the key note speakers and the inspirational words that they shared with us on the first morning of the Conference!

Meg Rosoff

Imagination has the possibility to make everyone better at everything except for politicians! -Meg Rosoff.

Young Judy Schachner

Bienvenidos, Benvenuti, Now, Chocolate, Fluffernutter, Reinvent, Heart, Rebel, Ready, Willing, and Able.

Become a collector not just of things, but of experiences too. -Judy Schachner


Challenged, Hashtagselfie, Stretch, Be, You, Wonder, Agog, Hutzpah, Serendipity, Diversity, SCAT, and Endure.

Everyone is a product of where they came from- they are either running away from it or running to it. -Maggie Stiefvater

This industry is cyclical. You cannot write to a trend. Write the book you are inspired to write, the minute you don't you loose your voice. -Justin Chanda

Justin Chanda

Patience, Focus, Botanical, Community, PLAY, and Supercaliforniaisterrific-I hope you get published.

The voices that first influence me were my family.
-Sharon G. Flake

Sharon G. Flake

Epiphany, Class, Overcome, Classic, Splinter, Astonishment, Common Core, Imgaination, and Gumba- just do it!

Diversity is your point of view! -Adriana Dominguez

Relationships, Friends, Entrepreneurial, La Cuna, Fierce, Visualize, Library, Authenticity, Eccentricity, Feel, Skyfarm, and Optimism

Don't bore the editor- make every word count. -Linda Sue Park

Persevere, Empathy, Unputdownable, Start, Hands-on, Deal, Awesome, and CONVICTION.

Memores are nothing until they turn into blood within you.  -Meghan McDonald

First line is the promise, last line is the payoff.

-Lisa Yee

Lisa Yee

TRANSFORM!

One technique discussed by Linda Sue Park was to re-write a line every which way you can.  Maggie discussed that the more realistic the characters' specific characteristics are, the least likely they are to become a duplicate in your story.

The biggest take away from the weekend seemed to be echoed by every key note and break out session-  what motivates us to write the story is the crux of the story that inspires us to tell it.

I guess the words that stayed with me the most came from Judy Blume, "Don't let anyone discourage you- if they try, don't get depressed, get angry. Writing didn't just change my life, it saved my life."

So go and let it save yours. Write the story that only you can write. And if you haven't attended a conference yet, make it a mission to do so.

It's a weekend that stays with you long after the autograph party is done.

I Have A Dream

by Susan J. Berger

When I was young I didn't know there was prejudice in the world. No one told me. I thought my father and mother went to different country clubs because they were divorced. No one mentioned the Jews weren't allowed at the Buffalo country club. That the Jews had to start their own.

When I was in second grade, my best friend was black. Neither her parents or mine commented on our color differences.

In 1954 we moved to Cape Town and I got my first view of racial hatred. My mom said I should feel sorry for people who could only see a person's color and not their real selves because those people missed so much. I comforted myself with the thought that such a thing could not happen in America.

Our next move was to Westport, Connecticut where Mom divorced her second husband and married her third. My mom's best friends were poets and painters and MAD Men.  Two of the couples in our circle of friends were bi-racial. No-one cared. Certainly not me  I was too busy being thirteen and suffering agonies in Junior High.

I went to high school in Atlanta during the bus desegregation. My mother and second stepfather belonged to H.O.P.E -Help Our Public Education and I belonged to S.O.S Students For Open Schools. These organizations were committed to peacefully desegregating the schools. The majority of the members of these groups were white because - well - because we didn't have desegregation yet. We moved away in 1960, but I came back in 1961 to attend the University of Georgia. One year after Charlene and Walter became the first two black students there.

I am a child of the sixties. My friends and I shared the dream. We wanted a world where no one was looked down upon because of race or religion or nationality. We wanted to see it on television, in films, in books and in our every day lives.

We've come a long way. In my personal life my friends are a bouquet of colors, nationalities and faiths. I even have friends that are Republican.

I started this post with the intention of mentioning books for young people that had black protagonists. I did lots of research.

Then I thought Why am I doing this? Why do I still have to search for books that have people of color. Why aren't all of us writing them?

I think we are at one of those periods in our history where we need to take a bit more care. All of us who are writing and illustration can add flavors to our worlds. My dream is that stories will, as a matter of course, contain characters of different racial make-up and that the race, religion and nationality of the authors and illustrators will not be a matter for remark. It's already happening.
 
 
   Lisa Yee writes about people. Some of them are Chinese. Some of them are Caucasian. All her books are satisfying because it's the people who are important. Not their racial make up.
Millicent Min, Girl Genius










Tamora Pierce's The Circle of Magic books
feature four protagonists. Daja is black, Briar is mixed race, Tris is Caucasian and I am not sure what race Sandry is. Who they are inside and the magic they possess define them.

                           Jerry Pinkney's wonderful illustrations are not only of black people.

Nancy Stewart's Bella series feature best friends who are Caucasian and African American.

One Pelican at a Time



Margot Finke is a transplant from Australia. Her hero in Taconi and Claude and her new book, Trial by Walkabout is an Aboriginal Boy.

I'm still revising Tasha, The Magnificent. Tasha was inspired by a trio of friends who stayed with me one summer: They were of different races. Their commonality was the dreams in their eyes and their belief in magic. I love the story. One day I'll get the plot right and send it out again.

Lupe and Hilde are both working on books that have Mexican and Cuban characters.

I know all of you readers could give me lots more examples. I believe we all share the same dream. And I know it's coming true. 

All of the pictures in this post link to books on Amazon or Goodreads. Here are some of the other books I looked up.

 

Who Are You Writing For?

by Susan Berger

As a child, I loved to read, but I rarely wanted to read award winning books. They were books grownups thought I should enjoy.   They didn’t feel like they were written for me. 

Now I am a grownup and a writer and I still love to read kids’ books.  Sometimes I don’t know whether it’s the grown up in me that likes the book or my inner self which never did grow up.
For example: In January I checked out a book from The Kailua library – that’s right, I was in Hawaii -  called The Cheshire Cheese Cat, A Dickens of a Tale   It was on the 2011 Cybil’s finalist list for midgrade Fantasy/ sciencefiction.

I loved it.  But I couldn’t figure out whether it was my grownup self who love it or my kid self.  I checked the front of the book. (Kailua library still stamps due dates on the inside cover.) I was the second person to have read the book.  My grownup self loved that book.  So did the Cybil judges.  It was a winner.

 Then I picked up two picture books highly recommended by the Librarian: 

ThirteenWords, by Lemony Snicket

Oh migosh, you have to read this book!

Ten Birds by Michelle Young 

Really clever.

I loved them both, but I wasn’t sure whether kids would love them as much as I did.  I took them out and read them to five year old Livy and eight year Ka’ula.  Neither girl asked to have them read a second time.  I asked if they thought they were funny.  They each said, "Yes."  Neither of them looked amused. Both immediately reached for another book.

Then there was Lane Smith’s It’s a Book.

I thought it was hilarious, but I couldn’t get any of the kids I read to interested in it.  They nodded and said, "Next."

On the other hand, when I read them Rhyming Dust Bunnies  They wanted to read it again....and again.

The question which surfaced in my mind, was who are the authors writing for?  Who am I writing for?  I am sure we are all trying to keep our audience in mind, but are we managing it? 

I think the minds of the children I know and the minds of those voting on the prestigious awards don’t seem to have a lot in common.

Here is the list of the Newbery Award Winners 2012-1922
I don’t see Judy Blume on there. I see one Beverly Cleary. I see Gary Pausen’s Hatchet. That was one of my son’s favorites. How many of these books did you read as a child?

Here is the list of Caldecott Winners from 1938 -2012
I own a few of these. How many of these have stood the test of time in your house? I notice Dr Seuss and Margaret Wise Brown are not listed, nor do I see Mo Willems.

Then I looked through the books nominated for the 2012 Nene Awards

I don't think many of these titles are on any prestigious award list.  But kids are reading these books.
Here are  the NY times best seller lists from March 25, 2012:

Chapter Books

Picture Books

Here is this year’s Cybil finalist list .   I've read a few of these:

Just Grace and the Double Surprise.

 Clementine and theFamily Meeting

Clementine and Just Grace are very popular with the 6-8 set and deservedly so. My inner kid and my grownup self loved these.

The Friendship Doll

I think the grown up in me liked this one. I don’t think it will be a favorite with kids.  It seemed "teachy."

Warp Speed

Warp Speed satisfied my inner geek and I will reread this. 

Finally here are the Cybil Winners for 2011 

I plan to read a few more on the Cybil list. I may or may not dip into the NY Times list. The NY Times and I rarely like the same things.

So my questions to you are:
As a parent, how do you choose your children’s books?

As a writer, who are you writing for?  When we labor over our wondrous first paragraph, whom are we trying to impress?  The editor? The agent?  Our target audience??

Tell me what do you think?
Disclaimer: I used Amazon links because I can find the pictures and titles in the same place which makes it easier to do the linking.  All of these books are available at your Independent book stores  or at your local library.

Lisa YeeIn Conversation with The Pen And Ink

The Pen And Ink Blog Management admires Lisa Yee – author of Millicent Min, Girl Genius, American Girl's Kanani books and Bobby books, and winner of the best decorated cake at Brightwood Elementary School in Monterey Park, California. She has a charismatic stage and online presence. She maintains a blog, LiveJournal, a website, a Facebook profile, a Twitter account, and the LisaYeeAndSon's video channel.

Her 14 year old son helps Lisa create and shoot the videos. He’s a filmmaker and directs Lisa. “It’s fun for him to boss me around. We collaborate.” For the Peepy YouTube video, Cautionary Easter. Lisa and her son hashed out idea, shot it in one day and her son edited the footage. Lisa and son have an upcoming video for the International Reading Association blog.

Lisa has a charismatic stage presence. For example, on Target stage at the 2011 Los Angeles Festival of Books, Lisa started speaking about her recent American Girl book, and then commented on her black boots.

“I’m more nervous about time and logistics. Do I need water? Do I need to go to the bathroom?” She doesn’t write prepared remarks for stage appearances. “I go off-topic. There’s no editor. It’s whatever it comes out of my mouth. Then I’ll say ‘what was I saying?’ Then the audience reminds me.” 

She visits schools, libraries and participates at conferences. “I travel a lot and enjoy speaking to promote my books.” During an appearance at the American Girl Place for her Kanani books at The Grove, “My son lasted five minutes. He gave himself a headache got a migraine and ran out screaming.”

For the book launch of Warp Speed, the publisher sent a blowup of the book cover. “I decided to do something with it.” Lisa propped a life-size cut-out of the book cover next to the podium at Vroman’s. People posed next to the cover and had their photos taken. During the book launch for Absolutely, Maybe, Lisa supplied pink wigs and photographed people.

“It’s fun. It’s gives people something to do while I’m signing.” 

Her learning curve about the business was high. Lisa’s first book, Millicent Min, Girl Genius came out in October 2003. “SCBWI was a great help. I would have floundered without it. I took workshops on the business aspects. I’m still learning.” 

Lisa hadn’t planned on writing Warp Speed. At a middle school visit in Colorado, a nervous boy stood up during the Q&A. “I need to know what happened to Marley.” Marley Sandelski was a minor character in Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time. “I was trying to figure what was the boy talking about. Later his teacher told me it was amazing that the boy spoke. He is Marley.” Also a girl had written Lisa about Marley, “He’s like me. I need to know he’s going to be okay.” Now she had to write the book. “I was taken by the phrase ‘I need to know what happened to Marley’.” She wasn’t writing to address the current “bullies in school” topic. 

Lisa is often asked, “Where do you get your ideas.” She says, “Those kids” like the boy in the back of the auditorium, standing up and asking questions. “I’ve heard from kids, teachers, parents about bullying.”

“I get a lot of mail from kids that starts, ‘I’ve never told anyone this before…” Lisa Yee urges the student to talk to someone, a teacher, a parent, a counselor. 

Lisa has an essay appearing in the forthcoming anthology, Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories, edited by YA novelists Megan Kelley Hall (Sisters of Misery) and Carrie Jones (Need). YA authors tell true stories that recall bullying incidents. 

No discussion of Lisa Yee is complete without mentioning Peepy, who according to her website, “…a.k.a. Peeps, is my travel companion and muse.” 

Lisa’s family has a definite opinion about her relationship with Peepy. “‘Nothing you do embarrasses us, except when you take out Peepy.’” 

Julia Andrews

Alas, there will be no book about Peepy. Peepy is “spoken for.” She is copyrighted by Just Born, Inc. The company is aware of Lisa’s blog. She once received a VIP invitation to the East Coast for an event. People bring their own peeps to meet Peepy. At the 2011 Los Angeles Book Festival, someone tried to buy Peepy. “Is this for sale?”

Peepy is always ready to break the ice with such luminaries as Julie Andrews, Sid Fleischmann and MT Anderson. Despite the many famous authors and illustrators Peepy has met, she stays loyal to Lisa. Though Lisa may be fearful in a public venue, Peepy starts a conversation starts and opens doors for Lisa. 

Amy Goldman Koss

There isn’t anywhere Peepy won’t go. “Peepy knows not to get into a microwave. She has her own fans. People make her clothes and sent presents. They want pictures with Peepy. Other plush animals come to visit. The whole world loves her.” 

Although, Amy Goldman Koss once attempted to eat Peepy as a sandwich. 

The Pen And Ink Blog would like to thank Lisa Yee for this interview. Proceed at warp eight to your nearest local book store and get a copy of Warp Speed.

Edited by Susan Berger

Images Courtesy of Lisa Yee