GETTING YOUR BOOK INTO LIBRARIES WITH RAYNELDA CALDERON
By Paulette Bogan
Does the library carry my book?
That is the big question. Raynelda Calderon gave us the inside scoop on how to determine if your book is in a particular library and how to get it there.
Raynelda Calderon has 15 years of experience working in public libraries. She’s the author of many bilingual books, including Little Giant:10 Hispanic Women Who Made History, We the Dreamers, and Maria Montes, The Queen of Technicolor.
So how do you find out which libraries carry your book?
Calderon says, “Go to Worldcat.org.” Worldcat.org has the largest network of library content. It lets you search for your book in libraries across the United States.
“It’s good to know the libraries close to where you live,” said Calderon. “Especially if you live in a small town or a rural area.” You can then contact those libraries and pitch your book. She talked about all the different kinds of libraries and what they are interested in.
“I’m assuming most people here tonight are self-published, “said Calderon. “If you are with a big traditional publisher, they will probably get your book into libraries. But we, self-published authors, have to do it ourselves.”
She talked about who purchases the books and what Libraries look for in a self-published book.
What Libraries Look for in a Self-Published Book
• Doesn’t look self-published
• It has an editorial/publisher
• Professional Reviews
• Kirkus Review
• Coverage in the news media
• On a reading list
• Has won an award
Calderon’s sales sheet for Little Giants: 10 Hispanic Women Who Made History
“You should include any awards you have won on your sales sheet,” said Calderon, “and a little bit about yourself. I like to mention some of my other books as well. This shows that I have a career in writing.”
Calderon gave us even more ways to get your book into libraries!
• Library Readings
• Indie Author Day
•Meet the Writer Programs
• Literary Festivals
“Remember, it’s up to you to market your book!” said Calderon.
Art by Paulette Bogan
Raynelda Calderon’s latest book, The Mirabal Sisters, came out in March 2022, and you can read more about her at rayneldacalderon.com
Paulette Bogan is the author and or illustrator of over a dozen books for young readers, including Bossy Flossy, Virgil & Owen, Virgil & Owen Stick Together, and The Unsinkable Gus Davis, June 2022. Her book, Lulu the Big Little Chick, was awarded the CBC Children’s Choice Book Award 2010. See her work at www.paulettebogan.com and Instagram: paulettebogan123
EXPLORING HOW SHARING PERSONAL WORK CAN LEAD TO NEW CLIENTS AND PROJECTS WITH ILLUSTRATOR AIMÉE SICURO.
By Paulette Bogan
“The book is done, and it was a dream come true,” said illustrator and author, Aimée Sicuro. “I never really expected these little collages to turn into a project. It was just something that I really loved doing.”
Aimée Sicuro’s newest book, her debut author illustrated title, comes out in July 2022. IF YOU FIND a Leaf is a project that grew out of her personal work that she began posting on Instagram.
Sicuro grew up in Ohio, raised by a single mom. Her mother was a teacher and believed that books were the best form of entertainment! Sicuro attended Columbus College of Art and Design and majored in illustration. She went on to have a few jobs in the art world, including designing cards for American Greetings, painting murals, working as a project manager and packaging illustrator at a design firm, and developing and selling patterns. After her first child, she found her way to illustrating children’s books!
Sicuro gave us all some great tips and took us through some of the pros and cons of posting your work on social media. One of the first groups she joined online was inktober.
“Some people are purists about these projects. But I really do think anything goes,” she said. “I started posting these little collages in 2014 with leaves. I would find a leaf on my walks with my kids, and I would pick it up, and I would go home and just do these little drawings, that would take me, maybe an hour to an hour and a half, sometimes longer, and I would post them. I had so much fun making these, and they brought me so much joy.”
“An art director saw these drawings online and contacted me. She told me that she thought these little drawings could become a book. It was a dream to have a personal project become something more.”
JOIN AN ONLINE GROUP PROJECT
Inktober
100-day project
Draw-cember
Sicuro feels it’s important to use social media posting as an online sketchbook, a place to make room for new ideas and to experiment.
FIND AN ONLINE COMMUNITY
“Illustration and bookmaking can be really isolating,” said Sicuro. “I find it really gratifying to find other people who are doing the same thing that you are and trying to figure it out together.”
BATTLING THE INNER CRITIC
“We all have that inner critic. Trying to let it go will help you explore more interesting ideas and share your personal projects,” said Sicuro.
Ask yourself:
What are the benefits?
Is this helping me grow?
How is it making me feel?
OUTSIDE VALIDATION
Sicuro talked about experimenting with new ideas and mediums, and most importantly, having fun! Don’t fall into the comparison trap. “I think the biggest thing I’ve learned, especially in the last few years, is that you can’t base the work on who likes it.”
Sicuro left us with this thought. “Personal projects should bring joy, not cause additional stress.”
Art by Paulette Bogan
Aimée Sicuro’s beautiful, lyrical illustrations can be seen on Instagram: @aimeesicuro
Paulette Bogan is the author and or illustrator of over a dozen books for young readers, including Bossy Flossy, Virgil & Owen, and Virgil & Owen Stick Together. Her book, Lulu the Big Little Chick, was awarded the CBC Children’s Choice Book Award 2010. See her work at www.paulettebogan.com and Instagram: paulettebogan123
Karen Chaplin, Executive Editor at HarperCollins / Quill Tree Children’s Books, started off the night by adding some tension to our lives. Actually, by leading us through some ways to add tension to our writing!
Chaplin acquires everything from young adult and middle-grade to picture books, non-fiction, and graphic novels. “I work on all different kinds of stories,” said Chaplin, “and whether it’s a mystery thriller or a contemporary novel, all of these stories fundamentally need to engage the reader and pull them along to the very end. Tension is one of the ways to do this.”
Chaplin talked about how we can take tension up a notch or two in our writing, whether it’s a romance, a thriller, or even a quiet story.
“Without tension or suspense or surprise, you really have yourself a stagnant and pretty boring story where nothing really happens. The tension in each book or genre may be implemented in different ways, but it’s really the undercurrent that keeps the reader propelled forward and turning those pages,” said Chaplin.
According to Chaplin, you want to create tension around the theme throughout the narrative and get the reader emotionally invested. You want to keep them engaged and on the edge of their seat. You want to raise the stakes.
“Without stakes, what is your story other than just a series of linear events,” said Chaplin. “With one thing, just leading to another, there’s no true sort of narrative arc or narrative story.”
“I love plot twists. Absolutely love them,” said Chaplin. “One of the best feelings, when I am editing something, is when I turn the page and have absolutely no idea what just hit me.”
Liars, INC., a YA thriller by Paula Stokes, did precisely that to Chaplin.
“I was reading along, and I turn the page, and I think it was toward the end of a chapter, and I just absolutely didn’t see something coming. It just blew me away. The author caught me totally by surprise. And I added on paper, which I know is very old school, but I can remember scrawling in my pencil across the page OMG!!!!!!!! It was the best feeling.
Chaplin gave us some writing tips to ramp up the tension.
A personal favorite of Chaplin’s is a great first line or first paragraph that gives just a bit of backstory on a character that has the reader asking more questions.
Chaplin left us with this thought, “Remember, the goal is always to get the reader really invested in your story and in your characters. So invested that they just keep turning the pages until the very, very end of the story.”
Paulette Bogan is the author and or illustrator of over a dozen books for young readers, including Bossy Flossy, Virgil & Owen, and Virgil & Owen Stick Together. Her book, Lulu the Big Little Chick, was awarded the CBC Children’s Choice Book Award 2010. See her work at www.paulettebogan.com and Instagram: paulettebogan123
“Kids learn how to be humans from the books they read,” said Karen Boss, editor at Charlesbridge.
Boss feels there are six important aspects of making any picture book the best book possible.
BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS
Consider what the beginning establishes, the main character’s wants (or what they don’t want), the tone, perspective, and what the POV tells us. Boss cited I Want My Hat Back, Little Pig Joins the Band, and Zen Shorts as having great, simple beginnings that hook readers.
What does an ending do? Endings should resolve the story in a satisfactory way. Characters must change, and hopes, wants, or needs must be realized. A great ending leads to satisfaction and delight, according to Boss. “Many manuscripts don’t have a strong enough ending. It can be difficult to find,” she said. She advised writers to avoid endings that wrap up too much, leave something missing, or finish abruptly.
Boss loves the ending in The Boo-Boos That Changed the World.
PLOT
A great plot leads to stories being read over and over and creates anticipation with each page turn. Editors help tease out stronger plots for more successful stories. The stronger the plot, the more children will be invested. Boss warned authors not to get too married to the pictures they have in their heads because illustrators will bring their own unique touch.
Boss cited We Don’t Eat Our Classmates as having a strong plot in both picture and text.
CHARACTER
Characters are hugely important – including the side characters. Writing exercises such as writing about the main character of your story from the POV of a side character can help develop them both fully.
“Writers sometimes struggle with pulling the reader close enough to characters,” said Boss. “It’s tough to develop character in only 32 pages. Newer writers sometimes feel like they need more words to create strong characters, but there’s always the art. Editors can help authors with letting the art do its work.”
Sonny’s Bridge
PACING
“Pacing in picture books is particularly important because of page turns. Pagination and pacing is often the hardest part of the whole editing process,” said Boss.
Boss cited a quote from Stephen King.
“Sometimes you’re creeping or walking and enjoying the view and other times running for your life.” –– Stephen King
LANGUAGE
Editors are always on the lookout for good sentence flow and a decent-sized word count. While there is no word limit for picture books, Boss says her “sweet spot” is 500-600 for fiction and 700-800 for nonfiction (not counting backmatter).
“Picture books are meant to be read aloud,” said Boss. “Check for choppiness or tongue twisters and avoid long, complex sentences. As far as word choice, find the sweet spot between too difficult and not interesting enough.”
When kids become independent readers, they begin with stories they know because they’re already familiar with them.
Books edited by Karen Boss
ART
“Art is really the thing that brings the book to life and works in concert with your words,” said Boss. “One of the things I love about picture books is that there’s the story told in words, there’s the story told in the illustrations, and then there’s this beautiful, amazing thing that happens in the intersection of those two things.”
Art by Paulette Bogan
Boss’s parting words, “Always ask your editor questions, follow your gut, and tell your editor that you want to understand the process. There’s so much room for creativity even after the words are written. The creativity sticks throughout the entire process.”
Jen Seggio is a pre-published author-illustrator from Staten Island, New York. She is represented by Cindy Bullard of Birch Literary. You can see her work at www.jenseggio.com and Instagram: jenseggio
“Critiques are an excellent opportunity to form and deepen relationships with fellow writers. It’s a chance to meet people who share the same goals and passion for kidlit while experiencing different voices and approaches to storytelling,” said McIntyre.
Brooke McIntyre, the founder of Inked Voices, gave an insightful talk about giving and receiving good feedback. Inked Voices is a platform for writers seeking online critique groups. The site also offers craft talks and workshops; McIntyre has facilitated more than 75 editor/agent workshops in the eight years since she created Inked Voices.
“Both sides of the feedback process are valuable,” said McIntyre.“Any writer who shares their work creates a relationship with a reader. Critique partners will be your first readers. Sharing your story sparks that connection.”
A successful critique respects the author, is actionable, and leaves the writer excited to revise.
McIntyre listed some advisable steps to take when writing a critique: • Go through the story several times beforehand. • Jot down your initial reactions for yourself
• List what works for you: How the context (the pitch or background information you’re given beforehand) compares to the story you’ve read, and what could use some improvement.
Analyze your reactions
Prioritize your observations
Have questions for the authorCritiques don’t have to tackle every detail of the book. However, for the feedback you give, make sure to give the writer enough to latch on to. Be specific, using examples from the story, even for feedback that is positive. Avoid making assumptions about what stage the book is in as well. Stock lines such as “I recommend you study your craft and keep writing” are vague, generic, and unhelpful.
For writers submitting your work for feedback, be sure you know exactly what you want out of it first. Draft a simple pitch for your story and why you were inspired to write it. Be sure to share what you want your readers to take away from their reading experience.
If you receive feedback that makes you feel uncomfortable, put it away for a while and return to it later. Consider listening when multiple people raise an issue as well as when someone understands your vision. Trying a suggestion you disagree with can be a rewarding exercise.
Writers and readers are both just people who want to help each other out. Readers aid writers in translating the ideas in their head to the page. Cultivate your relationship-based critiques by fostering your relationships. Start discussions and make phone or Zoom calls.
McIntyre’s parting words, “Be friendly, forgiving, and give and receive feedback with an open heart.”
Jen Seggio is a pre-published author and illustrator from Staten Island, New York. You can visit her at www.jenseggio.com
“Comics saved me as a reader. In middle school, I definitely fell off the reading wagon. When we started transitioning from Picture books and illustrated chapter books to full prose novels with no illustration, I thought, why did you get rid of the pictures. That’s why I like to open the book,” said Mike Curato, the author and illustrator of Flamer, his first graphic novel, and many wonderful picture books, including the Little Elliot series.
As a kid, he loved comics and was obsessed with the X-Men. He spent all his free time drawing the characters, reading comics, and collecting them.
Curato was a boy scout throughout his youth, and some of his best memories are from summer camp. This love of comics and his experiences in summer camp were part of what led to the eventual writing and illustrating of Flamer.
Some of Curato’s favorite comics and graphic novels:
One GF in particular, American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang, struck a chord with Curato.
“This book had people that I could actually relate to. When I was growing up, I didn’t see myself in books or on screen. I was a chubby half Asian half white kid who was effeminate and didn’t like to play sports, and I’m reading American Born Chinese for the first time. It was so powerful to see a book that was about an Asian character. This is someone that I knew would get me. And that was incredibly powerful to feel seen in that way. And I just remember closing that book and being like, Oh my God. Where’s this been my whole life,” said Curato.
Another book Curato discussed was Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel. Fun Home is an autobiography about Alison’s life growing up as a closeted gay person and living with her father, who was also closeted.
“That’s a very powerful story,” said Curato. “There is some queer gay representation in literature. There’s a lot more now than there used to be. But I think as far as literature for youth; queer youth are really underserved, as well as youth of color.”
Curato says write the books that you wish you had as a kid. That is what he was hoping to do with Flamer. Flamer is the story of Aiden Navarro, a 14-year-old Filipino white kid who’s away at a Scout camp. It’s set in 1995, the summer before high school, and Aiden is navigating friendships and bullying and how those things can sometimes overlap. Aiden deals with racism, his body image, his religion, and his sexual identity.
“But there are also fart jokes. It’s not all doom and gloom,” said Curato.
In Flamer, Curato wanted to show an honest portrait of what it’s like for a queer youth of color. He didn’t write it just for himself, but also to support queer youth. Statistically, queer youth are at a much higher risk of homelessness, self-harm, and suicide than their straight peers. If that queer youth is trans or a person of color, the risks increase yet again.
He hopes that this book might provide a lifeline to young people who are too scared to come out or haven’t found their community yet.
Curato said, “I don’t think some people understand that when you are queer and closeted and young, and you haven’t seen the world, and you don’t know if there is a place, a safe place for you, there is a fear that if you don’t kill yourself maybe someone else will do it for you.”
He shared a tweet he received after Flamer was released.
“Even though the book is set in 1995,” said Curato, “these are things that are still happening today. And there are plenty of places in this world where it’s still 1995 in a lot of ways.”
Art by Paulette Bogan
When asked if he had any parting thoughts, Curato said, “Wherever you are in your publishing journey, give yourself whatever compassion you need right now. Being mad at yourself before the pandemic didn’t serve you, and it certainly won’t serve you now, so maybe reserve any judgment that you may have on where you’re at. And that goes for people who haven’t gotten published yet. That goes for people who have been published and are feeling stuck. That goes for people who are published and have a lot of work to do and don’t know how to do it right now. I mean, we’re all trying to find our way. So just remember why you’re doing this and focus on the joy of creating what you love.”
The leading national organization providing intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning youth.
Paulette Bogan is the author and or illustrator of over a dozen books for young readers, including Bossy Flossy, Virgil & Owen, and Virgil & Owen Stick Together. Her book, Lulu the Big Little Chick, was awarded the CBC Children’s Choice Book Award 2010. See her work at www.paulettebogan.com and Instagram: paulettebogan123
“Narrative nonfiction is nonfiction that tells a story and usually has characters, setting and a plot, or at least a problem, or conflict, or an obstacle,” said children’s book author Susanna Reich. “It has a beginning, middle, and end the way a fictional story might. It has turning points, builds to a climax, and has a resolution at the end.”
According to Reich, nonfiction is generally divided into two categories: Expository Nonfiction and Narrative Nonfiction. Expository nonfiction focuses on facts and a straightforward presentation. Some examples: newspapers, cookbooks, textbooks, or an illustrated book such as Super Dinosaur Encyclopedia.
Reich writes narrative nonfiction and acknowledged that there is often confusion about exactly what that is. “Some people mistakenly think that narrative nonfiction means that you have the leeway to invent fictional elements. But in my opinion, and most nonfiction writers’ opinion, in true nonfiction, you don’t make stuff up. You don’t make up dialogue or invent characters. As soon as you do, you’re actually writing informational fiction or even historical fiction.”
Susanna Reich was born in New York City and moved to Hastings-on-Hudson in the fourth grade, where she spent the rest of her childhood. Reich considers herself one of the river people, a lover of the Hudson River and the environment. “The Hudson Valley is very dear to my heart,” said Reich.
Reich’s mother was a musicologist who specialized in 19th-century women in music and, particularly, Clara Schumann, one of the most significant pianists of the 19th century and a composer. Reich’s first book is about Clara Schumann!
Reich has led an exciting and varied life in New York. She was a professional dancer until she was thirty, a floral designer for ten years, designed the floral arrangements for Julia Child’s 80th birthday celebration in New York and then became a children’s book author. So how did she become a children’s book author? By taking a T’ai Chi class with Ed Young, a Caldecott winning children’s book illustrator, of course!
“And so I was introduced to the world of children’s books by getting to know Ed, and he was always talking about his artistic process and how he put books together, and I just kind of got drawn into the whole world of children’s books through my friendship with Ed,” says Reich.
Reich talked extensively about choosing a subject for a narrative nonfiction book. Her approach is to find a balance between what you’re interested in and what editors are interested in, and consequently, what the market will buy. “You don’t want to spend a couple of years researching and writing a book that nobody wants to buy, and at the same time, you don’t just want to write to the market. You want to be interested in your topic. So, I kind of begin with what sparks my curiosity and my passion.” she said.
A few of Reich’s favorite nonfiction books:
Research, research, research! Reich says, don’t be afraid of research. It’s like solving a puzzle.
After Reich chooses her subject, she thinks about primary and secondary sources. Some primary sources are speeches, memoirs, letters, diaries, government records, newspaper articles, and interviews. Reich uses secondary sources too. “If I’m writing a biography, I will find the most well respected, authoritative, scholarly book on that person. I will then use the bibliography in that first book to find other books, and I’ll read at least three or four books on my subject.”
Reich takes meticulous notes when doing research and writing. She advises you to keep track of all your quotes and keep track of your bibliography. Your editor is going to want a bibliography!
She discussed some of the nitty-gritty details of writing narrative nonfiction. For example, a picture book for ages 3-8 is typically 32-40 pages long, and the word count is 50-500. A nonfiction picture book generally is 32-48 pages long and can be 500-1500+ words. The point of view for a nonfiction book is usually 3rd person. However, there are always exceptions. Her husband, Gary Golio, a children’s book author, wrote Dark Was the Night: Blind Willy Johnson’s Journey to the Stars, in 2nd person. And memoirs are written in 1st person. “Play with voice and point of view to find what makes sense in your story,” said Reich.
Art by Paulette Bogan
In closing, Reich said, “Follow your fascination, follow your passion, whatever you’re interested in. If you can find a way to get that research done and then craft a narrative that’s enticing and interesting and suspenseful and has all those things you look for in a good novel, if you can put that into a picture book or a book for older readers, you’re going to have success.“
Paulette Bogan is the author and or illustrator of over a dozen books for young readers, including Bossy Flossy, Virgil & Owen, and Virgil & Owen Stick Together. Her book, Lulu the Big Little Chick, was awarded the CBC Children’s Choice Book Award 2010. See her work at www.paulettebogan.com and Instagram: paulettebogan123
“I really feel that everything I do today at Crown is informed by my first ten years at Scholastic Book Clubs,” said Phoebe Yeh. From there, she went to Harper Collins, mainly concentrating on non-fiction PB’s, and then she landed at Crown.
“One of the reasons I went to Crown and Random House was because I was looking for a little bit more autonomy with regard to how I acquire children’s books,” said Yeh. According to Yeh, Random House is very child and reader-focused. Both she and her co-publisher, Emily Easton, feel that their focus when acquiring is “do we think this is a book a kid will pick up.”
Yeh gave us some examples of the books they publish and talked about the acquiring process. Out of the six books she shared, four were acquired through agents. She relies heavily on agent’s submissions and states that if she were to read unsolicited manuscripts, that’s all she would have time to do!
Yeh described her typical acquisition process:
• Agent sends a manuscript
• Read (picture books are quick)
• Get excited and share with co-publisher Easton
• P & L (Profit and Loss statement)
Advance
How many copies
Price point
Trim size
• Offer!
Once the manuscript is acquired, there is back and forth between Yeh and the author on the text, and then an illustrator is chosen. When the book is non-fiction, Yeh works very closely with the illustrator and author to keep the book accurate.
“It’s really a very collaborative kind of bookmaking,” says Yeh. “Whether you’re working on a picture book, a middle-grade novel, a YA novel, or a non-fiction book, the process is really the same.”
Yeh is very committed to doing stories about diverse people that children might never have heard about, and women who have not been recognized until now. She shared how We Rise We Resist We Raise Our Voices, came into being. It started by Wade and Cheryl Hudson, who founded Justice Books, the oldest black-owned children’s publisher, describing a project they were working on to Yeh.
“Wade was very disturbed by the first Trump election, especially when his grandniece wrote to him afterward and said that now with President Trump in the White House, was it going to be dangerous for her, a young black girl, to walk on the street. Wade was so horrified that a six-year-old would worry about something like this that he thought there should be a book to help children feel supported, and he and Cheryl approached It. There are about 50 people who contributed to this book. It’s a little bit of history: What the struggle was like for those who were part of the civil rights movement and what it was like to be a child growing up during the civil rights movement. There are also pieces about immigration and poetry celebrating children of color. So this is why I needed this book,” said Yeh.
Yeh feels she is most comfortable with middle-grade non-fiction and loves to work on heavily illustrated novels. “I really love the middle-grade space,” says Yeh. “Over time, you sort of know what you are most comfortable with. I think I was comfortable with non-fiction because a bazillion years ago, I worked on the Magic School Bus picture books, which were very, very heavily non-fiction.
Some MG Yeh shared with us:
Max and the Midnights, an illustrated novel by Lincoln Peirce, has over 500 pieces of art. There are speech bubbles as well as type.
She discussed the growing trend of Graphic novels and shared Lucy & Andy Neanderthal, by Jeffrey Brown.
Brave Black First, by Cheryl Hudson and illustrated by Erin K. Robinson, a book about fifty women all children should know, was a collaboration with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
We’re Not From Here, by Geoff Rodkey, is written in first-person narration. Rodkey tried to write it so you would have no idea of the gender of the narrator. He received many letters from transgender readers who said thank you for putting me in a book this way.
Yeh shared some YA that she and Easton worked on and what goes into putting together a YA.
• Editor and author back and forth about text revision
• Copy editing
• Collaboration with the art director and design team
• Cover design
• Typeface
• Endpapers
• ARCs (advance reader copies)
• Finished Book!
(Not to mention Marketing, publicity, sales, sub-rights, legal, and finance.)
Yeh talked about lists. (at Random House, there are three lists: Fall, Spring, Summer), marketing in this pandemic, and working from home. She answered questions about agents, copywriting, finding an illustrator, trim size, and why it takes so long to publish a book!
Art by Paulette Bogan
Yeh’s final parting words, “I know you probably are doing this already, but whatever genre you’re writing for, I hope you are reading widely. So, if you want to write and or illustrate picture books, you should know that picture book market, especially the genre you write for. Same for middle-grade. Same for non-fiction. Same for YA.”
Paulette Bogan is the author and or illustrator of over a dozen books for young readers, including Bossy Flossy, Virgil & Owen, and Virgil & Owen Stick Together. Her book, Lulu the Big Little Chick was awarded the CBC Children’s Choice Book Award 2010. See her work at www.paulettebogan.com and Instagram: paulettebogan123
From the Desk of Zoe Washington is Marks’s debut middle grade novel about a 12-year-old girl who searches for the truth about her father’s incarceration. Zoe is a young aspiring baker who discovers that her father, whom she never met, is innocent and sets out to find the truth.
Janae Marks (c) Jerri Graham Photography
From the Desk of Zoe Washington started out as a YA, and Marks led us through her process of discovering her voice as a MG novelist. “Middle grade chose me!” she said. Marks led us through the ins and outs of mature themes in middle grade vs. young adult novels.
“In middle grade, characters don’t typically over-analyze their feelings. In YA, characters spend more time reflecting on what happens to them and thinking about the meaning of things.”
Some examples of mature themes include:
• Abuse/assault
• Addiction
• Incarceration
• Racism
• Suicide
“Kids are having these experiences or are exposed to them, and books are a great way for them to process their feelings and feel less alone,” said Marks. That’s why these issues are important in Children’s Literature. How one tackles these themes in MG can be very different from YA.
What’s taboo in MG can be just fine in YA. MG protagonists can experience the same issues but usually second hand.” She talked about how to handle these difficult themes respectfully. Marks says, “If a topic you want to explore is typically experienced by a marginalized community (e.g., racism, discrimination), consider whether you are the right person to tell this story.”
Marks read from two novels tackling mental illness, a MG novel, Where the Watermelons Grow, by Cindy Baldwin, and a YA, When We Collided, by Emery Lord. She discussed the difference in how the theme was handled. The group then did a writing exercise exploring a mature topic, first featuring a 10-12- year-old protagonist and then featuring a 15-18-year-old protagonist.
Some Reflections on the exercise:
• What did you notice about changing the age of the protagonist?
• How did it change your story?
• Did one of your scenes feel more “right” to you?
• How was your pacing?
Just a few titles from her Reading List:
· Just South of Home by Karen Strong
· Blended by Sharon Draper – can be read alongside
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (both cover racism/police brutality)
· Chirp by Kate Messner – can be read alongside
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (both cover sexual assault)
· The Stitchers by Lorien Lawrence
Some thoughts from Janae Marks:
About the future of children’s publishing, Marks said, “I hope it gets more diverse on all sides. I want more authors and illustrators of color to be published, but I’d also love to see more people of color become agents, editors, marketers, publicists, publishers, etc.”
About working in these difficult times, she said, “If you’re happy writing, great. If you’re having trouble writing, just read!”
You can find out more about Janae Marks and find out Zoe’s recipe for Froot Loop Cupcakes at JanaeMarks.com and on Instagram and Twitter @JANAEMARKSBOOKS
Paulette Bogan is the author and or illustrator of over a dozen books for young readers, including Bossy Flossy, Virgil & Owen, and Virgil & Owen Stick Together. Her book, Lulu the Big Little Chick, was awarded the CBC Children’s Choice Book Award 2010. See her work at www.paulettebogan.com and Instagram: paulettebogan123
“My newest book from Scholastic Book Clubs has four of my favorite words in the title: laugh, funny, kids, and jokes!” says Marvin Terban.
Dubbed Scholastic’s “Professor Grammar” and the ALA Booklist’s “Master of Wordplay,” Terban says humor is prevalent in five major aspects in our lives – education, advertising, the workplace, medicine, and entertainment and most importantly, it improves them all.
A long-time teacher, Terban incorporates humor into his classes to provide memorable lessons. Student polls reveal that the most preferred quality in a teacher is humor because it can offset boredom.
Terban cited how the most popular Super Bowl ads are always the funniest ones. Studies and surveys show that humor in the workplace is a great stimulus and has long-term health benefits. In entertainment, comedy shows have been consistently among the highest-rated television programs for the past seventy years. For an author, a great sense of humor can give a manuscript a better chance of being noticed by an agent or an editor.
Why is humor so important to a story? Terban referenced writers William Shakespeare, Mark Twain, and Charles Dickens to answer that question. He highlighted the drunken porter monologue in Macbeth, set between the offstage murder of King Duncan and the discovery of that murder. The porter scene draws out the tension while also injecting some much-needed levity.
Comedy and tragedy have always coexisted. Mature themes about life and death make for phenomenal stories both for children and adults when handled with a light touch. Humor can be used to teach children how to cope with fear and sadness. Terban also talked about adding humorous characters with funny names to providecomical antics and light dialogue to an otherwise serious plot.
Terban spoke from experience when he said you don’t have to be a naturally funny person to write comedy. His uncle-in-law, Henny Youngman, coined the famous one-liner “Take my wife, please!” Youngman did standup comedy into his nineties. His onstage persona was that of an affable jokester, but offstage he was quite the opposite.
Terban went into great detail about what kids from each age group find humorous.
Preschoolers crack up at funny-sounding words.
Slightly older children can find the humorous side in an exaggerated catastrophe.
Six and seven-year-olds discover that words with the same sound but different meanings can be used to trick people, and that’s funny!
Mean-spirited humor, however, does not have a place in children’s literature. If a character is a bully, make sure there’s a lesson to be taught or have a good comeuppance planned!
Most importantly, kids want books that make them laugh and books they can pick out for themselves. If it has a funny word in the title, younger readers are more likely to give it a look. Based on his own unscientific observations, Terban revealed the three words that kids find the funniest and gave some examples.
Fart (Do Fish Fart? by Keltie Thomas)
Poop (Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi)
Underpants (Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey)
Terban closed out the night with the perfect observation from Dr. Seuss, “From there to here and here to there, funny things are everywhere!”
SCBWI Metro NY Chapter Blog 