WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS - THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY

#WeNeedDiverseBooks has been a trending for several solid months for good reason--we do need to infuse our children's books with a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds.  A recent classroom Skype absolutely solidified this point in my mind...

I've been doing Skypes with young readers since THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY released last February; I've talked to library groups and advanced classes and reluctant readers (the reluctants are my faves).  I've also discussed the book with readers of several different racial backgrounds; an entirely African American group recently made an especially strong (actually, completely unforgettable) impact.

When the faces of this group came to life on my screen, I figured they'd immediately picked up on the fact that Auggie and Gus were African American while reading THE JUNCTION.  I was excited to hear what they'd have to say about race and the book.  Instead, the faculty member who organized the reading group told me she had to point out that Auggie and Gus were not white, as these readers had initially assumed.

We went on to discuss why I chose this particular treatment of race: Auggie has such colorful, poetic language throughout that I didn't think she'd rely on simple labels.  She'd be poetic in her descriptions of her skin color (comparing it to mud, etc.)  I also felt it was important to show Auggie living in a multi-racial neighborhood; in the book, Auggie's friends, teachers, and neighbors are white, African American, Asian, etc.  I wanted the faces in Auggie's surroundings to be every bit as varied as the faces in her sculptures.  (They'd provide some artistic inspiration for her.)

But even though we continued to have a great conversation, I have to admit, I was floored.  Their assumption about race couldn't have been based on the fact that I'm white; I don't have a photo on the jacket of THE JUNCTION.  I'll admit I generally come to a book expecting the MC to be white--primarily, I've always assumed that's because I'm white...or is it?  I'm suddenly wondering if it's not that MCs (of a wide swath of genres and age categories) are so predominantly Caucasian as well.

These students made me proud of the fact that I've chosen to depict MCs of different races (and sexes--one of the protagonists in PLAYING HURT is a male).  I'm glad I've chosen to reach beyond what is immediately familiar to me.

More than that, though, these students have also inspired me to continue painting my characters with a wide variety of brushes.  And I hope other authors are finding similar inspiration...

MY WIP + GIVEAWAY

Okay, so have you ever gotten to a point in a WIP when you just wanted to beat the thing up?  I mean seriously--just beat the thing into complete and total submission?  Yeah--I'm there with my current WIP.  It's a revision of my next MG, which is a project that's also really close to my heart.  It's a story I've been trying to figure out how to tell for fifteen years.  Not joking.  Fifteen.

Anyway, while I'm hard at work on the MG, you can be sure to enter the giveaway I'm currently holding for a signed copy of my YA, FERAL.

Good luck!  (And wish me luck, too, as I head back to my revision...)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

REVAMPED HOLLY SCHINDLER'S MIDDLES

I've revamped my site for young readers, Holly Schindler's Middles.  The idea for Holly Schindler's Middles came from the fact that I loved being able to interact directly with my YA readers (usually via Facebook, Twitter, or the book blogging community).  Being able to interact with readers, actually, was my favorite part of becoming a published author.  But I didn't really have a place online where I could interact with MG readers...so I had to create one! 

Click to visit Holly Schindler's Middles

Parents, grandparents, teachers and librarians: Get your young readers ready!  I'm most excited about the page I'll be devoting to reader reviews...I can't wait to hear what they all have to say...

THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY: NEW TEASER TRAILER + SNEEK PEAK

Just in time for Christmas, I'm offering two new vids as "gifts" to readers.

The first is a new teaser trailer for THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY:




In the second video, I discuss the importance and purpose of metaphor in developing a distinctive voice for my main character, Auggie.  I also highlight my favorite "Auggie-isms," or metaphorical passages, providing a sneak peek into the novel:

TWO SEASONS

Summer and autumn seem to both be here at the same time in the Ozarks.  It's blazing hot, but yellow leaves are starting to fall, too. 

Flip-flop-shaped sarong clip holding a fallen leaf...

That's pretty much where I am with my work right now, too.  I'm organizing blog tours, promos, etc. for THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY while writing my next MG.  It's kind of a funny place to be, half my head dealing with a finished product while the other half is focused on the basics of plot outline and character development.

That's life as a writer, though; juggling projects in various stages of development makes you feel like you always seem to be dealing with two "seasons" at the same time...

THE SCARIEST FIRST EVER (WHY I ALSO WRITE MG)

While many of the firsts in my own life carried with them a swirl of different emotions—excitement and joy and uncertainty and confusion and elation—one first has the power, even as I think back on it today, to bring back only one emotion: pure, 100% terror.

The first day of junior high.

Sure, it can sound a little goofy, now, to call it one of my all-time most frightening experiences. And, to be fair, I certainly faced firsts, as I grew older, during which I had more to risk, had more at stake, than I did facing my first day of junior high. But I’ve never been quite as frightened by anything. Never.

In some respects, I shouldn’t have been scared at all—my junior high was actually an extension of my elementary school. I was going to the same building where I’d been a student for seven years by the time I started junior high. But…my closest friend had moved away the summer before; we’d been friends since the second grade, and of course I felt a bit lost going into junior high without her. I was also just incredibly shy, and my heart would race at the mere idea of being in the midst of so many new faces, strangers, in such a new environment—sure, the building was the same, but lockers? Fighting hallway traffic every hour? Changing clothes for PE? It was all uncharted territory.

Gonna Party Like It's 1987:

Far right: me (in the penguin T-shirt) and my closest elementary-school friend (in the pink shorts) at my brother's birthday party.

Thinking back on it, I can still feel the nervous sweat breaking out and my legs going weak as I rounded the corner to East Hall that first morning, toward the science classes (my first class was biology). I remember what I was wearing (purple shirt, vest, shorts), and how I literally thought I would faint before I got to that classroom.

Long story short, I made it. No fainting. I even made it through lunch.

Surviving junior high is just one example of a first that makes me certain, as an adult, that I’ll figure my way out of tough or scary situations. Back when I was twelve, though, I didn’t have that certainty. I hadn’t maneuvered on my own enough to know that I could trust myself. And that’s what made that first day so frightening.

It takes serious guts to be the kids we write for. Because every single day, one of them is facing some first that terrifies them the same way the first day of junior high terrified me. And they don’t have enough triumphs in their lives yet to know for sure they’ll figure their way out. They’re just taking the plunge…

I so admire those kids. And that's a big part of the reason why, in addition to YA, I also write for the MG crowd. And I just feel so privileged to be writing for such an incredibly brave bunch.