Articles

Meet Virginia…again

By on January 22, 2021   /   Articles, Diversity  

I had the opportunity to meet and speak with Kwame Alexander prior to a Toledo-Lucas County Public Library event several years ago. His eyes lit up when I shared Ohio University Press was publishing my biography of Virginia Hamilton for younger readers. I mean, LIT UP! We spoke about Virginia’s incredible body of work, awards, accolades. And of course, being the poet he is, Kwame was curious about how Ms. Hamilton’s husband, poet and teacher Arnold Adoff, was doing, and trying to figure out a way he could make it down to Yellow Springs on his tour for a visit.

Virginia Hamilton: America’s Storyteller. Buy here.

During the Q & A session, an attendee asked about the need for diverse works for younger readers. In a tip of the hat to Virginia, Kwame offered that yes, we need to continue to work toward providing new titles authored by diverse writers. But, Kwame said, we also need to take a look at what is already on our shelves.

Virginia Hamilton is the most honored author of children’s books. She was the first African American to win the Newbery Medal in 1975, for M.C. Higgins, the Great. This incredible story of a young man in Appalachia, facing the loss of his home, went on to also win the National Book Award and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the first book to win all three awards.

M.C. Higgins, the Great. Buy here.

Prolific Author

Virginia wrote forty-one books for children throughout her career. Beginning with her first, Zeely, a story that features a Watutsi queen, published in 1967, to Wee Winne Witch’s Skinny: An Original African American Scare Tale, illustrated by Barry Moser, published by Blue Sky Press posthumously in 2004. It received Hamilton’s final starred review from Kirkus. She received 16 of the coveted Kirkus starred reviews in her career.

Zeely cover

Zeely. Buy here.

Awards and Accolades

Look up any major award for children’s literature, and you will find Virginia Hamilton among the recipients. The John Newbery Medal, The Hans Christian Andersen Medal, the International Board on Books for Young People Honour Book Award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for her body of work, Regina Medal of the Catholic Library Association, and the Coretta Scott King Award recognition a number of times. That’s just the beginning of the list. Virginia was the first children’s book author to receive the MacArthur Fellowship, otherwise known as the “Genius Grant.”

The Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Children was established at Kent State University in 1984 and the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement is given every other year to a children’s book author or illustrator.

Have you read Virginia Hamilton’s books?

Yet, when I talk about Virginia during school and library visits, very few hands go up when I ask if children, educators, and library media specialists have read her works. On a certain level, I get it. Sadly, Virginia died in 2002, after a private ten-year battle with breast cancer. It has been 17 years since her last work was published.

Her amazing books were at risk of getting buried on the shelves, among the those that during visits to the library, Virginia would get “side-swiped every time by all those straight-back sentinels in long still rows. Short books and tall books, blue books and green books.”

Have no fear. Virginia’s works have a new, bright shiny light being shone on them.

Library of America to the rescue!

Virginia Hamilton: Five Novels. Buy here.

The Library of America is publishing a collection of five of Virginia’s novels, to be released in September 2021. Once again Zeely (1967), The House of Dies Drear (1968), The Planet of Junior Brown (1971), M.C. Higgins, the Great (1974), and Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush (1982), will be available to entertain, inspire and educate readers, of all ages.

So, there you go, Kwame. Both older and newer diverse works for children, featured prominently on those shelves for all to enjoy.

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Smashing the Single Story Narrative: A New Middle-Grade Series by Kate Messner

By on January 18, 2021   /   Articles, books, Curriculum Tie-in, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, kidlit, Nonfiction Titles  

Paul Revere’s famous cry “The British are coming!” warned residents of Lexington and Concord of the imminent danger of British invasion. Right?

The Titanic was touted as “unsinkable” before its ill-fated maiden journey. Right?

Well, not exactly. The stories we’ve been told about historical events have been skewed by the fact that most were written from a single perspective. And no event has EVER had only one perspective.  That’s why I’m so excited that author Kate Messner is writing a new series for middle-grade readers called History Smashers.

History Smashers: The Titanic by Kate Messner

Before we talk about the books, though, let’s talk a bit more about this notion of  the “single story narrative.” Last fall, while walking my daily two-mile neighborhood loop, I listened to author Linda Sue Park discuss her book PRAIRIE LOTUS with Matthew Winner on The Children’s Book Podcast. In the podcast, she talked about the “single story narrative” and about how she introduces the idea of a single story to young readers.  The analogy she uses is very clever. You should click the link above and listen to the podcast.

Since then, I’ve thought about how much of our history has been learned from a single perspective, and I’ve pondered the challenges teachers, parents, librarians, and those of us who write, edit, and publish for young readers, face.  Digging deeper, I listened to the TED Talk titled The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that Linda Sue mentions in the podcast. The talk is more than ten years old, but never has it been more important that we ask ourselves “Who else was there?” and “What if we start the story from a different perspective?”

History Smashers: The American Revolution

In an interview with Publisher’s Weekly, Messner says she wants “to tell stories in a way that’s respectful of kids. Kids can handle more than we think they can. And I feel like being honest with kids is really important. Sometimes our teaching of history has not fared so well in that area, particularly when it comes to our failings as a country, our mistakes. We like to teach little kids nice stories about history. I think we can start to have those conversations earlier.”

Out of that vision, the History Smashers series was born. With five titles complete and more on the way, the reviews are fantastic!

“Critical, respectful, engaging: exemplary history for children.” —Kirkus Reviews, The Mayflower, starred review
”The book’s format may be a good match for those with shorter attention spans, and permits it to be gratifyingly capacious in what it covers.” —New York Times Book Review

“Kate Messner serves up fun, fast history for kids who want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Absolutely smashing!” —Candace Fleming, award-wining author

I also love that these books are fact-packed and visually enticing, with sidebars, graphic panels, and lots of illustration. They’ll be a welcome addition to classroom, public, and home libraries. I have no doubt they’ll be conversation-starters for years to come. Keep the conversations going, friends!

History Smashers: Pearl Harbor.   History Smashers: Women's Right to Vote  History Smashers: The Mayflower

 

 

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Diversity in MG Lit #24 Jan 2021 Activism in the Spotlight

By on January 15, 2021   /   Articles  
I’m writing this post on January 6th 2021–a day that will surely live in infamy. Below are a collection of books that are not just diverse, but also delve into the vital, messy, redemptive, and dangerous work of protest and reform. I learned new things from each of them at a time when encouragement has been thin on the ground.  We are in the belly of the most tumultuous times in my life. 9/11, even the Newtown massacre of first graders, seems small in comparison to the current assault on the very foundations of our civil society. Teaching young readers about the rich history of activism gives me hope. It’s one of my favorite things about being a teacher and author and bookseller. I hope these books will support you as you navigate these difficult times.
Biography:
decorativeThis is Your Time by Ruby Bridges, Delacorte (RandomHouse)
It delights me that this book comes in a small trim size–reminding me how very small Ruby was when she made her historic stand to attend and all white public school. Her account is thoughtful and spare and well worth the read even with children at the youngest end of the MG range.
Fiction:
Starting from Seneca Falls by Karen Schwabach, Random House
Confession: Elizabeth Cady Stanton is my favorite suffragist. So when I saw this title over the summer about a black girl and an Irish girl in 1848 who go to work as domestics in the household of Mrs. Stanton, I was hooked. It’s a great look at the early days of the Women’s Suffrage movement. It’s well researched and includes a detailed author’s note.decorative
Take Back the Block by  Chrystal D Giles, Random House
Gentrification and its various effects are the backdrop for this novel about the power of young activists and the value of empathy and community.
Poetry:
decorativeLegacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes , Bloomsbury
I couldn’t resist sharing this title. It’s not about activism specifically, though casting a light on artists overlooked or forgotten is its own kind of activism. The poems are lovely–compact but rich in meaning and imagery. Nikki Grimes follows each with a Golden Shovel poem of her own, a form she describes at the start. Each pair of poems comes with an illustration, provided by one of the 19 artists featured. The book ends with a very short bio of each of the Harlem Renaissance poets.
Shorts:
Rural Voices: 15 authors challenge assumptions about small town America, ed. by Nora Shalaway Carpenter. Candlewick
The Urban-Rural divide  in this country is as sharp and complex as any racial or ethnic difference. And rural non-fantasy settings in MG books are rare, and tend to lean in the direction of the white, farm family of yesteryear, rather than the rich ethnic mix of folks who currently make the rural US their home.  In Rural Voices, a diverse cast of writers share their reflections on rural life in essays, short stories, graphic shorts, biography, and poetry.
Non-Fiction:
decorativeThe Black Friend: on being a better white person by Frederick Joseph, Candlewick.
Here’s a gem for a community read or book club. There’s lots of talk about being a good ally. Here are solid suggestions for being the sort of person that builds up the human community and leaves it a stronger and more compassionate place.
Separate No More: the long road to Brown v. Board of Education by Lawrence Goldstone, Scholastic Jan 2021.
decorativeThis is on the upper end of the MG range. I like the focus on early days in the civil rights movement and the pivotal segregation case that forms the basis of so much civil rights legislation. Key white allies are mentioned and vital black leaders are introduced including Ida B Wells, Booker T Washington, W E B Du Bois, Thurgood Marshal, Langston Hughes, and the NAACP.  Historical photos, a bibliography, source notes and an index is included.
Into the Streets: A young person’s visual history of protest in the United States by Marke Bieschke, Zest Books (Learner)
Lots of historical photos and illustrations bring this chronicle of protest from the Pueblo Uprising of 1680 to the Democratic National Convention of 1968 to life. Each entry is brief but there are source notes at the end and it’s a solid place to start for MG readers curious about the roots of the protests they see all around them today.
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