The Violence in Missouri: Writers and Artists Respond
Writers and artists respond to the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the ensuing violence with works that encourage empathy.
For a Person Who Made Us Laugh: Robin Williams, 1951-2014
Like many people, I am still in a state of shock from learning of the death of actor and comedian Robin Williams yesterday. When my son posted an image from…
#WeNeedDiverseBooks Incorporates, Is in for the Long Haul
A celebration and some suggestions for the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement, which just incorporated as a nonprofit organization to continue the campaign.
Conversations on Diversity at VCFA
Highlighting diversity-related lectures at the VCFA MFA program in Writing for Children & Young Adults with the most diverse class to graduate from the program.
“We’ve Lost a Library”: Walter Dean Myers, 1937-2014
A tribute to African-American author Walter Dean Myers, with reflection on his writing and leadership on behalf of diverse books.
Grown-Up Things: On Adults and YA Fiction
A defense of adult readers of YA fiction along with a call for more diverse, rule-breaking, and intellectually challenging writing and subject matter.
The #WeNeedDiverseBooks Panel at BookCon
A report on the #WeNeedDiverseBooks panel and the multicultural small press panel at the 2014 BookCon in New York City.
The Perils of First-Hand Research
An illness likely contracted in the course of researching my next book prompts me to reflect on how realistic writers take risks in the service of authenticity.
Patricio Has Writer’s Block, But I Don’t: My Writing Process Blog Tour
My contribution to the My Writing Process Blog Tour, where I talk about the fun of revision and why I write about social and political struggles.
Some colophons from small and large presses, from left: Nortia Press, Delacorte, Royal Fireworks Press, HarperCollins, Curbstone Press (now part of Northwestern University Press), Nancy Paulsen Books (a Penguin Random House imprint), Cinco Puntos Press
It’s All Good! How You Can Create Diversity in Publishing
How parents and general readers can use their purchasing power to support diverse authors, alternative voices and a new generation of book-lovers.