Fave Reads of 2015

I'm going to preface this post with the fact that I had written this back in December to go live first week of January and it was gone. Thanks a lot WP. Anywho, I redid it and here goes. Gotta keep with tradition.

I think last year was stronger for books than previous years for me. I’ve been trying to spread out more in terms of reading more nonfiction and poetry, not just a handful but a significant amount to combat the amount of fiction I read. One can dare to dream for a job where this is your soul day-to-day. Alas, perhaps that is in my near future.

So here’s a breakdown of the books that totally tugged at my heart strings after I placed it back on my bookshelf.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz (2012): This was a “hype book.” You know what I mean. Every year there are books I’ve read because of the hype, mainly word of mouth. And this was one of them. No matter who I spoke to about this book they loved it. End of the year I was brought down by a cold and happened to get a copy while visiting one of my favorite indies before it closed. So, I guess I should say “Thanks germs for sidelining me for several days” because I got to read Aristotle & Dante in one swoop. It was glorious and as lyrical, beautiful, romantic as everyone told me. The strength and loyalty of Ari and Dante’s relationship was one I envied in a way. The hype is real with this book, people!

The Turner House by Angela Flournoy (2015): I had heard about this book and this author before the year began so it was on my radar. When I was part of a reading with Angela I made a point to get a copy signed. And when I did my makeshift residency in October this was the book I sat with that gave me inspiration as I re-engaged with my own collection about an African American family. The control and focus of this novel and the intricacy of how each character is painted is a great lesson in novel writing and debuts. Turner House received many accolades last year, deservedly so.

Digest by Greg Pardlo (2014): This was a Pulitzer winner for poetry in 2015. I heard Greg read a few of his poems at a bookend event for Brooklyn Book Festival then went on to buy it on the spot. It’s political, personal, dynamic. Definitely deserved the Pulitzer. If you have a chance to hear Greg read it in person do so.

Endangered by Lamar Giles (2015): I read both of Lamar’s books this year. What I enjoy most about Lamar’s work is the narrative voice. He knows his characters and they have some attitude, rightfully so. In Endangered Panda seeks to get revenge on those who’ve hurt the less fortunate in her high school, but does that make her a Robin Hood of sorts or just as much of a bully as those she goes after?

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (2009): I wish I’d read this book when it first came out. I wish many people would read this book in general. It’s depressing as hell to know the statistics, yet it’s one of those truths you should know as an American citizen. Biases are real as is the fact that racism is alive and well in this country. When reading Jim Crow take a moment to breathe deep, sit with the facts and narratives that Alexander presents, and consider the deeper issues of society and how you can help make a change.

The Real Boy by Anne Ursu (2013): A longlist for the National Book Award in 2014, this was another book I’d heard raved about for the realistic depictions of an autistic protagonist, not as someone who needed to be fixed but who was a hero. It was refreshing and the slight twist and horrors kept me flipping each page. Anne Ursu was very careful and determined in the story she wanted to write. I and many others see she did so successfully.

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina (2013): Another “hype book”! This one I connected with especially because it took place in Queens, NY. In parts of Jamaica I am quite familiar with thanks very much. What struck me about Piddy’s journey was it wasn’t about fighting a bully but finding yourself and how the changes going on around her would dictate the decisions she went on to make in a new school without the friends she’d grown up with. Piddy has to get comfortable with herself and sometimes the way you fight battles isn’t with your fists.

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae (2015): I adored the Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl web series and truly wish it’d make a comeback. Alas, I must settle for a humorous memoir-type book. So be it. Issa’s voice translates to the written page, not just the TV script, and some of the best parts are her break down of the types of people one deals with, in particular the co-workers. I shared that with my own because it was too true to life.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple (2012): This was one of my first reads of 2015 and didn’t disappoint! I’d had it on my shelf for a while and sped through it thanks to the structure of the story told through text messages, emails, faxes, flashbacks, and so on in the search for Bernadette’s corporeal form and also the artist she’d left behind.

Native Guard: Poems by Natasha Tretheway (2006): Powerful about sums it up. This is another Pulitzer winner from years back. Natasha touches upon history in this account of how American society was built on the backs of so many others. This is one to savor if you really want to take in the light and dark of our history, Black history, African history, slave history.

Ghost Summer: Stories by Tananarive Due (2015): I was honored to interview Tananarive as the anniversary guest on my podcast. I received a copy of her book to read beforehand much to my delight. Ghost Stories isn’t just speculative/fantasy. It’s a lot of amazing personal, literary, transition stories with speculative elements. I think that’s Tananarive’s power in her prose is always touching on the human spirit and mind when moments that seem unreal come to play.

Additional highlights were Reality Boy by A.S. King, Blue Talk & Love by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, The Art of the Memoir by Mary Karr, and The Martian by Andy Weir.

Fave Reads in 2015

I didn't quite make my Goodreads reading goal last year but what can you do? I read lots more books by POCs though, as I kept tally of it this time around and thought "Dang, what was up with me not reading as diversely as I had thought I was?" Anywho, here are the gems of the year that I heartily recommend. Gonna keep it short & sweet y'all:

Digest by Greg Pardlo (2014): Digest won the Pulitzer for Poetry this year. I happened to be at a great reading organized before the Brooklyn Book Festival and Greg read from it. His pieces are fantastic. Poetry as a form tends to be incredibly visceral and Greg's was that in addition to having bits of humor, history, and also elements of expedition into the narrator's mindset for each poem none completely the same. Fantastic. Savor each piece carefully.

The Turner House by Angela Flournoy (2015): Angela happened to also be at the same reading Greg was at pre-BKBF. And I was lucky enough to be in a reading with Angela over the summer where I snagged a copy and got it signed. I had been hearing about Turner House all year as a book to watch out for. And the accolades (congrats Angela!) are absolutely worth it. This is a fantastic piece looking at a Black family in Detroit simply struggling with themselves and their continuous growth dealing with their demons. The emphasis is on characters and family and also community. I couldn't get enough of this book when I was on my makeshift residency in fall.

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina (2014): This was a hyped book and winner of the Pura Belpre Award last year for Young Adult fiction and so well deserved. I adored this book, not just because it took parts in places of Queens I had lived in but the whole story being about Piddy's growth in a new situation and how bullying affects this for her to really come to terms with who she is and wants to be. The struggle, y'all.

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (2009): As you can imagine this is not a feel-good book. The statistics are not something you can ignore nor are they something you should ignore. The fact of the matter is that systemic racism has it's grips in so many aspects of society that Black males in particularly are targeting for incarceration at ridiculously high rates. This is necessary reading for anyone in politics, social justice, law, in general really. I'd encourage you to sit with what Alexander presents in harrowing chapter after harrowing chapter of real life instances and data. Like I said, it won't be an easy read (great selling point, I know) but it's a highly enlightening one.

Tiny Pretty Things by Dhonielle Clayton & Sona Charaipotra (2015): Drama, dancers, diversity. Nailed it! This was a quick read that I enjoyed for the tension and mystery of what would happen and also who could or couldn't be trusted in the end. The sequel comes out later this year so if you haven't read TPT definitely do so now in preparation for Shiny Broken Pieces.

The Real Boy by Anne Ursu (2014): Another hyped book and a longlist for the National Book Award in Young People's Literature last year. This was one of the many books discussed by the disabled community as being a great and solid representation of autism. So I had to delve in and was amazed at the fantasy world Ursu created as well as how the hero of Oscar can be a hero without being "cured." The cool twist is that those who seem the most pristine are the most broken. Loved it.

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae (2015): There's a hole in my heart where Issa Rae's web show Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl should be. I miss that show terribly. So obviously I jumped all over the book once it came out. It's a funny and quick read of vignettes from Issa Rae's actual life and childhood as well as adulthood. One of the best chapters is her breakdown of the different types of co-workers. I had to make copies for my own co-workers of these groups. It comes in handy.

Native Guard by Natasha Tretheway (2006): Another Pulitzer Prize winner! I aimed to read more poetry this year and read 4 so I need to up the ante next year. But I enjoyed much of what I read and the poetry I read was by all POCs. Native Guard is expressly historical and looks at race. It is pretty damn heartbreaking but so, so clearly seen. Tretheway knew her topic and the story she wanted to convey over the course of the entire book to tie themes together so you could see a full trajectory of the enslaved, soldiers, constant fighting and colonization.

Endangered by Lamar Giles (2015): I enjoyed Giles' debut Fake ID and felt he nailed the voice of Panda in his second book. What I like most about this book and his other one and why I often recommend his books is because of the confidence & strength of the voice of his narrators. In this one Panda is out for revenge to try and even the score when it comes to those who bully others. But from the beginning we learn that perhaps she's in over her head this time and what makes Panda that much different in terms of what is considered a bully?

Where'd You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple (2012): When I was in a slump this was one of the first books I really liked early in the year and I was glad to find this one. It's a best-seller and what I heard most often about this was about the style and structure in terms of it being from different perspectives in emails, text messages, telegrams, memories, and so on. It helped move the story along and give so much variation and levity yet balance to the overall story that held me from beginning to end. Bernadette is a bit of a mess but there's a method to her madness that I enjoyed and had me side with her for much of the book in terms of feeling like she was misunderstood more so than a whack job.

Other books I'd recommend that I read are Blue Talk & Love by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan and Ghost Summer: Stories by Tananarive Due.

Here's to another year of some amazing books! Always a lot of books but never enough time.

#LA14SCBWI, L.A., Emerging Voices, and Inspiration

It seems a long time since the Emerging Voices Award was announced (8+ months to be exact). So, while I didn't forget about SCBWI's Summer Conference I was so inundated with life (moving, finishing freelance deadlines, residency applications, more freelance work, unpacking still, and somewhat noisy upstairs neighbors) it's easy to forget that such an honor was bestowed and that the prize was about to come to fruition. A week before the conference Dow Phumiruk and I received an email from the founder of the Emerging Voices Award Sue Ganz-Schmitt about having lunch and we were bowled over. It was getting really real now! I was about to head to a conference I had heard so much about but was a newbie at. How would this all go down? I've been to Book Expo and other more focused and smaller conferences but SCBWI, this was a big deal.

Travels to L.A. were fine but the L.A. traffic was something I experienced firsthand even at 8pm west coast time. From the time I figured out the shuttle situation to getting a shuttle and then getting to my hotel it was about 2 hours. I was tired. Technically it was 3 hours ahead so really 1am and not 10pm even though my watch and the clocks around me said different. I was hungry (airlines don't feed you for 6 hour flights!) and I was hot. Humidity came to L.A. But I got to my hotel and was given a super nice room and then plopped myself down in bed and attempted sleep for a big first day.

Sleep was an enigma while in California. I continued waking up in the middle of the night because my body said "Hey! It's 7am get up!" And my mind said "Shut up body!" Anywho, Friday was the first day, registration day and the schedule was packed from 8:30am to 8:30pm. SCBWI had you covered. Free tea, coffee, and hot cocoa to start. As I went on line Dow ran up to me and we embraced! It was SO good to see a familiar face and to finally see that lovely face in person. Dow and I sat and talked and it was like we'd known each other for years.

Afterwards executive director Lin Oliver started things off. Lin's speeches throughout were light-hearted and warm reminding us that at any stage of your career there'll be struggles and successes and sometimes it seems completely insane that we pursue art when there's no guarantee of monetary compensation or an audience but that we continue to pursue it because we love it and can't live without it. As the days went on many established authors/illustrators would reiterate this to a packed house of over 1200 attendees that "You are not alone" "We're in this together" and "Never give up."

Attendees of the conference have the option to request a manuscript consult (for an additional fee) and intensives on Monday after the main conference has ended (also an additional fee). As winners of the Emerging Voices award Dow and I had these included with our all-expense paid trip. So, you can say I was a teensy bit spoiled going to SCBWI and being able to take advantage of everything offered. Just a tad bit. My manuscript consult would be on the first day and I'd be the first meeting with...Laura Rennert! Don't worry, y'all, I played it cool. Like Fonzie cool. I did not freak out when I learned this. I did internally but my external self was composed.

Laura is Maggie Stiefvater's agent and I love Maggie's work. Laura was also my dream agent when I was making a list of people to submit to. And in meeting Laura and getting her feedback and encouragement I found that she's an amazingly kind and generous person. Her feedback was constructive and incredibly helpful and at no point condescending. She really can see potential in work and point out very specific points to look out for. And the next day when we met again on the coffee/tea line she initiated convo and was quite welcoming. I know us as artists, especially aspiring/emerging ones, look at people in the industry as untouchable but Laura continued to disprove that myth by being very outgoing. Even on panels many said "She's so nice! She seems like she'll fight for her authors." And that's the type of agent you'd want.

Dow and I also got to meet with Sue Ganz-Schmitt who kindly treated us to lunch. And then I introduced her to the French macaron which she loved so I feel my work is done here. Friday included a great panel lead by We Need Diverse Books was on Friday where authors Lamar Giles, Linda Sue Park, Meg Medina, and Sharon Flake, along with agent Adriana Dominguez furthered the discussion of the need for diversity in literature and for attendees to sit and consider what's been said. Afterwards was the PAL signing & wine and cheese mixer where SCBWI members with books can sell them and we can get autographs. Dow and I got a copy of Sue's new book with Chronicle Planet Kindergarten. I adore this book. So cute and a wonderful tale, with illustration that perfectly captures Sue's voice. After that I did yoga that they offer on Friday and Sunday which is a nice time to meditate and get away and exercise. Lori Snyder lead it to some nice jams and afterward I was relaxed and ready for bed.

Saturday proved to be getting things into high gear and I was still on partial sleep. My friend Malaika and I went out for breakfast and she introduced me to The Griddle Cafe. I heard editor Justin Chanda's state of the state of the industry that publishing is here to stay and will continue to go through ebbs and flows and reinventions. Workshops (or talks) take place in the morning after keynotes and in the afternoon with additional chats/keynotes inserted in between to give you time to stretch your legs.

At this point is when I'd suggest taking breaks. Admittedly I missed a couple panels I would've liked to see to hang out with friends I haven't seen in years and that's okay. You can't do it all and sometimes if you do you may find yourself a bit overwhelmed and stifled being in a conference hall for 3-4 days straight. So seeing West Hollywood and Beverly Hills and eateries my friends were dying to show me proved a nice reprieve from the constancy of thinking and talking about the industry and allowed me to attend sessions renewed and wide-eyed and ready to engage with others, especially at the We Need Diverse Books poolside diversity chat where I got to meet Cindy Pon in person!

Saturday evening brought party time with the Poolside Gala that was also Tomie Depaola's 80th Birthday Bash. Unfortunately Tomie couldn't attend because he got sick before the conference but that didn't stop the celebration or well wishes for Tomie whatsoever. I got into the party in time for when people broke it down and also the costume parade that Sue and Dow entered. (Congrats Dow on getting 3rd place for the Leaning Tower of Pisa costume! Handmade by the way.)

Sunday was a day that brought some anticipation because Dow and I would be recognized for the Emerging Voices award at the Golden Kite Luncheon where other published authors were receiving awards for their books in categories of picture book, nonfiction, and fiction, as well as humor.

The main room for keynotes was turned into an awards hall with tables and us being served by waiters in fancy suits. Dow and I got to sit in front in the reserved section with other honorees and would be brought onstage for applause and pictures. We sat with Sue and her husband Martin, but also Lisa Yee, Arthur Levine, Bill Konigsberg and his super cool/friendly husband, and EB Lewis. And we were sitting right next to Judy Blume! Judy Blume was like Meryl Streep where everyone who went on stage gaped at her and said "I love you!" at some point. She's super sweet and friendly too so that basically makes it so much easier to love her.

As awards were announced and other honorees got stood up to receive applause Dow and I heard our names and got a bit verklempt as some would say. My mind was on simply not tripping up the stairs or on cords or anything. Big smile, arms around Dow and Martin for the picture, huge applause, a hug with Sue on stage, down the steps. No tripping! It was surreal and went by quickly but was also a moment Dow and I realized must be how other literary events feel like when you get honored for your work and people see your face and for a moment, if fleeting, you feel like your work has reached a milestone and you simply have to keep going.

As the honorees went up each said something funny, inspirational, and all-around appreciative of SCBWI and the chance to share their work and find an audience. Afterwards I was approached by two attendees. One an older Black female whose hand I gently took in my own. She shook a bit but had a smile as big as mine as she said "I wanted to make sure and say congratulations. We're counting on you." It's a lot to take in when someone says that to you and you feel the weight and honor of it. My work will always encapsulate diversity, I am an African American and my hometown is one of the biggest mixed salads of culture in the world. I'm honored to be from NYC and it makes sense, to me, that my work will always reflect the diversity of the life I've lived and I want to share that with others. "We're counting on you," even hearing it from one woman means that I understand that my work matters even for one person at one time it matters.

Now, I wasn't going around thinking I was a big deal at all but I was flying high yet also a tad bit bummed because tomorrow I'd be flying home and deal with more jetlag and not being fed on planes and not be in the vicinity of so much encouragement and understanding of other artists. To get congrats from Sharon Flake and Linda Sue Park and Bill Konigsberg's husband and other SCBWI attendees who wanted to know more about my writing was just...wow. So uplifting I can't even tell you.

Monday! Time to pack. Time to do my AM intensive and unfortunately miss the PM one with Maggie (Thanks time zones) and then head home for work in the early morn. Awesome. But first, first ten pages intensive with Kelly Sonnack!

Funny enough when I came in the lady taking the tickets proclaimed "You won that award!"  to faces turning around to face me. Wow, slight celeb status. Thanks. :-) Kelly started off the intensive reading the first page of several books she'd recommend in YA, MG, and picture book genres for us to get a sense of how to take hold. She broke down what we as writers should be seeking to do in these first pages to hook not only an agent but readers. After about 30 or 40 minutes she allowed us to read the first page or more of our work and have us all give immediate feedback. Me not being shy I raised my hand first to read from a new YA suspense I'm working on. I read the first page and got very intrigued questions and was told by Kelly I hit all the points for the most part and could rejigger a couple things but that she (and everyone in the intensive agreed) would continue to read after the first page and a half. I even got an applause. Such a nice way to leave SCBWI.

And that "sums" up my trip (Yeah, in 2000 words so far but it was 4 days!). I am so grateful to Sue and Martin for creating the Emerging Voices Award and for SCBWI believing in diversity and it's need in more books across the board. I am grateful to Lin Oliver, Sara Ruttenberg, and Kim Turrisi for organizing such a fantastic conference that was well organized and on point. I am grateful for my peers and everyone who said a kind word to me at SCBWI and for Pam, Marquita, Dow, Malaika, Susan, and Erica to see them at SCBWI and LA and to remind myself how much I am surrounded by talent and kindness and how excited I am for our journeys as artists and to share our stories with others. So, I hope to go back to SCBWI next year and maybe every year after that. I'd encourage you to become a member of this wonderfully open society and to take your work seriously and know that even though you may be creating alone that you are definitely not.