The honest, useful craft book that all fledgling writers need.
A guide to the craft, business, and life of writing by popular and successful YA authors who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color based in the U.S. and around the world.
New releases include more diversity than ever, yet writers from marginalized groups, telling stories that matter to them, continue to be underrepresented. The community of voices gathered in this volume reaffirms the importance of these stories and guides aspiring authors as they navigate a writing life, with a particular emphasis on writing YA. The book is divided into two parts. The first compiles essays about craft: Among other entries, Joan He discusses what agency might look like for a character from a collectivist society, Chloe Gong addresses when and how to break Western-defined writing rules, and Laura Pohl describes the experience of writing in English when it is not your first language. The second part focuses on the business of publishing and presents a mix of instructive personal histories—for example, from Adiba Jaigirdar and Darcie Little Badger—and how-to guides for authors once their manuscripts are completed. Julian Winters addresses coping with imposter syndrome, and Julie C. Dao describes holding onto the joy of writing post-publication. The authors, whose names will be a draw for fans of YA literature, present different approaches to creating literature that negotiate the space between White Western culture, perspectives, and expectations and their own.
The honest, useful craft book that all fledgling writers need. (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2023
ISBN: 9781665925648
Page Count: 256
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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