A Belated Congratulations And I Revisit More Latino Authors Please/Necesitamos mas autores Latinos

I've been awhile for minute and it that time the winner of the NerdsHeartYA, a tournament for underrepresented YA was announced. Congratulations to Renee Watson, who won for What Momma Left Me, one of my favorite reads of 2010. It was up against another 2010 Favorite of mine, Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John. Each year the tournament accomplishes its goal of bringing some much needed and well deserved attention to all nominated titles. NerdsHeartYA is in its third year, and I've yet to be disappointed or underwhelmed by a winning title.


We are right in the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month which started on Sept. 15 and runs until Oct 15. There are a lot of great blogs including Latin Baby Book Club and Bookjoy Ever year there seem to be more mainstream Spanish/English picture books which is a very good thing. I only wish that same increase could be seen with early readers, middle grade and young adult novels. As it is now there simply aren't enough books by Latino authors or featuring Latino characters to sustain a blog that isn't centered around picture books.

Last year I did a feature called More Latino Authors Please/necesitamos mas autores Latinos only 15 middle grade and young adult Latino authors were published last year. Initially it was 16 but Guadalupe Garcia McCall's debut, Under the Mesquite with pushed back to this Sept. (loved it) Only 15 authors is beyond ridiculous and lets not forget that's combining middle grade and young adult. There are 15 White young adult authors published any given Tuesday.

When I did that feature I was a bit worked up, seeing the hard facts of a marginalized group having less then 20 authors published in a year its difficult not to feel the injustice of it. But I kept my emotions in check.

Authors Alex Sanchez, Jennifer Cervantes, Christina Gonzalez, Caridad Ferrer and Francisco X. Stork were all kind enough to answers a few question about the issue. I learned something from all of their answers, if you missed it the first time around, the link to all of the authors answer can be found here

This year there were 13 novels published by Latino authors. I could've missed a few but even if one did a margin error of 5 that's still less then 20 titles. I am absolutely loving the fact that two of my favorite debuts are by Latina authors, What Can't Wait by Ashley Hope Perez and Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall.

For whatever reason the gatekeepers are doing their best to keep Latino authors out. So it pleases me to no end to see Hope Perez and Garcia McCall bring it hard. Like what? You can't deny my goodness.

The first chapter of What Can't Wait, my interview with the author

An excerpt from Under the Mesquite, the author's interview @ Bookjoy

Diversify Your Reading Challenge

At Diversity in YA - Diversify Your Reading Challenge was recently announced.

This summer, we’re challenging readers to read books that feature a diverse world, to read beyond their comfort zones, and to just plain dive into some wonderful stories. Our challenge will have two components: one for libraries, one for readers and book bloggers. At the end of the summer we'll be giving away some wonder book prizes donated by publishers.

In need of some diverse reading suggestions check out the Nerds Heart YA Shortlists This is the third year of NHYA, a tournament for underrepesented YA. Its currently in the first round. All the shortlist can easily be accesed on the site. Its a great way to find some new and very good diverse books.

My NHYA interview with Mitali Perkins about Bamboo People
Ari's NHYA interview with B.A. Binns about Pull

Interview with Mitali Perkins (Nerds Heart YA)

This year thanks to procrastinating, a favorite hobby of mine, I missed the cut off date to be a Nerds Heart YA judge. But I learned my lesson so when Jodie asked if I could interview one of the shortlisted authors, I quickly said yes. Even better, I would get a chance to ask author Mitali Perkins a few questions about Bamboo People, one of my favorite books from last year.
My review Hi, Mitali and welcome. Can you please tell us a little about Bamboo People?

I really liked the description in Stanford Magazine.

Burmese boy soldier and an ethnic Karenni refugee narrate a thrilling jungle survival story about war along the Myanmar border. In an unsparing novel for middle-grade readers, Perkins sorts out the boys' complicated feelings about revenge, justice, freedom and loyalty. The title metaphor honors the strength and flexibility that individuals need when their simplest hopes are thwarted by geopolitical hatred."

How's that?

That is very good and it captures the heart of the story. One of the things that I loved about Bamboo People is the flow is never weighed down by facts. How were you able to find a happy medium between fact and fiction?

For me, characters come first in contemporary novels. Since Tu Reh and Chiko are fictional, it was easy to create their stories in a setting that I had experienced mostly firsthand. It's the same process I use when writing contemporary fiction set in the USA, with a bit more research to get the facts straight especially on the Burma side.

You did a wonderful job with the setting of Burma. How much research went into it?

I've never actually traveled into the heart of Burma. I've skirted the borders on all sides, traveling in Bangladesh, India, Thailand and China, but since I haven't visited the city of Yangon I did a lot of reading and research. I also have good friends who have spent a lot of time crossing the Thai-Burma border on behalf of the refugees.


I truly appreciate when an author creates strong secondary characters with no fear of over shadowing the primary ones. Chick and Tu Reh were great well rounded characters.

I liked them a lot, though I must confess that Tai was my favorite. What has reader feedback been to your characters? (I know I can't be the only Tai fan)

Young readers seem to like Tai and Sawati a lot. They often ask for sequels from the perspective of those two characters, so you're definitely not alone.

Last year you did full court PR press for Bamboo People, including a website. It looks like it worked the book was was selected as one of ALA Top Ten Books of 2011. What did you learn from promoting Bamboo People?

My books feature characters and settings on the margins of life. In order to reach mainstream readers, they have to be championed by savvy booksellers, bloggers, teachers, and librarians. Somehow, thanks to some key people I know through social media and in real life, Bamboo People got some of that amazing support (here I am on your blog and in this tournament, for example). I'm honored and humbled by the efforts of many gatekeepers to get this book into the hands and hearts of young people.

Fiction by South Asian authors is pretty popular. Unfortunately, that popularity doesn't cross over into YA fiction. Why do you think that is?


If I could answer this question, Doret my dear, I'd probably have more money jingling in my pockets. Novels, whether for grownups or teens, become bestsellers through the power of word of mouth and social circles. Who knows how the word spreads or why certain topics become red-hot for a season?

For some reason, South Asian settings and voices have captivated adult readers in recent years. Achieving this kind of trendiness is a matter of timing and good fortune, but it can't happen if a story isn't excellent, inspiring, mesmerizing, funny, and/or heartbreaking. I don't have any power over the winds of trends in the YA markets, but I do have the power to make my stories better, so that's what I try to concentrate -on improving my craft.

Mitali, thank you for your time and for writing such a wonderful story. Good luck in the tournament.

Thanks so much, Doret, and to all the wonderful bloggers shining light on stories that might be overlooked.

The first round of NHYA, a tournament that showcases underrepresented YA, started on June 13 and will run until June 29

Nerds Heart YA 2011 Shortlist

This is the third year of Nerds Heart YA. A tournament for underrepresnted literature. It always features a wonderful shortlist, allowing 32 titles to get a little more well needed and deserved exposure.


The 2011 shortlist.

NerdsHeartYA has a great track record of past winners.

2009 My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger - I loved this one so much. It ridicoulsy good, laugh out loud funny and filled me with so much joy.


2010 Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Saenz - Again nothing but love. This author is pretty sick with a pen. Once again Alire Saenz simply put is all into it.
Looking forward to seeing which of the 32 will win this year. But the best thing about this tournament is it's not just about the winner. There are some great books on the list that are worth adding to your tbr list. I've read 18 so far and I know for a fact there is some serious WoW.

My Nerds Heart YA Nomiantions

This is the third year of the Nerds Heart YA Tournament

Through a bracket style competition, judges who are passionate about getting more visibility for fantastic, under represented books will whittle down a shortlist of thirty two young adult novels until one ultimate winner is given the Nerds Heart YA sash and sceptre.
It’s not just about the winner though, Nerds Heart YA seeks to draw attention to all the books on the shortlist. The contest focuses specifically on books that in some way represent groups of people who are typically under represented in YA fiction. We hope that everyone who participates in this contest will find lots of new books to enjoy that will expand the diversity of their reading experience.

For the last week I've been thinking about what books I want to nominate. This year I've had the pleasure of being unable to nominate two titles because they've received/are receiving a lot of online attention.

I love not being able to nominate When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer and Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins.

For When the Stars Go Blue to have been released in November and be ineligible for NerdsHeartYA is a step in the right direction. Every time I saw another review or interview with the author, I thought to myself its nice see an author of color get extra blogger sphere exposure. And its happening more lately. Y.S. Lee, Cindy Pon, Dia Reeves, Zetta Elliott, Malinda Lo Neesha Meminger and Sarwat Chadda are all authors that have been reviewed, interviewed or discussed various places online.

All of these authors have two things in common. Talent and an online presence. Mitali Perkins is one of the first authors of color to blog.


She did a full hardcore PR press for Bamboo People and it worked. It's just one of two YA novels published by a smaller imprint to be selected as an ALA 2011 top ten best fiction for Young Adults . The other one is Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Saenz, which won Nerds Heart YA last year.

Books I will be Nominating
Teenie by Christopher Grant. This was a great debut that was unfortunately released on Dec 28th. That's an awful release date for a debut author, even more so if its an author of color.


Pull by B.A. Binns - This was another wonderful debut

Stringz by Michael Wenberg - Before I picked this on up, I was a little wary thanks to the blurbs. In the end I am glad I took a chance on this great story.



Book nominations are open until March 7th