We need to be setting an example for future publishers—to strive for imperative community-building values that promote action and advocacy. If we’re not giving back to the communities that allow us to thrive, exciting children about books, helping provide them with the resources they need, promoting literacy, and, more importantly, giving them characters they can connect to on a deep and personal level and live their lives by—then what are we doing?
Eugene
The Role of Empathy in YA
By Jasmine Gower
Empathy is not so much feeling something about a character, but feeling something with a character. It is not only being sorry for a character when they struggle and happy when they succeed—it’s about the reader experiencing those trials and victories as if they were their own. And when those trials and victories are rooted in immediate real-world issues, there’s more at stake than well-written characterization.
An Interview with Connie King Leonard
By Kristen Ludwigsen
Connie King Leonard is the author of Sleeping in My Jeans, a YA novel about a teen girl who has to live out of her car with her mother and young sister. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Connie to discuss what inspired her to write a book about being homeless, what message she hopes it will send, and the unique protagonist at the center of it all—Mattie Rollins.
Beyond Start to Finish
By Ooligan PressInterview with Eliot Treichel by Miranda Rabuck Ooligan’s innovative Start to Finish pages, which document a book’s progress from its acquisition to its launch, are valuable to our authors because they give them a behind-the-scenes look at the development of their books. Since many authors think of their books as their babies, the blogging that […]