Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

Shweta Ganesh Kumar shared with me this TED Talk from novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie about how "a single story" about another person or country can cause critical misunderstanding, and I felt that the talk really reflected why I started this blog. Please watch it below, if you haven't already: I sometimes teach creative writing to children and teens and have been very shocked to see that the first impulse of my students - all Filipinos or Chinese Filipinos ages 11-15 - is to write stories featuring characters with blond hair and blue eyes. It seems that, like the seven-year-old Adichie, my students have "a single story" about what literature is and do not think that people like them can exist in literature. (Needless to say, I am now trying to expose my students to more Filipino literature and literature from other Asian countries.) I blog because our students, nieces and nephews, children, grandchildren, and godchildren NEED AND DESERVE more than "a ...

THANK YOU to all the sponsors of the first Filipino Reader Conference : Vibal Publishing House, Inc. Primetrade Asia, Inc. Flipside Digital Content Company, Inc. Scholastic Philippines OMF Literature Hachette Philippines Tie Me Up, Buttercup National Book Development Board The ReaderCon included a keynote speech on "prosumers" (producers who are also consumers/consumers who are also producers), panels on book clubs and book blogging, and book raffles. It felt like a party with fun people eating yummy food, sharing their love and passion for books and social media, and celebrating and promoting the reading COMMUNITY. I'd like to thank the sponsors again, and I'd most especially like to thank the head organizer and my good friend Honey de Peralta . ~^o^~ I look forward to next year's ReaderCon. Par-tay, par-tay!

"The struggle to fit in is very nearly universal in teen culture, but it’s that much tougher for a lot of young people in the wake of 9/11. Author Neesha Meminger takes on both the topical issue of anti-Muslim racism and the ever-present struggle to be true to yourself in her intense and thoughtful novel Shine, Coconut Moon ." - Colleen Mondor for Bookslut ". . .One day, shortly after 9/11, a man wearing a turban shows up on her doorstep. He is her estranged uncle, and through him, Sam begins to realize how important being Indian American is to her identity. This novel is especially poignant as our country continues to deal with prejudice against South Asians and individuals from the Middle East." - Melanie Koss for Booklist "An important book for young people about coming to terms with identity, prejudice, and family in a post-9/11 world." - Marina Budhos, author of Ask Me No Questions and Tell Us We're Home Click here to read my blog post on Neesha...

I am still in the process of tagging posts by country. :o)