Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! How are you all celebrating? As part of my celebration, I'm sharing my chat with author Mae Respicio . Her middle grade novel The House That Lou Built (Wendy Lamb Books, 2018) is about Lou Bulosan-Nelson and her dream to build a tiny house (only 100 square feet!) all on her own and on land that she inherited from her father. This Filipino American coming-of-age story is the recipient of the Asian Pacific American Library Association (APALA) 2019 Honor Award in Children’s Literature . Keep reading to discover more about Mae and the book! Congratulations, Mae! What inspired you to write The House That Lou Built ? There were many things that inspired this book such as my love of building, my desire to write a strong girl at the center of a coming-of-age adventure, and wanting to write a book set in the Bay Area! Although above any of these things what kept me inspired throughout the (sometimes grueling!) writin...

I still haven't gotten over See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng   (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2017). So after I reviewed the book  here and cooked up some classroom and book club activities for it, I just had to grill Jack about his influences and creative process. Read our interview below!  Jack with his dog Matisse Hi, Jack! What motivates and inspires you to write for young readers? Getting to meet kids (both in school and through my books) who are at a time in their life when they're really starting to form their values. It's a time when they're really starting to ask the big questions about life and the people around them—the same big questions that we keep asking, I think, even when we grow into adults. I was excited when I saw that the main character of See You in the Cosmos , Alex Petroski, was Filipino American. Is there a particular reason you made Alex Filipino American? To be honest, I thought about making Alex Chinese American but I...

See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2017) "My name is Alex Petroski and my house is in Rockview, Colorado, United States of America, planet Earth. I am eleven years and eight months old . . ." Filipino American Alex Petroski LOVES astronomy. His hero is Carl Sagan, the astronomer who sent a "Golden Record" out into space. In 1977, NASA launched Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. In case the spacecraft ever made contact with extraterrestrial life forms, or future humans, each had on board a "Golden Record," a copper phonograph LP featuring a collection of sounds and images meant to portray the life and culture on planet Earth. The recorded sounds included things like wind, thunder, bird songs, greetings in 55 languages, and the brainwaves of a woman in love. (You can actually listen to the audio of the Golden Record here .) Alex has built his very own rocket, Voyager 3, and plans to launch it into space at SHARF (Sout...

I am very happy to share an interview with  Erin Entrada Kelly , Filipino American author of the excellent middle grade novels  Blackbird Fly ( Greenwillow Books, 2015),  The Land of Forgotten Girls (Greenwillow Books, 2016) - one of the best middle grade novels I've ever read,  Hello, Universe (Greenwillow Books, 2017), and the forthcoming You Go First (Greenwillow Books, 2018). Hello, Erin! To start, can you please tell us about your Filipino background? I am mestiza. My father is from the US. My mother is from Sogod, Southern Leyte, and lives in Cebu. What are the five books that turned you into a writer? It’s hard to pinpoint five books. I’ve always been a big reader. When I was about seven or eight, I realized that books were just pen and paper, which meant that I could write my own stories. That’s when I started writing. I’ve been writing for so long that I don’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t working on something. So I guess I ...

To celebrate Bangkok, Thailand being the 2013 UNESCO World Book Capital, some international schools organized the Bangkok Book Awards . Congratulations to the authors, illustrators, and publishers below! Bangkok Book Awards - Picture Book Category Winner The Umbrella Queen , written by Shirin Bridges and illustrated by Taeeun Yoo (Greenwillow Books, 2008) Bangkok Book Awards - Junior Book Category Winner Tua and the Elephant , written by R.P. Harris and illustrated by Taeeun Yoo (Chronicle Books, 2012)   Bangkok Book Awards - Teen Book Category Winner Behind the Painting: And Other Stories by Siburapha (Silkworm Books, 2001)

For having freedom of speech, tons of reading programs, and a strong publishing industry, Bangkok, Thailand is the 2013 UNESCO World Book Capital . To celebrate this honor, international schools in Bangkok are running the Bangkok Book Awards for the best children’s and teen books set in Thailand. I would really like to commend the ten amazing and hardworking librarians from these schools for putting together the awards shortlists. Over three months, they read children's and teen books set in Thailand and chose age-appropriate, high quality books available in English and still in print. Each shortlist includes at least one book by a Thai author and one book by an international author, books set in different parts of Thailand, and at least one book in translation from Thai. You can check out the picture book shortlist here , the junior book shortlist here , and the teen book shortlist here . They are a GREAT way to discover good children's and teen books set in Thailand. =D ...

Are you a writer of Asian descent with a children's story inspired by Asia? Then please submit your story to the Scholastic Asian Book Award (SABA)! The winner of SABA gets a plaque, S$10,000, and his/her manuscript will be considered by Scholastic Asia for publication. The first and second runners-up of SABA will receive plaques and editorial advice from Scholastic Asia. Click here for the rules and regulations of the award and more information on how to enter. The deadline for entries is October 21, and the results will be declared at next year's Asian Festival of Children's Content in Singapore.

Here are the Philippines' best children's and young adult reads from 2010 and 2011. Congratulations to all the winners of the 2nd National Children's Book Awards! Ang Sampung Bukitkit By Eugene Y. Evasco and Ibarra C. Crisostomo LG&M Ay, Naku! By Reni Roxas and Serj Bumatay III Tahanan Books Doll Eyes By Eline Santos and Joy Mallari CANVAS The Great Duck and Crocodile Race By Robert Magnuson Hiyas/OMF Lit The Secret is in the Soil By Flor Gozon Tarriela, Gidget Roceles Jimenez , and Liza Flores Conquest for Christ Foundation I predicted this would win a National Children's Book Award when I attended its launch . =D Tall Story By Candy Gourlay (with illustrations by Yasmin S. Ong) Cacho Publishing House Also predicted this would win a National Children's Book Award. =D Click here to read the judges' citations for the books. And wow, you can see the entry number of each book in the pictures above!

* This is my second guest blog post for PaperTigers . Please read it to find out about some new Philippine young adult literature. =D * Click here to read about a possible international book bloggers meetup. If it happens, I'll definitely be there! * Fantastic news! Tu Books has announced the first annual New Visions Award . The New Visions Award will be given for a middle grade or young adult fantasy, science fiction, or mystery novel by a writer of color. The winner receives a cash grant of $1000 and a standard publication contract with Tu Books. An honor winner will receive a cash grant of $500. Click here for more details. I look forward to reading the winning novels!

Every year, the Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) in Singapore sets up a wonderful bookstore for the festival attendees. This year, the bookstore was the best it's ever been because it was run by Bookaburra , a specialist children's bookseller in Singapore that believes in "good books and even finer children." There was a greater variety of the latest children's and young adult books from all over the world and the people from Bookaburra were doing a great job hand-selling. This, of course, was dangerous for the wallets of all the festival attendees! While in Singapore for the AFCC, I made sure to visit Woods in the Books , an independent picture book shop for all ages. The shop had a well-curated collection of new and classic board books, picture books, comics, and graphic novels from around the world. The Sunday afternoon I was there, there were so many customers: artists, families with very small children, and young professionals (I could even h...