Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji (NAL Trade, 2009) isn't marketed as a young adult novel, but many teen readers will find it appealing. It is the early 1970s and the people of Iran are bewildered and pained by political injustice. In Tehran, seventeen-year-old Pasha is in love with the girl next door. Zari is beautiful, intelligent, older - and engaged to Pasha's mentor and friend, Ramin. Ramin, who is better known as Doctor, is a university student activist who hates the Shah and his government. Pasha's best friend Ahmed is in love too, with Faheemeh, a girl being forced to marry a man she does not love. The chapters in Rooftops of Tehran alternate between the summer Pasha falls in love with Zari and his time in a psychiatric hospital almost a year later. The novel has a leisurely pace and the reasons behind Pasha's confinement are slowly revealed. Readers are taken through the development of Pasha, Doctor, Zari, Ahmed, and Faheemeh's relationships as friends...

Let's travel (virtually) to Western Asia, shall we? I have asked Anna Yaphe Levine to give us a peek into the children's and young adult book scene in Israel. Thank you, Anna! Anna is the author of Jodie's Hanukkah Dig (illustrated by Ksenia Topaz and published by Kar-Ben Publishing, 2008), which was named a Notable Book for Younger Readers by the Sydney Taylor Award , and Freefall (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins, 2008), a Sydney Taylor Honor Award Winner for Teen Readers. She is also the regional advisor of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Israel. Anna, how would you define Israeli children's literature and Israeli young adult literature? I asked our school librarian to help me with this question. Fantasy has become really popular of late with the usual titles like the Harry Potter series, the Pullman trilogy and Twilight trilogy. Many of the novels in the fantasy genre that are read here are books in translation. Although, som...

The spotlight is on Taiwan today! :o) To introduce us to children's and young adult literature in Taiwan is Irene Ying-Yu Chen. Irene is a children's literature critic in Taiwan. She is also the assistant regional advisor of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Taiwan. Her academic works are published in Taiwan and abroad and her most recent publication is “Monkey King's Journey to the West: Transmission of a Chinese Folktale to Anglophone Children” in the January 2009 issue of Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature . Irene kindly sent me a copy of her latest publication and I found it a fascinating introduction to and discussion of "Monkey King." "Monkey King" is retold in English literature as a signifier of Chinese culture, but it can also bridge cultural gaps and stimulate cross-cultural literature for children. One of the "Monkey King" versions Irene analyzes is Gene Luen Yang 's y...

Thanks to my lovely co-worker and poet friend Chloe who let me know about this: A Journey Round My Skull has three blog posts featuring some illustrations from Iranian children's books. If you are interested, as I most certainly am, click here for the first post, here for the second, and here for the third. I particularly like the third batch of illustrations. Below is my favorite featured illustration. It's from Long Neck Gazelle written by Djamsheed Sepahi and illustrated by Yoota Azargeen. Simple, unique, fun, playful, and expressive. Most of the illustrations are from the 70s. Now I can't help but be intrigued about the children's and young adult literature scene in Iran in the 70s as compared to the scene there now. Bonus: A Journey Round My Skull also has a blog post on an illustrated Iranian book of poetry for children from the 70s . Happy exploring!

I'm excited to present this interview with Mio Debnam ! Mio is a children's and young adult book writer and editor, and the regional advisor of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Hong Kong. Read my conversation with Mio below to learn all about her work, SCBWI Hong Kong, and the children's and young adult book scene in Hong Kong. Welcome, Mio! Please share your love story with children's and young adult literature. :o) My love of books started when I was just a tot – my parents read to me a lot, and I loved hearing stories. With regards to reading, I think I can pinpoint the birth of that interest, to when I was about six, and I had my tonsils out. You know how, for many kids, the only silver lining to a tonsillectomy is limitless jelly and ice cream? Well, sadly for my poor mother, I hated both, and went on a hunger strike. To persuade (bribe!) me to eat liquidized soup, Mum went down to the second hand bookshop and bought me the full s...

Happy First Anniversary, Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Korea !!! =D

While doing a bit of research on Malaysian children's and YA books, I came across a video introducing Yusof Gajah , an artist and award-winning children's book writer and illustrator. Yusof also represents Malaysian writers, illustrators, and publishers of children's and YA books for international rights. (Woohoo - Malaysia in the heart, world on the mind!) These books from Yusof are on my Christmas wish list. I LOVE HIS ART AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Check out the video below. A couple of parts are in Malaysian, but most of it is in English.